A teardrop rolls down her cheek, her attention dropping to something in my hand—and I realize I’m still holding the gun. Slowly, I set down the firearm a few feet away, so she doesn’t have to look at it. So she doesn’t have to be reminded I’m a monster. But she still doesn’t come to me. She simply huddles more securely into the towel, a broken angel in the weeds.
We’re at a bleak impasse.
She doesn’t want a life of violence.
And I can’t promise I won’t commit murder if another man tries to come for what’s mine. They will, too. She’s a bright beacon of light. She’s a sexual bombshell. She’s beautiful beyond words. Sweet and intelligent and optimistic. She’d be better off without me, but unfortunately, there is no way in hell that is going to happen.
“I’d go insane without you,” I rasp. “I’d rampage my way through Louisiana until someone had mercy on me and shot me down. But even that short time…the time it took someone to put me out of my misery…would be too much. I’d paint the world black with my fucking pain.” My teeth feel glued together. “You’re not leaving.”
“Yes, I am.” She stops trembling and her chin lifts. “Even though I love you.”
With an anguished sound, I tear at my hair. “Fawn, don’t make me tie you up. Please.”
At first, when the color leaves her face, I think it’s because of my threat. Why wouldn’t it be? I’ve just proven I’m a mad man. I’ve just threatened to imprison her, just like she was when I found her. And I can’t do anything to stop myself. I’m obsessed with her. I’m out of my mind. I can no more let her walk out of here, out of my life, than I can predict the future.
But my threat is not why my angel turns pale.
I realize that when a gun cocks behind me.
“You should have checked my pulse, you ugly bastard,” Frank grits out.
My blood stops running. Everything inside of me goes still as death. This morning, before I knew Fawn existed, I wouldn’t have cared if he pulled the trigger. Good, I would have thought. This earth doesn’t need me anyway. But if Frank shoots me and kills me now, he’ll be free to take her. He’ll put his evil hands on her perfect skin. He might even form his own obsession. Where Fawn is concerned, I’m not sure it’s possible to do otherwise. She is the most obsession-worthy being on the planet. And she fucking belongs to me.
“Hands up, Benny, or I’ll bury the bullet in her instead.”
My hands rise automatically, visions of an injured Fawn making me dizzy.
“I can see why you would commit murder for her. Son of a gun. Isn’t she just a stunning little thing?” He smacks his lips. “Never heard a man howl like that while fucking. She must be tighter than hell. I aim to find out.”
My body shakes with mounting ire.
Disbelief.
Denial.
If I turn now and lunge for him, he will shoot me, but I’m a tough motherfucker. Unless it’s a head shot or he gets me directly in the heart, I’ll live long enough to end him. I’ll live long enough to save Fawn from his clutches. She can live in my house for the rest of her life. She’ll be safe here, won’t she?
Only until Frank’s cronies come looking for him.
Helpless with rage, I bellow through my teeth, my body shaking.
Frank laughs at the sight of my agony. “Nice knowing you, Benny Beat Down.”
Fawn dives sideways and picks up my gun. There’s a sharp zipping sound and then everything goes silent. At least until there’s a loud thump behind me—and I turn to find Frank staring up at the sky, this time without an ounce of life in his eyes. No, there wouldn’t be. Not with the bullet hole in the center of his forehead.
All I can think about is caring for my angel.
I fight through my shock and walk toward her on my knees, gently prying the gun from her cold fingers and sliding it away through the leaves. Then I pull her into my lap and do my best to warm her icy skin, rubbing her with my palms, kissing her everywhere I can reach. “Oh Jesus, not my girl. Not my girl. I never would have asked you to do that. I hate that you had to do something so against who you are—”
“No,” she murmurs, sounding more than a little dazed. “I understand now. I didn’t before. But…when you love someone, the thought of them being hurt is unbearable. I couldn’t let him shoot you—and he would have. I’ve never seen evil like that. Like him. I couldn’t let him take my man. I understand now.” She turns in my lap and wraps her legs around my waist, her body shaking with silent tears. “I’d kill him all over again. For you. My sweet giant.”
“You’ll never have to hold another gun in your hands,” I vow fervently, crushing her to my chest. “Never again, Fawn.”
“But you will.” Her eyes are clear when she pulls back to look at me. “I’ve never felt fear like I did when I thought Frank was going to take me. It was naïve of me to believe men can always work out their differences with words. When someone has pure evil in them, like I saw in that man’s eyes…maybe there is only one way to stop him.” She gulps. “Are there a lot of men like him, Benny?”
I want to lie to her. To tell her the world is a magical place. She deserves to live in a utopia filled with sunshine and comfort. But I’ll never tell her another untruth. I’ll never go back on my word to her again as long as I live. “Yes, there are a lot of bad men out there, baby.”
The towel comes loose and sags. She scoots closer in my lap, blinking up at me with her big, gorgeous eyes. “Don’t let them get me, Daddy.”
“I won’t,” I promise ardently, sucking down her fragrance. “I’ll strengthen the gates. I’ll make them ten feet higher. No one will ever go near you again.”
Her warm breath coasts up my throat and my cock stiffens. Now is not the time to get turned on. I’m a bastard for panting after her pussy when she’s still upset. But God, I want to feel her around me. Reassure myself that this miracle is happening and I get to keep her, despite what I’ve done. Despite who I am.
“Good,” she whispers, reaching down to unbutton my pants. A moment later, she shifts her hips and slides me into her hot, wet cunt and I cry out like a fucking animal, shaken by the sheer intensity of my passion for her. My angel. “You’re not a murderer, are you? You’re a guardian. A hero. You hurt those who deserve it and care for the ones who don’t. Like me, like your animals. Maybe violence is okay if it’s for a righteous cause.”
I can’t speak. I can only pant into her neck and nod.
“Be violent with me,” she breathes, flexing her inner walls around me, rocking her hips. “And when you’ve filled me up, we’re going to figure out how to make you the new boss…” Her tongue drags along my jawline. “Because that’s what you were meant to be.”
Epilogue
Fawn
Five Years Later
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
My husband comes in through the front door of our house. Before he sees me, there are a few seconds where I notice the tension bracketing his mouth. But it drains away when we lock eyes. When he spies me sitting on the edge of the dining room table in one of his shirts, the white garment hanging off one of my shoulders.