Aurora Rose Reynolds

It shouldn’t matter, but I fucking hate that she keeps taking her eyes from me.

“Did you need something else? Flour, sugar, my firstborn child?”

“You are so strange,” he informs me

“Are you okay?” Hell, no, my dog almost killed me trying to get to the man she’s obviously in love with.

“Do you know how hard it’s been, being around you and not touching you the way I want? How hard it’s been, keeping my hands to myself, when that’s not what I want? How hard it was for me not to claim you when your dad asked me what it is I’m doing with you?”

“What?” she repeats, this time with wonder.

“Let’s roll. Don’t want to make a bad first impression on your future father-in-law,” he says, walking through the door, and I laugh while following him out to my bike.

“I came to you, because you’re her dad and a cop. Personally, I don’t mind dealing with him myself, but I figured you might like me even less if I’m in prison for beating the shit out of a motherfucker. So yeah, I’m here asking you for a favor.”

“Jesus,” Wes mutters, but I ignore him and keep my eyes locked on Nico’s.

Taking her in, my chest gets tight and my stomach fills with pride and possessiveness.

“How did he look at me?” My heart starts to beat hard.

“Like he couldn’t believe his luck, like he couldn’t believe you were real and right there with him.”

“Stop!” he roars, and I clamp my mouth shut, feeling like an idiot. I know he’s worried, and me acting crazy isn’t going to help that. “No one is going to fucking hurt you. No one is going to get near you, and I don’t give a fuck if I have to stand guard over you for the next . . .” He jerks his fingers through his hair. “For the next however long it takes for the cops to find who did this shit.”

“I love you, Leah.” My eyes fly up, and I look into his. “I love you more than anything in this world. I can’t imagine waking up without you by my side every day, and I fucking hope I’ll never have to.”