“Yeah?” he asks, trying to hide his excitement.

“Well, if I keep you around.”

He chuckles. “Maybe I’ll get rid of you.”

“Ha!” I say in his face as I lean up. “You wouldn’t.”

Zach tilts slightly, pushes my hair back, and grins. “I don’t know . . .” His hands lift the blanket. “You’re hot.” He reaches his hand down to my thigh, slowly making his away around the front. “But you always were hot.”

“Is that so?” I ask as I part my legs for him. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

His lips touch my shoulder and I shiver. “All the guys would talk about how if I ever lost you, they’d be the first in line.”

I shake my head. “Is that why you refused to breakup with me?” His finger brushes against my clit, and I moan.

He continues to rub in small feather-light circles. “Nope.” His voice has some extra grit to it. “I would’ve killed anyone who touched you. You, Presley Mae, are everything to me.”

I want to say something back, but as soon as he says the last word his thumb presses down and he fingers me. My head presses back against the pillow as I arch into his touch.

“Your body is mine to do this to,” he murmurs before nipping at my ear. “Mine to have.” He pinches the nerves, and I almost buck off the bed. My legs open wider while I hope he keeps going.

I’m climbing higher as he continues. His fingers slide in and out slowly, keeping me right at the cusp. “I need more.” I lean into his touch, but he jerks back.

“I need to hear it, Presley.”

I don’t know what he needs, but I really want to come. “Zach,” I protest.

“Say the words, and I’ll make you come,” he promises.

My eyes don’t move from his. “What words?” I say while every part of my body is tight. “I’ll say whatever you need.”

Right now, I could scream with desire.

“That you’re mine now.”

The word “now” stands out. I adore that he feels I always was his without dismissing my life with Todd. My fingers grip the back of his neck. “I’m yours now and always, Cowboy.”

Not a moment later, he has me pinned to the bed. He lines his dick up and pushes inside of me. My eyes roll back as I feel him fill me to the brink. Each thrust brings me closer. Each sound of skin slapping against each other binds us closer. I breathe him in, committing it to memory. He’s the sun, the air, the beautiful touches of light that surround us. I want to live here with him forever. His arms envelope me, his love satiates me, and his voice comforts me. I know who I am when I’m with him.

I push him on his back, needing to make him feel my love. I want to show him everything that’s in my heart. “Watch me,” I say.

I hold his dick in my hand, guiding him inside of me. “You have no idea . . .” he says, watching himself disappear inside of me. “You’re a part of me.”

“And you’re a part of me too.”

Zach’s head drops against the pillow once I’m fully seated. I wait. I want his eyes on me. To see him lose it as I’m giving myself to him is the sexiest thing in this world. The candles provide the most beautiful glow over him. His usually tan skin looks deeper, his blue eyes are warmer, and every inch of him is all mine.

When his gaze meets mine, I start to move. “Fuck,” he groans.

“That’s what we’re doing.”

“No, darlin’,” he says. “We never fuck. Even when we’re rough.” Zach’s fingers grip my hips, digging into the flesh. “Even when it’s fast, hard, and completely out of control.” He leans forward so we’re chest to chest. He takes a fistful of my locks in his hands and tugs. “I’m always loving you.”

I kiss him hard. We both collapse, and I ride him. The friction causes my climax to come fast and hard. I cry out his name over and over as I pulse around him.

Zach flips me on my back and pounds into me. We don’t speak, but I feel him saying it all. He loves me. I love him. Zach finishes and pulls me back in his arms. “I think we should build that house. I could do this with you for a long time.”

My lips draw into a smile. I kiss his chest and nestle in. “I could too.”

And I really could. Now, it’s as if the dreams that used to haunt me of Todd have changed into him watching over us. Maybe that’s why the dreams were so distressing before. I was so angry with him that my mind wouldn’t allow me the chance to be happy. But once I let that go, everything fell into place.

I glance down at my phone where there’s still no message.

I call, but it goes to voicemail.

“Hey, babe. I don’t know where you are. I’m worried. Please call me back.”

A knot forms in my stomach as I go over the number of things that could’ve happened. Of course my imagination runs wild as it goes from car accident to him sleeping. I decide to walk to his house. I’ll never sleep now.

I think back to the last time I couldn’t get someone I loved on the phone.

I make my way to his house and force myself to stop connecting this to my past. He’s not Todd, and it’s unfair to even let myself go there. He has a good reason why he’s not here—like sleeping. I head back to the creek, and wait for another hour. It’s almost four in the morning now, and I’m exhausted.

He’s obviously not coming, so I go back home.

Instead of waking anyone, I curl up on the porch swing and close my eyes.

“Presley!” I hear someone yelling my name. “I know you’re here! Come down so we can talk!”

I open my eyes as the sun blinds me. My body is stiff from sleeping on a wooden swing, and I have no idea what time it is.

“Zach?” I look off the porch as he exits the barn. “What are you doing?” I look down at my phone and it’s six thirty in the morning.

Great. A little over an hour of sleep. I’m going to be a treat.

“What am I doing?” He stumbles and slurs a little.

“Are you drunk?” I ask. He moves to the side then drops back a little. I take a look at him, and he’s still in the same clothes from the bar, there’s dirt all over him, and he has something in his hand. “Are you seriously at my house drunk like this?”

“Should I not be here, darlin’?” Zach challenges me.

I’m beyond confused. We were supposed to meet last night, if anyone should be angry, it’s me. “No.” I huff out a deep breath as I step down off the porch. “Where were you last night? I waited for you by the creek. I was worried.”

He walks toward me and blows out a heavy breath. “You should be.”

“What?”

“You should be worried, Presley.” He leans back against the wooden barn doors. “Or you can drink until it doesn’t hurt. When you’re drunk, you don’t give a fuck anymore.”

He’s not making any sense. “Don’t care about what? Where the hell were you last night?”

“I was learnin’.”

Oh, Jesus. This conversation is exhausting me. “Let’s get you to bed. You need to sleep this off.” I step closer and he moves quickly.