Page 21 of Breaking Her In

The thing is, it’s not just the sex.

It’s more.

It’s the way she looks at me–like I’m the whole world, like I’m a good man. Like I’m her strong protector who can keep her safe. It’s the way her eyes flare when she sasses me like the undeniable little brat she is.

This feeling that’s got such a deep hold on me–I think it’s love. I’m in love with the girl I was never even supposed to touch.

I want to build a life for her. Provide for her. Make her happy.

But I’ve got no business dreaming about a forever with Lena–not when her dad’s the one who signs my checks and decides if I still have a job. He’d lose his mind if he knew I was fucking his daughter last night. As he said, he’d kill me.

He wouldn’t even have to do it himself. I can picture a gang of suited fists-for-hire coming to get me–hear the crack of their fists against my jaw. I can imagine Lena sobbing as she’s forced to watch as she’s dragged away, and me too broken and bloody to stop it.

Or even worse, he’d just take Lena from me, ship her overseas to some fancy college and bribe her out of my life with all the money in the world.

And what would I do then?

WhatcouldI do?

Spend the rest of my life searching for her? I’d do it, even if it destroyed me.

Fear claws in my chest like the barbed wire I have to string today. I’ve never been scared of anything–fights, jail, not even pain. But losing Lena? That’s the one thing I could not survive.

* * *

She findsme by the vegetable garden later, and the second I see her, my whole body relaxes. The tension subsides, the tightness in my chest eases. And what’s more, I light up like a thousand-watt-bulb.

Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, and she’s got hay stuck to her shirt–well,myshirt. And she’s laughing at something that Missy, the gal from Boston who works here part-time, said to her.

She walks toward me like she’s drawn by a string–hooked on a fishline. And when she reaches me, she falls into my arms and presses her cheek to my chest. “Hey, you.”

“Hey, you,” I murmur, resting my chin on her head. I take a long, deep breath, drugging myself on her pheromones. My whole body reacts, and I know I’m done for.

“You all right?” she asks, looking up at me with such sweetness in her eyes.

I nod, but I’m lying again. I’m not okay. I’m a wreck. I’ve tasted heaven, and there’s a good chance it’s going to be torn away.

I take her again right behind the seed shed, her shorts around her ankles and my pants down to my knees. I watch her ass bounce on my cock and spank her smooth skin as I fuck her–roughly this time. Needy and desperate. I thrust hard inside her. Hard enough to make her sore.

She needs to know who it is she belongs to. Because if her dad finds out and takes her away, this time on the ranch could be our only time together.

I come inside her, causing her to buck back against me. We climax together, and I twist her over onto her back and press my body on top of her.

“I love you, Lena,” I whisper, even though I know I shouldn’t. Even though it’s absolutely the wrong thing to do.

But Lena’s eyes widen, and her lips curl up when she hears me say it. I can tell by her expression that she feels it too, and for a brief second, the fear of our future fades.

For a second, I think we can survive this.

“I love you too, Colt.”

But before she falls asleep in my arms that night–curled up against my chest, her fingers resting softly on my heart–I stare up at the ceiling and think about what’s coming.

Her father.

His money.

His rage.

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