One secret wasn’t enough to give up a love that felt like it was going to come along only once in a lifetime. Ayden eased the remainder of my fears by reminding me that the only reason Asa was keeping something from me in the first place was because he was trying to protect me … just like he had done all those months ago when I was in a downward spiral and he stopped my fall. He wasn’t lying to me to hurt me; in fact it was the opposite of that. Even when he was being secretive and cryptic he was always there to catch me.

I had to trust him and I had to show him that I did; thus I was handcuffed and naked while he crawled all over me. I was supposed to be vulnerable and open to him, only I didn’t feel that way. I felt right. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be all along.

I knew he needed a grand gesture, something more than words to show him I needed him more than I needed the truth, and this was all I could come up with in a pinch. Besides, he’d had a thing for my handcuffs since the very beginning, so I called Dixie and asked her to text me when they were done for the night, parked around the corner, and then snuck into his place with a key Cora had snagged for me. There was something entirely exhilarating about stripping naked and binding your hands together in a symbolic gesture for a man like Asa. Handing myself over to him both body and soul should have been terrifying, but as soon as he opened his mouth and told me he had bought the house for me, I knew I had done the right thing. No secret was worth giving up a man that told you he needed you to be his home.

His heavy weight settled on top of me, and for the first time in two months I felt like I was grounded, not floating between what I was craving and common sense. This was where I needed to always be, with him, under him, inside of him. He made me feel real.

“How does it feel to be the one hooked up for a change?” He moved my arms from where they were looped around his neck and stretched them out as far as they would reach above my head. I drove the tips of my breasts into his chest and made every line of my body arch up into his. His eyes glowed hot enough to light up the entire room and his gaze made a warm flush work up under the surface of my skin.

“Under the circumstances not so bad.” I gave the unforgiving metal a little tug and felt the response in Asa where our lower bodies were pressed together.

“They look way better on you than they ever did on me.” The dry humor in his tone wasn’t lost on me as he bent his head and sealed his mouth over mine.

It had been far too long since we had shared a real kiss. Not one filled with good-bye or regret. I missed it almost as much as I had missed him. His tongue twisted with mine while his hands swept down my naked sides and slipped around to grab on to the curve of my backside. He ravaged my mouth with his own. He ate up my response and I hardly noticed that he was moving us to the edge of the bed. He lifted his head and kissed each of my eyelids, the tip of my nose, and then moved on to the tip of each of my breasts, which were ridged and practically begging him for attention.

I nearly bolted upright at the first flick of his tongue across one turgid nipple. It felt like my entire body was electrified everywhere he touched. I lifted my hand to thread it through his hair and stopped short when both my arms jerked up over my head, forcing my eager flesh even farther into his waiting mouth. He laughed when I grumbled in frustration and lifted my eyebrows at him as he climbed off the edge of the bed so that he was on his knees between my legs.

He smirked at me, lifted one of my legs, and rested it on his shoulder. I squirmed a little bit because his delicious intent was clear all over his handsome face.

“Asa …” I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say to him, but apparently his name was enough to convey all the emotion that was churning around inside of me.

“I know, Red. Believe me, I know.” And then his head disappeared between my legs and all conscious thought ceased.

I couldn’t stop myself from shoving my bound hands into his hair as the first swipe of his tongue across my sensitive folds had my entire body arching up off the bed. It made him chuckle, and the soft puff of air across my heated core sent every muscle in my body quaking. He let go of my backside with one of his hands and used it to tickle the delicate skin along my inner thigh. The double stimulation had my breath wheezing in and out and my blood running heavy and thick through my veins.

When he used the edge of his teeth on my clit and twisted so that he could sink his fingers inside the wet heat that he had stirred up, I almost came all the way off the bed. I yelled his name with a hoarse cry and let my head roll around on the bed because I felt like I was going out of my mind.

He stroked me with his tongue, he stroked me with his fingers, and he didn’t stop even when I was yanking on his hair like a wild woman, the handcuffs rattling around between us. I told him I was close and that just seemed to urge him on even more. He tortured my center of pleasure, not letting up with his gentle ministrations even after I broke apart under him. I was panting, spent, and told him I wanted my turn, but he just slid his fingers out and lifted me up higher so that he could feast on me some more and started all over again.

If it was possible to die from pleasure, I was pretty sure I was looking death right in the face. It was only after two more spine-bending and voice-breaking orgasms, one with his mouth, the other with his clever fingers and his mouth on my nipples, that he finally let up on me. I was a boneless, worthless pile of satisfied goo when he climbed to his feet and started stripping off his own clothes. I wanted to touch, to pet all the rippling muscles that he revealed as his shirt hit the floor. That was hard to do with my hands locked together, but the way his eyes followed my palms as they skated over his abs and down lower so that I could help him with his belt made the awkwardness worthwhile.

“No one else does for me what you do, Royal.” His voice was thick with passion and sweet with the South that still colored it. I looked up at him from under my lashes as I pulled his waiting erection free from the confines of denim that was keeping it from me. “You made this second chance I got at life worth living.”

I blinked up at him and wrapped a hand around the base of his cock. I had to admit there was something extra sexy about the sight with the twin bands of silver around my wrists while I moved my hands up and down the thick shaft. I could feel the blood surge in the heavy veins underneath as he watched what I was doing with intent eyes.

“You cared about me when I was having a really hard time caring about myself. You have always challenged me and never once made me feel like a pretty showpiece and nothing more. You have always valued me, Asa, and I can’t tell you how important that was for me.” I grinned up at him and gave the rigid flesh that was throbbing in my hands a little tug. “And some of your games are fun, Asa, so don’t ever change.”