One of his arms slid up her back and his fingers tangled in her hair, fisting, he held her mouth to his as his other arm moved and then he smacked her, hard, on the ass.

Her body jerked and her head jolted against his hold but he kept it stationary.

“You gonna be my good girl?” he whispered.

“Layne,” she breathed and he liked that, f**k, he liked that, it went straight to his cock.

He smacked her ass again, her body jerked again and then she started riding him harder. She liked this, his Rocky.

“You gonna be my good girl?” he repeated and smacked her ass again.

Rocky moaned into his mouth, her hand slid to his neck, fingers digging in, her other arm around his back and she started f**king him hot and hard and really f**king fast.

He smacked her ass again. “Rocky –”

“Yes,” she breathed into his mouth. “Yes, Layne, I’ll be your good girl.”

Then she slammed down on his cock, ground into him and her head shot back so fiercely it took his hand with it and she moaned deep as her pu**y convulsed around him.

He whipped her to her back and drove into her, his mouth on hers, taking her moans and whimpers while she absorbed his grunts, riding her until his world exploded and he poured himself into Rocky.

After he came down, he stayed rooted inside her and ran his nose, his lips and his tongue along her neck, ear and jaw and she held him safe, wrapped tight in all four of her limbs.

When he had his face in her neck, she turned her head and in his ear, whispered, “Love you, Layne.”

Layne stayed where he was, still and unmoving as he let the golden trail of her words glide through him then he lifted his head and looked at Raquel, her hair spread out on his bed, her face gentle, her pu**y still hot and wet, her body soft under his and he whispered back, “Love you too, baby.”

He dipped his head and kissed her, not hard, but long, his tongue sliding in her mouth, tasting her, so sweet, and she gave, even sweeter until he broke off the kiss, sliding his nose alongside hers.

“I gotta go clean up,” she whispered.

“I’ll be here,” he replied, pulled out and rolled off her.

He watched her move gracefully from the bed, find his tee and she tugged it on as she moved to the bathroom.

Layne got under the covers and rested against the headboard, listening to Rocky in his bathroom and he was thinking they could move the entirety of her living room furniture in his room when she walked out and wandered to his bed, her strut fluid and lazy and he liked it more knowing the laziness came from the orgasm he just gave her.

She pulled back the covers and climbed in, scooting over until she settled with her cheek to his chest, her arm around him, she tangled a leg with his. He pushed his arm under her, pulled up her tee and cupped her bared ass with his hand.

That was new too. If he f**ked her, she slept without underwear. She didn’t used to do that.

He liked it.

He moved and turned out the lamp on the nightstand, plunging the room into blackness but she didn’t make a noise.

He settled back and ran his hand over the cheek of her ass. “Did I hit you too hard?” he murmured.

She shook her head slightly against his chest, her arm getting tight a second and she mumbled, “Unh-unh.”

He grinned in the dark. “You liked it.”

It was a statement.

She didn’t respond except to curl deeper into him which was her response. She liked it.

“I dream of you,” he told her and that caused a response. Her head came up and she looked at him through the dark.

“What?” she asked.

“After you came to visit me in the hospital, I started dreaming of you. Every night. Even when I was in the hospital, I dreamed of you. I still do.”

“Really?” she whispered.

“Yep,” he replied.

“Wow,” she breathed and his hand moved to find her face, cupping her jaw he pulled her up as his neck bent. Then he touched his lips to hers.

After, he said softly, “Yeah, wow. More than wow, sweetcheeks, in my dreams, we’re almost always f**king.”

Her head moved back an inch and her hand slid up his chest to curl her fingers where his shoulder met his neck.

“Really?” she repeated.

“Oh yeah,” he whispered.

“Is it good?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s good. As good as what we just did, not by a long shot but it’s good. I haven’t dreamed of us ha**ng s*x since you came back but I still dream of you. You talk to me.”

Her body got tight and she asked, “Talk to you?”

“Yeah.”

“What do I say?”

“You wake me up. Tell me you need to get to work. The two times I was at your place, you told me to get home to my boys.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

She relaxed then asked, “Why?”

“What?”

“Why?” Rocky repeated. “Why are you dreaming of me?”

“No clue,” Layne answered. “But I like havin’ you here and there.” He pulled her face to his until their lips were touching. “Best of both worlds.”

He felt her smile then he kissed her lightly, released her jaw and she moved down to rest against his chest again.

“So, you going to tell me what you learned with your search?” she prompted.

After he’d kissed her at her place, he’d rendez voused with Ryker who was waiting by Layne’s truck. Ryker had told Layne he’d scoped out unit K, apartment three and assured him he was “on the job” then took off on his Harley. Layne went to the office, ran his searches, ran more because of the results and got home in time for his mother to lecture him on punctuality and courtesy and since dinner was ready, Keira was there again and Devin was home and visibly salivating to tuck into beef tenderloin, Layne hadn’t had a chance to brief Rocky.

He did get the chance to watch her eat an ice cream cone and therefore they went to bed early.

“Both cars are registered to a woman,” Layne told her. “Victoria Aubry.”

“Victoria Aubry,” Rocky whispered.

“You heard that name?” Layne asked and she shook her head against his chest so he went on. “She rents the apartment too. She’s also married to a man named Baxter Aubry.”

Her head came up and he felt her eyes on him through the dark. “Who’s that?”

“Driver’s license picture in the system shows he’s TJ Gaines.”

“Oh my,” she breathed.