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I hugged him again and then jogged back to my SUV. When he’d texted me this morning to come over to his house ASAP, only the worst reasons filled my mind. And it had been for nothing. The fear had been for nothing. For the unknown.

I drove back toward Stonebar, testing every speed limit to get back to my daughter. To hold her and know she wasn’t going anywhere. I’d lived with enough giant question marks for long enough. I wanted just a few goddamn days to bask in the security that no one was going to take Paisley away. That all of this…was finally over.

During that time, I planned to ignore how that meant that Harper and I should technically be over, too.

“What happened?” Harper asked the first moment we were alone after Pais had gone to bed.

Everything after getting back from Wade’s had been a whirlwind. There was nothing to tell Paisley because she didn’t know about the lawsuit, but she could tell something had changed in the way I looked at her, the way I hugged her, the way I dropped to my knees and told her I loved her. She asked if I was okay because she could sense a shift, and my eyes burned, even now, recalling how I could finally tell her I was more than okay and have it not be a lie.

Meanwhile, all it took was one look for Harper to know something had happened with the judge. My little queen wore her whole damn heart on her sleeve, and it wasn’t just the thing that had first attracted me to her, but that attracted me the most.

“It’s over?” she whispered.

My chin dipped. “Judge denied the petition.”

She covered her mouth with her hand, but a small sound managed to eke through. “Congratulations, Blaze. I’m so happy—so happy for the both of you.” She went to wipe the tears that coursed down her cheeks, but my hands beat her to it. I cupped her face, watching her mouth part as she sucked in a breath, and then let my tongue wipe the drops of wet away.

“Final papers come through on Monday, but it’s really over. Pais is mine.”

“Everything you hoped for,” she said, her voice growing coarse.

My head lowered to hers, and I murmured, “Almost,” and then covered her mouth with mine.

A different kind of relief crashed through me. Like I’d expected her to disappear right from my hands when I kissed her beyond our expiration date. This fling was only supposed to exist as long as I stayed at her house, which was only necessary while the lawsuit was going on. How did I tell her I wanted it to continue? That I wasn’t ready for it to end?

“Blaze…” she moaned into my mouth.

“I need you. I need to be inside you,” I said roughly, hauling her up into my arms. The stress that was coiled like a spring from this entire fucking ordeal had just snapped loose, and I didn’t want to talk about what happened or the future. I didn’t want to have to think when I was just figuring out how to fucking breathe again. I wanted this. I wanted an escape. I wanted her.

And she knew exactly what I needed.

Moaning, she locked her legs around my waist, letting me carry her into her bedroom. The second I closed the door, I had her up against it, my hips grinding against hers.

“Yes, Blaze.” Her head tipped back, letting my mouth sink down the soft column of her throat. All it took was one flick to lose the strap of her flimsy tank and let it fall below her breast. “Please,” she begged, bucking against me as my lips covered her taut nipple and sucked hard. “Oh god, yes.”

Her hands twisted in my hair, holding me to her. I groaned at the sounds she made as I licked and teased her breast, feeling her sleep shorts grow wet against my fingertips.

“Let’s see how wet this pussy is for me.” My voice dragged low and rough over her skin as I slid my hand from under her ass to where she wanted me. “Oh, fuck.” My teeth locked on her nipple, fighting to keep my sanity when my knuckles brushed over her cunt. She’d soaked through her clothes.

“Please, Blaze. Please, touch me.”

God, I was going to do so much more than that.

Shoving the wet slip of fabric out of my way, my fingertips found her dripping entrance and pushed inside her.

“Yes,” she panted, grinding into my hand. “More.”

With a hungry growl, I set my mouth back on her breast, feeling how every drop of my tongue and every pull of my lips made her pussy clench around my fingers. I fucked her with those fingers as my hips continued to grind against hers. I was dying to be inside her. It was fucking shameful, but as soon as Wade told me the suit was over—finished—it felt like the relief was too big for my body to contain or let loose on its own, like it might destroy me. And all I could think of was Harper. Of touching her—taking her. Of burying myself inside her so I could believe the relief I felt was real.

And Fuck, I shouldn’t have needed that. I shouldn’t have needed her. Not now. Not as badly as I did. Not for something—someone who was only supposed to be temporary.

“Fuck, you’re so wet,” I breathed against her breast. “So ready for my cock. So ready to come.”

Her whole body trembled against me, around me.

“I need you,” she whimpered so softly she sounded almost on the verge of tears. “Please, Blaze. I need you.”

Me.