“If I had, I wouldn’t have opened the door.”

“Do not fucking get smart with me right now!” he roars, making me jump again.

“I’m not.” I stand, needing and wanting to gain some control of the situation. “I wasn’t even thinking.”

“He could have forced you inside the house, June. He could have done something to hurt you.”

“He didn’t.” I frown then, like an idiot, continue, “He wouldn’t do that.”

“Are you sure about that?” he thunders, leaning forward with his hands on his waist.

Swallowing, I close my eyes, because I know he’s right. I have no idea what Lane would do. I didn’t even know his name was Lane until I was dragged into the police station in the middle of the night. And that guy who was outside on the front porch wasn’t the Lane I knew.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper after a moment, feeling tears burn my throat as I try to swallow them down.

“Come here.” Opening my eyes, my gaze connects with his still pissed-off one.

“You’re mad,” I state the obvious, while keeping my feet planted where they are.

“I’m fucking furious, beautiful, but I still want you to come here.” He points to the ground where he’s standing.

“I feel safer over here.”

“June,” he warns, and my feet move. As soon as I’m close, his arms shoot out, wrapping around me, and his face drops to my neck, where he breathes in deep.

“I’m sorry. I won’t answer the door without looking again,” I whisper, circling my arms around his back.

“I know you won’t,” he rumbles against the skin of my neck, holding me tighter.

Running my hands down his back, I ask softly, “Are you okay?”

“I knew who he was when I pulled up to the house and saw him standing in the doorway. I saw your face and could tell you were scared. I wanted to fucking kill him for putting that look on your face.”

“He was fine at first, but then he saw my engagement ring and got angry,” I explain, and my hands start to shake.

“You have nothing to fear,” he vows, pulling away to look at me. “Nothing,” he repeats, and I drop my forehead to his chest, feeling his lips at the crown of my head.

“Will you be okay for a few, while I go out and talk to your uncle?”

“Yeah.” I nod against his chest and his hands move to my jaw, tilting my head back. “I’m sorry,” I repeat once more, while holding his concerned gaze.

“I love you, baby, so fucking much that even the idea of you breathing that motherfucker’s air pisses me off.” His forehead touches mine and I watch his eyes close briefly. “I’m not mad at you, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree, fisting my hands in his tee while his words wash through me.

“Give me a few minutes, yeah?”

“Yeah.” His mouth touches mine in a soft kiss, that lets me know we’re okay, before he lets me go and disappears down the hall.

“Don’t answer the door again without Ninja being in the house,” Evan instructs, and I tilt my head back to look up at him from my position against his chest in bed.

“I won’t.” After Evan came back in from talking to my uncle, he didn’t mention Lane’s visit again. Even after he noticed that the back door had bite marks in the wood around the doorjamb and saliva all over the glass from Ninja’s barking, when he was trying to get inside, sensing in his doggie way that his mom was in trouble. When Evan saw the damage, I explained that Ninja had been outside when the doorbell rang. With us not having a doggie door and it being the middle of summer, I had shut the door, leaving Ninja out in the backyard, so I didn’t lose the cooled air in the house while he wandered the grass for hours. Something he loves to do. I could tell he was pissed, but he didn’t say anything about it until now.

“Your uncle is going to talk to the judge tomorrow about getting a restraining order. Now that he’s made contact, we’ve got a better chance of getting it approved,” he says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I sit up, putting my elbow into the bed, so I can look down at him.

“Do you think he’ll be back?” I ask, and his fingers run through my hair, sliding it over my bare shoulder.

“I want to say no, but I can’t guarantee he won’t.”

“Great.” I sigh, dropping to my back and covering my face.

His hands wrap around mine, pulling them from my face, and his eyes go hard. “It will be okay.”

“I believe you.” I lift my hands, running my fingers over his jaw, watching as his eyes soften. “As long as I have you, I have nothing to worry about. I know that, down to my soul,” I get out, before his head drops to mine and he kisses me, making me forget about everything.

*

“Oh…” My legs tense and my eyes blink open, seeing the early morning light spilling across the ceiling.

“Morning.”

Looking down the length of my body, I catch Evan’s wicked grin before his face lowers between my legs and his hands cup my ass, bringing me deeper into his mouth. Waking primed and ready from his touch has become one of my favorite ways to start my day. The added fact that he seems to get off on it just as much as I do only makes me love it even more.

“Ev.” My teeth dig into my bottom lip and my hands fist in his hair, when one finger then another enters me slowly, and his tongue circles my clit. Raising my hips higher, I silently beg for more.