My chest tightens at the admission, even though I already know the asshole had an agreement to wait until the wedding night when the ink was dry on the contract. “I would’ve tortured him for centuries if he had.”

Lakynn reaches up, almost without thinking, and adjusts my baseball hat the same way she used to before things got all fucked up. Before I left town.

Then she realizes what she’s doing and tries to pull back.

I catch her wrist.

“Please,” I whisper, breathing hard. “Don’t pull away from me.”

I press her palm to my cheek, holding it there like it’s my only salvation. Because it really, truly is. I close my eyes and lean into her hand.

She doesn’t pull away this time.

Her fingers stroke my skin, gentle, reverent.

“I’ve missed you so much it makes my bones ache,” I murmur.

I kiss her palm. Then the inside of her wrist.

She starts to scoot forward, but I grab her hips and hold her in place. I don’t know if she’s trying to move closer to me or trying to get away. I need her right where I have her. I can’t lose control and rush this. It wouldn’t be fair to her. Nothing has been fair to her, and I’m determined to make that right.

“We need to go,” I say, keeping my voice gentle. “There are things I need to take care of before we disappear.”

Her eyes flick to mine. Cautious. But she’s wary. “Disappear?”

I nod. “Once I’m done, we’re gone. You and me.”

She blinks. “Where?”

I lean in, brushing her hair off her cheek. My thumb stays at her jaw.

“Somewhere safe,” I promise. “Where you’ll never have to worry. No one will ever touch you again.” Caiden Grey has helped me arrange everything, and I’ll owe him big, but it’s worth it. My girl is worth everything in the damn world.

She swallows hard. The tension between us shifts into something even heavier now. I can feel it humming beneath her skin, just like it does mine. She looks at my mouth. I see it. I feel it. She wants me the way I want her.

But I don’t kiss her.

I can’t with how reckless I feel right now.

My hand finds her knee and then creeps higher up her thigh. My breath catches when she shudders, just slightly, but enough that I feel her instinctively part her legs, allowing me better access.

“Good girl,” I murmur, fingers trailing over the damp heat pressed against her worn, thin jeans. “That’s it. That’s my good girl.”

She gasps as I rub her gently through the fabric, and her forehead presses harder against mine.