Chapter 31 #2

“Fuck, Clover. You’re something else.” The glide of his penis in and out. In. Out. It’s driving me to the brink of my control. “I love your quirky mind.”

He releases my breasts and joins both of our hands above my head, settling his weight more deeply onto me while his hips take on a slow, rolling seduction.

“I love your heart.” He plants an open-mouth kiss in the center of my chest. “Your quiet strength.”

In. Out. He’s ruining me.

“Oh, God,” I groan when he hits that magic spot deep in my core. “Do that. That. Right there. Again. Oh, please.”

“I love your demanding vixen side.” Valen sinks his teeth into that sensitive skin where my neck meets my shoulder, and I cry out as small tremors of desire roll through my veins.

“I love that you protect your friends.” He rolls his hips, hitting my clit in the process, and the first blazes of white light dot my vision. “That despite your past, you chose a family who loves you. That no matter how many times you get knocked down, you keep getting up.”

I clench so tightly around his dick that my muscles begin to spasm.

“Do that again,” he demands, so I do.

It spurs him into motion, and he thrusts in earnest, my boobs bouncing each time our bodies connect.

Reaching between us, he traps my swollen clit between his fingers. “I’m going to count to three, Clover, and then we’re going to come together.”

My mouth drops open. I’m not sure my body works that way.

“I’m going to fill your pussy with my cum just to watch it leak out of you, and then I’m going to do it again. You’ll always be free with me, Clover, but I’ll own your orgasms. Are you ready for that?”

Is he out of his freaking mind?

“One.” He rolls my clit, and the stars dance across the darkness in my mind.

“Two.” He taps against the bundle of nerves with a rough, steady beat.

“Three.” He pinches my nub, and I lose all control of my body.

It’s a laser show behind my eyes when my pussy clenches so hard I soak my thighs and him. He groans, pulling back just enough to see the mess I’m making.

“Oh, hell, Honeybee. Now that I know I can make you squirt, we’re going to get real, real dirty.”

I’m pretty sure I black out then because he makes it his mission to pry two more orgasms from my body, and when I’m finally coherent enough to form words, there’s only three I want to say.

“I love you.” It’s whispered and hoarse, but true.

We’re still tangled together on the couch, clothes askew, hearts racing.

“I love you so fucking much,” he says, brushing hair from my sweaty face. “I don’t need my memories of you to know that you’re my future. We’re going to get through this.”

“Promise?”

“Always, Honeybee. It’s always been you and me forever.”

“Forever,” I echo as my eyes droop heavily.

And for a moment—one perfect, stolen moment—I believe him.

We’re still at the Chug when the sun rises.

At some point between orgasms, we migrated to the floor, spreading out the blankets Madi keeps in the back room for R&R Road’s monthly senior meeting.

We’ll need to dry-clean them pronto. Luckily, Valen cleaned up our earlier…mess while I was passed out.

We’re drinking coffee from Blissy’s secret stash—the good stuff she keeps hidden for caffeine emergencies—and I’m tucked against his side with my laptop balancing on my thighs.

“What are you working on?” he asks, staring at my screen.

“A very broken manuscript,” I mutter, scrolling through the document. “I can’t figure out the ending.”

“Ending of what?”

“The new book I’m writing. My publisher pitched this idea about a woman escaping her past.” I shrug. “Turns out I don’t know how to tell her story yet.”

“You will,” he says. “I’ve read all your books, Clover. You’re talented. Truly. You’ll figure this out too.”

I openly gape at him. “You’ve read them…all?”

“Every single one,” he says earnestly. “That’s how I know you’ll figure this one out too.”

“What if it doesn’t end the way I want?”

He’s quiet for a moment, staring at me as though he’s memorizing the stories and lies I keep hidden behind the windows to my soul. “Are we still talking about the book?”

“I—I don’t know.”

His arm tightens around my shoulders. “Explain it to me.”

“I don’t know how to move on if Terra still exists.

I guess it was just easier when I thought she was dead.

Now, the reality of her feels like hands tightening around my neck.

I just need…I want her out of my life for good this time, Valen, and the girl in my story?

I feel like it’s me. I don’t know how to give her a happy ending if my own personal villain is still roaming free.

” The words tumble out before I can stop them.

“Does that make me a bad person? That I want someone…gone?”

“No.” He kisses the side of my head. “It makes you human.”

“I don’t care if she’s in prison or dead though, so how does it make me any different from her?”

“Because we’re looking for justice, not revenge, and I’m not sure that line exists in her world.”

“I hate that you’re right,” I mutter.

He smiles. “Get used to it. I’m right a lot.”

I’m about to respond when my phone buzzes.

Then buzzes again.

And again.

The emergency text tree.

My stomach drops.

“Valen—”

He’s already reading over my shoulder.

Agnes: ALERT! Stranger spotted. Female, 50s, dark hair. Betty’s Diner. 6:15 a.m.

Betty: ALERT. Subject left diner, heading south on Main with a suspicious-looking group dressed all in black. Lost visual at the hardware store.

Mr. Huckabee: Anyone see her? Check in if you spot her.

“She’s here,” I whisper.

“We knew she would be, but how the hell did Rip’s cameras miss her?”

Anticipating a future situation and knowing the reality are two very different things.

My body switches from post-orgasm haze to survival mode so fast I get whiplash. Thirty seconds ago, I was safe, loved, whole.

Now my heart is slamming against my ribs and that familiar cold dread is crawling across my skin. But just as quickly, it’s rolling and twisting into something other than fear.

She’s here. In my town. Walking my streets. Breathing my air.

And I’m fucking pissed.

Valen’s phone rings, and he puts it on speaker.

“Stay where you are,” Roman says. “Do not leave the Chug. Rip has men in place, and I’m sending another team your way now.”

“Did you find her?” he asks.

“Not yet. But we will. Sit tight.” Roman hangs up.

Valen’s already picking my sweatshirt off the floor and walking to me. He tugs it over my head while blood whooshes in my ears.

Have I ever been this angry?

“Are we safe here?” I ask.

“Roman said to stay here, so yes.” His gaze darts from one window to the next.

“Roman can⁠—”

The front door of the Chug opens, and I swallow so much air on a gasp that I choke.

Valen tugs me behind him while reaching for a weapon I hadn’t noticed at his back until now.

Keys jingle from a large brass ring, and I nearly sob in relief.

“Morning!” Blissy calls out. She’s here to open Blissful Beans & Leaves for the day. “Didn’t expect anyone here this—oh.” She stops, taking in the scene. “Oh my.” Blissy grins and fans her face.

My cheeks go nuclear because her words sound like a catcall.

“We were just⁠—”

“Working,” Valen supplies smoothly. “Clover was writing because she couldn’t sleep. I was keeping her company.”

“Uh-huh.” Blissy’s smile has me blushing in seven different shades of embarrassment. “So, you were…supervising?”

“Something like that,” Valen says, tugging on the back of his neck.