Forever Never

by Lucy Score

“Good girl,” he said. Good girl. The way he said it, with that rough edge, gave her a delicious, full-body shiver. She wanted him to say it again. She wanted to make him say it again.

“This is why I came back,” she murmured against her pillow. “Why?” “You make me feel safe.” He stood there staring down at her, hands fisted at his sides as a wave of possession knocked into him. He made her feel safe. She’d come back to be close to him. That made whatever problem she’d gotten tangled up with his problem. And he was going to solve it as soon as he pried some answers out of her.

Because there were no witnesses, and because he desperately fucking needed it, he leaned down and brushed his lips over her furrowed forehead. The lines disappeared, and her expression eased as if he’d taken away her worry with the brush of his mouth. He was so fucked.

He was halfway across the street when he realized whose sweatshirt she’d worn to bed.

The way his voice, all gravel and whiskey, caressed her name made her legs tremble.

He held up a hand like he was going to caress her cheek, but his palm stopped just short of touching her, and he withdrew it. It was his turn to take a jagged breath. “Because if you knew all the things I wanted to do to you, you’d leave town tonight and never look back.”

“Yes.” It was a broken rasp. And it set them both free.

“I’m not good for you, baby,” he said. “I wouldn’t be gentle or sweet. I’d be mean, rough. And you deserve—” “If you say that I deserve better than to be fucked exactly the way I want to be fucked, then clearly you’re not the man for the job.”

God. There were so many things he wanted to do. Needed to do. As if reading his mind, Remi pulled back and squeezed his cheeks in one hand. “This is the first time. Not the only time. Got it?” He nodded, not trusting his own voice. “Focus on what you need to do this time, then we’ll work our way around to all the want tos.” “Promise me.” His voice was hoarse. She looked surprised. “Promise you what?” “That this is just the first time.” He needed that guarantee. Needed to know he could have her again. Looking him in the eye, she tightened her legs around his waist. “I promise you, Brick. Don’t go slow. Don’t waste time trying to be romantic. I want you to take me like you can’t help yourself.” She had no fucking idea.

“Trust me. Show me what you like, Brick. Please.” The whimpered please got him.

He gripped her jaw in one hand. “Baby, I’m the only one who gets to make threats in bed.” She was perfectly fine with that. She bit his thumb and nearly came when she saw his cock jerk between the stone monuments of his massive thighs.

He smiled against her hair. Breathed in the scent of her shampoo. There was something happening in his chest. And it wasn’t a heart attack. It was much, much worse. He was in love with Remi Ford. He always had been. And someone wanted to take her away from him.

Darlene slumped back in her chair and rubbed her temples. “What’s Remi gotten herself into now?” “I didn’t say it was her.” Great. Remi was going to murder him. And then who was going to protect her? “Brick, honey. You show up here in last night’s crumpled bartending get-up, missing buttons, glowing brighter than the sun with two love bites on your neck.” He slapped his hands to his neck as if he could feel his way to the hickeys.

Her blood was electrified by his damp skin against hers. “You just got busted and you’re not giving them back?” “They’re mine now.” He tugged her sweater off and bit her shoulder gently. She hissed out a breath. “I thought they were the only piece of you I’d ever get to keep.” Her knees trembled from the weight of his words as he slid her pants down her legs. “Last night you got more than a pair of underwear.” He nuzzled against her neck. “I want as many pieces of you as I can get.”

“Because I love you. I’ve always loved you.” His voice shook. “Because I won’t survive it when you leave.” She froze. “But you were always going to leave,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re still going to leave. Even after what we found together. You’re going to get on a plane or a ferry or a goddamn snowmobile and you’re going to leave. Me. You want a big life. You want adventure, novelty. You want to be great. How are you going to do that from here?”

Tears rolled silently down her cheeks as it all sank in. Brick Callan loved her. And he was terrified of her.

“My beautiful girl.” He punctuated each word with a thrust. “My Remi. I love you.” A sob broke free from her chest. There was something so beautiful, so final about the way he touched her.

He grunted his pleasure, burying his face in her neck. “Good girl. I love you so fucking much.”

He whispered the words over and over again. “I love you. I love you.”

He’d gone and done it again. Broken her fucking heart, but this time it was different. This time she had the truth. She just didn’t know what to do with it.

I’m committed to doing this right, Brick. You mean a lot to me. More than...more than I think I even realized. I want to show you how important you are.”

Brick yanked the door open and found Remi standing there. She tossed her phone over her shoulder and jumped into his arms. “I love you. I’m in love with you. I’ve never not loved you,” she said, raining kisses over his cheeks.

She cupped his face in her icy hands. “I didn’t want to say it over the phone. I wanted to say it in person. I love you, Brick William Eugene Callan the Third. I want this to work. I want us to be together here. I want to live near family and paint in your house and wake up next to you.”

His heart rolled over in his chest. Brick closed his eyes and took a breath. “Remington.” A single tear rolled down her cheek and broke his fucking heart.

But, baby, when we have our clothes on and we’re out in public, if you started playing submissive with me, I’d lose my damn mind. I love your wild side. I love your fearlessness. I love your independence even when it drives me fucking crazy.

He pulled her into his chest, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the busy bullpen around them. “Yeah? Just wait till I ask my big question.” “Brick, I swear to God, if you turn it into something like ‘Remington Honeysuckle Ford, will you get tacos with me tonight?’ I will be ordering an extra large body bag and digging a real big hole in the Grand Hotel’s rose garden.” He ran a hand gently over her face. A sweet, soft, soothing touch. “Are you telling me you’d turn me down for tacos?” She felt a smile tugging at her lips. “Of course not. I’m not an idiot. I’d eat the tacos and then bury your body.” “You’re a hell of a woman, Remi.”