Smiling up at him now as he pulls me against his chest, his arms locking tight around me, I almost tell him. I may be out of my mind for falling in love with a lumberjack but here I am. A hot, growly lumberjack who wants to breed me. I shudder in his arms and rub against him, tilting my head back for the kiss I know is coming.
His lips brush against mine, soft and slow at first. When his hands cup the back of my thighs and he lifts me, it changes. It becomes wet and hot, almost voracious, as he backs me against the nearest wall. He pushes between my legs with a hard thrust. He wants to get me back in bed to keep me there with more orgasms.
“Shepard,” I whisper against his mouth, pushing at his shoulders, “I need to go to town. Iwantto go to town. Driftwood is one of my favorite places and I want to see it again. Then I want to come back here. You need to let me go,” I say gently, brushing a hand down his chest when it rumbles with a sound of discord.
“No. I can’t.... I mean, you can’t go to town. What if...I mean what if you get hurt? What if you have another accident? Might have my baby inside you. No way am I letting you go Sami.”
“Take me to town,” I firm my voice as I twist away, “I want to be here with you. But I won’t be a prisoner.” He growls and I can feel him fast on my heels, following every step I take away from him.
Storming from the room because I am overwhelmed by his ferocity, I bite back a smile. I don’t want him to be so obsessive. Or so possessive.Right? I don’t want that, do I?Even though when he lost his cool that day in the woods when his friend found us fooling around, it was the single hottest moment of my life.
Before him, my would-be husband paid me as little attention as possible. We traveled the world together while I took photos, and he wrote articles we hoped touched the world. We were a good team once, and we flirted, but he never made me feel wanted or needed. He shocked me by proposing. I think I said yes because I thought it might be my one chance to be a bride and maybe even a mother.
Shepard showed me I can have all of that and more. I can have a man who wants me, who tells me he needs me, and makes me believe it. I fear how crazy I am about him. I barely remember my life before I crashed into this life, and I don’t want to. I don’t want to go back to it or to how lonely I was.
“Sami, you cannot go to town. Notmy woman, not with my baby in her belly. I would lose everything if something happened to you. How can you even ask to leave?” he calls after me as I pull a hoodie and some jeans from my bags.
Once he found me, there was no chance of me going to Gran’s place. I don’t want to be without him. After my accident, he got my things from the crash and wheeled my bike to his workshop. None of my things have been unpacked besides a toothbrush and my camera. He has kept me either naked or in his clothes for the past week.
With my injuries mostly healed and the rain gone, I want to get back to living my life. I want to live it with him now. I have photos to take and a bike to get fixed. And dammit, I want a cheeseburger and a pile of fries from the diner. He has to trust me and what I feel for him. Or what the hell am I doing here?
“You can take me to town, or I will find my way there. I am not leaving you, Shepard. I am coming back. I need to work. I want to see the town again. Either you believe I want to be here with you, or you don’t. I cannot make that decision for you. I can decide for myself, and Iamgoing to town,” I huff as I pull on a boot and tie it as he watches me, still naked, glorious, and tempting.
“How can you ask me to let you go when I know something could happen to you? Look what landed you here, baby,” he replies, waving a hand at my battered body, “I will go to town to get whatever you want. I am not denying you, baby. I need to be careful with you. I need to protect you. You mean everything to me.”
Staring at him as he heaves a breath, I nod. “And you mean everything to me now. I am yours, Shepard, but I amstill me. Still a photographer. You cannot lock me up to keep me safe. I need to go out there and do my work, it is part of who I am. Part of the woman you claim is your everything. Youaredenying me, Shepard.”
Panic starts to overtake me as I consider how serious he is about keeping me here. I want to be here, but I don’t want to be his prisoner. I almost let another man trap me for all the wrong reasons. Shepard may have different reasons, but it does not change the truth that he would still be trapping me here.
“All I will ever deny is you leaving me. Run all you want. I will come find you, bring you back here, and put another baby in you. As many times as it takes to make you understand that you are mine. My woman, my world,mine,” he growls, advancing on me until he backs me against the door.
Heat unfurls between my legs as his hardness nudges at my thin leggings. His eyes are wild, and I know him enough to know he means every single word. Not to scare me. To get said what we both know—I belong to him.
And I know I do—but do I want to?
Chapter Nine
Shepard
Fear like I have never known has me unhinged.
Watching the woman I love—the woman I am utterly besotted with—walk away from me is not an option. I can’t allow it. I would not be able to stand it. My chest aches and my breath chokes me as I even consider it.
Sami claims to want a visit to town. A burger and fries, she said. Hell, I make the best burger and hand cut fries in town. Ridge picked up her bike yesterday to fix it up, I can order her all the film she needs, and any camera she asks for. Why would she ever need to leave me?
“Shepard. Hey, hey, baby,” her voice shakes me from my thoughts, and I blink down at her.
Sami is pinned to the door, dressed for the first time in days in her own clothes. With me taking her every chance I get, doing my damndest to breed her, I never let her stay dressed. What she has on covers too much. At the same time, I hate the cute unicorn top that is too tight on her tits. And her thick legs look amazing in her tight jean leggings.
“No fucking way,” I growl at her, reaching out to pluck at her nipple, the pierced one that I love licking at and sucking, “no way am I letting you go to town looking so fucking perfect, babydoll. Not happening.”
Sami flushes before she rolls her eyes and pushes at my chest. Those green eyes of hers flicker up to mine and my chest cracks. I am scaring her. I am making her think she is my hostage, not my future wife. Not the woman I adore and respect more than anyone I have ever met.
Sami has no clue that I am in love with her.
My mouth opens to tell her this when there is a thud at the door. It makes her jump and I curse, knowing that sound. Two hard raps and a third long, slow one can be just one person. Keller. Here to let me know how safe the roads must be by now. Safe enough for my babydoll to get away.
Pulling my woman behind me, I throw the door open. Sami giggles and my head snaps back. Another laugh sounds, louder, harder. Turning back to Keller, a cool breeze hits my skin. Oh, I understand the laughs now—I am buck ass naked and baring my teeth at one of my best friends with a hard dick swinging between us.