Twenty-One

Vale

My heart leapt into my throat when Day pulled his truck into my driveway. I didn't dare hope it was for a good reason, then I saw the green tissue-wrapped flowers in his hand and the way he chewed on his bottom lip. My excited heartrate practically drowned out the sound of his knock on my front door.

I made him wait even though I stood at the entrance to the foyer, not five feet from the door. I barely dared to breathe, let alone believe he was here.

"Dayton," I said when I pulled open the front door, my features schooled to a bland expression. I ignored the flowers he pushed toward me. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

"I think you said all you had to say to the terrible sister to an MC member. Good forbid, you have to breathe the same air as me."

"Stop it," he warned.

"Don't tell me what to do. You don't have that right."

The paper on the flowers protested as his fists clenched. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"No. It's not okay. You hurt me. You broke up with me over something I can't control—unless I write off my brother and never see him again. And if you want that, you can go back to your house and whatever you've been doing and forget it. Kale is my family. I wouldn't disown him any more than you would Brennan."

"I wouldn't ask you to do that—"

"You would have a few days ago."

"And I've been miserable for it, alright!" he practically yelled. "I spent most of my time staring over here and worrying about you and where you were—at least, I did when Brennan or my partner weren't bitching me out. I missed you."

"I missed you, too," I relented. "But it doesn't make it okay."

"I know. Will you take the flowers as my apology, at least? Think about maybe forgiving me. You know where I'll be."

I reached out and grabbed his arm before he turned away. "You don't want to come in?"

"Of course, I do," he breathed. "I fucking want to be with you all the time, Vale. It's like a—"

"Sickness?" I teased.

"Addiction. I'm addicted to you. I never thought I'd feel like this again, but here I am, falling so hard for you that I never want to land. I'm sorry I flipped out on you over the club. Honestly, I'm not completely sure how I feel about them, but I was wrong to make assumptions. You were right."

My fingers tightened on his arm, and I pulled him inside. Dayton immediately pulled me into his arms, one hand cradling the back of my head while his lips crushed over mine.

"I'm sorry," he muttered against my lips just before taking them again.

"Stop," I gasped. "Just show me."

"Tell me you'll forgive me."

"I forgive you. Now, take me to bed."

"The flowers…"

I looked down at where he must have dropped them when he grabbed me to him. "They'll be okay there for a little bit. You have a more pressing matter to attend to."

"Reset the alarm," he growled. My fingers shook as I complied, then the next I knew, Dayton had his shoulder to my belly and I was up in the air as he raced for my bedroom.

"Dayton," I laughed. "Put me down before you hurt yourself."

"Pfft. You're like a feather," he said, bending close to the bed and dropping me down.

"Not."

"Don't make me spank you while I'm still apologizing."

"You keep promising that. Never happens—"

I squealed as he pulled me over his lap. In one swift motion, he yanked my shorts and panties down around my thighs.

"Remember you asked for this." His hand clapped down on my ass, sending fire leaping through the flesh. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes," I hissed. "I mean…no…"

He laughed, striking his hand repeatedly over my rear while I writhed on his lap, moaning, my legs trapped together by the fabric tight around them. It wasn't a real spanking, more sensual than anything, but I sure loved being over his lap while he sent that lightning through my body. Tension coiled tighter and tighter in my belly, my orgasm teetering at the precipice when he turned, moving me to bend over the edge of the bed.

His zipper rasped loudly, then the crinkle of foil told me he was rolling on protection. When he grabbed my wrists to the small of my back, holding them there while he wedged himself to my opening, restricted by my legs trapped as they were, I moaned into the blankets.

"Holy fuck," he swore as he pushed in just the head of his dick. It wasn't nearly enough.

"Dayton! God! Please!" My fingers flexed in his grip, my body bucking as I tried to take more of him.

"Please, what?"

"Fuck me."

"Hmm?"

I knew what he wanted, and he'd let it slide many times while we were in bed, getting lost in each other.

"Sir," I moaned.

"That's right, good girl. Your sir. Because you're mine."

"Yes," I cried. "Yours."

That seemed to please him. His cock drove home, powering through my folds and lodging deep, making me jerk at the strength with which he hit inside me. A scream ripped from my lips, and I yanked at the iron-grip on my hands.

"Good?" he asked in a low, barely audible tone, making sure I was okay.

"So good," I breathed. "More. Please, sir."

After the last few days of the heartbreak and thinking I'd lost him, I needed the rough. I needed to feel him claiming me as his and only his.

My answer was all he needed. We slapped together, over and over, jolting the bed, seeking the connection we'd both thought we'd lost, his looking for redemption and me giving it. I couldn't explain what deep-rooted thing inside me demanded it this way. It just was. And it was just right.

Dayton collapsed over me, still lodged deep. I welcomed his weight and the way our scents combined.

"There have been questionable people in my past," Dayton whispered into my nape. "People with vendettas who I've had to protect my loved ones from."

"I know," I murmured. He didn't have to tell me he hadn't always succeeded.

"It was a knee-jerk reaction, and I'm sorry I lumped you in with them."

Reaching back, I curled my hand around the nape of his neck, holding him to me. "Don't do it again."

"I won't." He pressed his lips to the skin between my shoulders. "I'll protect you, Vale. I'll always protect you. You're mine. I let my instincts kick in, and I shouldn't have. Not this time. I won't let it happen again."

I closed my eyes, nodding. I knew he meant that, but I also knew it was a promise he couldn't keep. When—if—he ever found out about the soul switch, his instincts would kick in again, and he wouldn't believe me. What sane person would?