When he was done, he shoved my face in the side of his neck.

“You good?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah.”

“How good?”

“Really f**king good.”

His arms wrapped tight around me and he gave me a squeeze.

I pressed closer and brushed my lips against his skin before I whispered there, “Thank you.”

“Baby, you don’t have to thank me for makin’ you come.” His voice had a smile in it. “My pleasure and I mean that in every way that can mean.”

I lifted up and looked down at him.

I was not smiling and his faded when he caught sight of my face.

“No,” I said softly. “Thank you for making me feel safe then giving that to me. Never, Creed, not once since him did I give over total control to a man. You’re the only one. I didn’t think I could like it. You made me like it. No, f**king love it and want more. So,” I dropped my face closer, “thank you.”

I watched a wealth of emotions flash through his eyes before his hand pulled me down and he took my mouth again, rolling me, covering me with his body, kissing me long, wet, hard and deep.

When he broke the kiss, his lips trailed over my cheek to my ear and his voice was hoarse when he promised, “You’re always safe with me.”

I held him tight. “I know.”

“I’ll erase him.”

“You already are.”

“Make your body sing.”

“You already do.”

“I love you, Sylvie.”

“I love you back, Creed.”

His head moved, I felt the edge of his teeth run light along my jaw then his lips came back to mine and he locked our eyes.

“Gonna claim back every inch of you,” he vowed.

“You already have.”

“No, I haven’t. But I’m gonna.”

I smiled against his lips. “Looking forward to that, baby.”

He smiled back. “I got that. Nearly begged me to f**k your ass.”

I shrugged under him. “You made it hot.”

“Oh, it’s hot,” he promised.

I squirmed under him. He smiled against my mouth again. Then he touched his lips to mine and lifted his head an inch.

“Need provisions,” he said quietly. “For you to like it, need you slick.”

He was killing me.

“Sex shop, first stop tomorrow,” I declared and he threw back his head and burst out laughing.

I stilled and stared as his laughter shook my body and filled the room with its beauty.

When he sobered, he grinned down at me then his grin faded and his hand came up to curl around the side of my head.

“What?” he whispered.

“I missed you,” I whispered back.

I watched him close his eyes slowly then his face disappeared in my neck.

We lay that way awhile before he rolled us to our sides but kept our bodies close.

When we settled, quietly he told me, “You got shit to think about.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Future shit.”

Oh f**k.

“Creed –”

“Just f**ked you again without a condom, baby.”

Oh f**k!

“You got pills in your bathroom. You take ‘em?” he asked.

“Um… sometimes,” I answered and he grinned. “Usually, I’m steady with that and condoms, always. You’ve put me off my game,” I told him and his grin got bigger. “We’re on day two, Creed,” I reminded him gently. “This is good. I like it. I missed you. I love you. I’m happy as all hell to have you back. But we gotta be better with that shit.”

“Take your pills,” he ordered. “Give me the head’s up when you’re back on track. I like to feel just you.”

I nodded. I liked that too.

He kept talking. “Future shit you gotta think about is just that. I’ll lay it out. I want a life with you. A home with you. Kids with you. All we should have had but did not get. Yet. I want you to get to know my kids and build a relationship with them. And, bonus I didn’t expect, I enjoy workin’ with you. You’re good at what you do. You got energy. You believe in the job. You let that emotion make you better at it rather than clouding it and I dig that. I got a business in Phoenix. You got one here. We gotta pick where we’re gonna be. No pressure but I don’t wanna be far away from my kids or put them through the hassle of flyin’ every other weekend to come and see me. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get creative and work something out. That’s enough for now but that’s where I am, what you need to think about. No decisions today, tomorrow, next week. We’ll talk when you’re ready but that’s where I am.”

“Okay,” I replied.

“Okay,” he whispered.

I decided it was time to switch subjects. “What’s your take on today?”

He rolled to his back but pulled my torso up on his as he did. He looked to the ceiling. I looked at his face.

“I get the play but I still think you all jumped the gun.” His eyes came to me. “Sebring does the job fueled by emotion. I don’t know where it comes from but he’s got a fire in his belly. He was playin’ it smart with finesse, diggin’ deep, lookin’ to make sure he got all the players. Beatin’ the shit outta Nair until he gave all the names of the clients he planted to work over the girls and promised to get the f**k outta Denver might not solve the problem if Nick or some other f**kwad is in on this with him.”

I nodded. “Takes care of the immediate problem, though,” I noted.

“Maybe, maybe not.” His eyes grew sharp on me and when he went on, my body braced. “Torture doesn’t work. Incentives do. Anyone will say anything to stop the pain. We have no idea if he gave us all the names of all the clients he planted. He swears he’s workin’ alone, we can’t trust that either. The only thing we know since we’ve been watchin’ him is that he hasn’t directly approached the girls but Knight’s no further than he was before.”

“Torture didn’t make you say what they wanted you to say to stop the pain,” I said quietly.

“Exactly. Torture does not work if you’re usin’ it on a true believer. Until they offered incentives, they got nothing,” he replied, not quietly.

I pulled in a breath and moved us out of this. I couldn’t deal with this. Not now.

“We’ve found nothing to even hint that Nair had a partner.”