Kane shook his head. “No. It wouldn’t matter if he wanted every cent I have. I’d pay it if it meant getting to stay with you.”
I held him close to me, loving his devotion and hoping he’d understand when he found out what I’d done. Like him, I’d give anything to have him free.
“I have to admit I’m a little surprised he didn’t want anything else. A few grand more a month is a small price to pay for beating that brother of his. He didn’t say he wanted anything more, though.”
I looked up into his eyes and smiled. The stress and fear I’d seen in them for days was gone, replaced by that gentleness they always showed when he was around me. “Sounds like he’s all about the money. Those kind of people are the easiest to deal with. They always have a price.”
“Enough talk about them. I think I want to lay in bed all night with you, only getting up to get food and drink. How does that sound?”
How it sounded was perfect. The problem was I had to be at Jethro’s bar by nine and with Kane home, there would be no way I’d be able to. As much as I hated lying, I needed to find a way to get out of the house so Gemma could take me to work at his bar.
“I heard from Gemma a little while ago. I need to go to her place tonight. She’s feeling bad about how things are going with the new guy.”
“I thought they were still in the honeymoon phase,” he said with a smile.
“Guess not. I’d planned on staying with her until you got out of work.”
He nuzzled my neck and whispered, “I’d rather you stay with me, but if she needs you, I can’t say no. When do you need to leave?”
“She’s not picking me up until eight, so we have some time.”
Kane lifted his head and flashed me a sexy grin. “Good. I’m going to have to fit in a night’s worth of lovemaking in just a few hours, though.”
“I think I can handle that,” I said with a giggle, loving how playful he was now that he’d gotten the good news that I’d helped make happen.
Lifting me into his arms, he kissed me and I wrapped my legs around his waist so he could carry me upstairs to the bedroom. We’d christened every room in the house already, so I joked as he laid me onto the bed, “I guess tonight’s a bedroom night.”
He kept his gaze on me as he slid out of his shirt. Licking his lips, he grinned. “You say that like it’s boring.”
“Not at all,” I answered as I watched him slip off his pants and stand at the edge of the bed naked in front of me with his cock getting harder by the moment. “I don’t think any man with a cock piercing can be called boring, Kane.”
He flicked his tongue over his lower lip. “We’ll get to that later. Right now, I had something else in mind.”
Still fully clothed, I lay back and he slowly removed my shirt and shorts, kissing a path from my neck to my breasts. He slid his hands behind my back and removed my bra, tossing it to the side before he turned to take one excited nipple into his mouth. Flicking his tongue over the taut skin, he sent strings of need weaving through me straight to my core.
I ran my hands over his short black hair, holding him to me as he gently bit down on my tender skin. Even now, with his teeth marking me, Kane was gentle. I knew somewhere inside his demons could make that change at any moment, but that fact didn’t frighten me.
Only the threat of losing him frightened me, but tonight I’d be at Jethro’s bar to make sure that didn’t happen. If Kane could protect me, I could do the same for him.
“Angel, everything all right?”
I looked down at him and nodded. “I’m all right.”
“Did I do something to scare you? I didn’t mean to hurt you, if I did.”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” I cradled his face in my hands. “It’s perfect, like always.”
Kane slid up my body to kiss my lips, softly and sweetly showing me he loved me as he whispered, “I would never hurt you intentionally, Abbi.”
“You never hurt me, Kane. From the moment you came down to see me behind the bar that night, you’ve been kinder than any man I’ve ever met. The rest of the world may see the cold man, but I never do.”
“I don’t care about the rest of the world when I’m with you. All I care about is that you’re happy. Tell me you’re happy, angel, so while you’re at Gemma’s tonight I can be happy without you.”
Never before had anyone been so able to make my heart ache with just words. I wanted to tell him the truth—that I had made that deal with Mason Jennings because I loved him and would do anything to keep him safe. I couldn’t, though. He’d never let me go there to work for that man and then that awful councilman and his disgusting brother would make sure he went to jail.
I couldn’t let that happen. For the first time in my life, I had a man who loved and protected me. That kind of man was worth any risk to keep.
“I love you, Kane. I would do anything to make you happy. I’ve never felt so loved and protected in my life, and that’s all because of you.”
“I swear I will never let anyone hurt you again. Never.”
Kissing him, I ran my hands over his muscular back and whispered in his ear, “I know, and I won’t let anyone hurt you either.”
He made a contented sigh and slowly slid into me, stretching my body to accommodate his cock. With every inch, I felt those metal studs drag along my tender skin, like the sweetest torture I never wanted to end. When we were completely joined, I wrapped my legs around his waist and tilted my hips to feel him against my most sensitive spot.
“You feel so fucking good, angel. Like your body was made for my cock.”
Rearing back, he left me empty and desperate to feel him fill me again. Scratching my nails down his back, I pushed my hands against his firm ass and whimpered, “Come back to me. I want you so much.”
Kane thrust his hips forward and buried himself inside me with a low groan. When he was like this—powerful and sensual—I wouldn’t have been able to deny him anything. I adored him. His masculine smell. His throaty voice whispering sexy words as he fucked me. How his body brought me to heights of ecstasy no man had ever even come close to. Those beautiful blue eyes staring down into mine as his every movement aimed to please me.
His hands balled into fists in my hair, and he tugged hard, telling me he was close. Pumping into me, he groaned, “I can’t hold back, angel.”