Neither parent listed on that certificate deserved the child they had created. One was dead, and the other deserved to be for the childhood Lily had suffered.

She wanted to give King a chance, and because Lily wanted it, Shade would try to bury his feelings. If the fucker screwed up again, however, then he would be the one buried.

* * *

Shade lay on his side in the bed, watching Lily brush her hair.

“What’s going to happen to him?” she asked.

“Not much, since you’ve already told Knox you weren’t kidnapped, and it was just a family reunion. Several government agencies aren’t very happy with you right now.”

Lily shrugged, not concerned. “How about that man who was after him?”

“He’s a different matter. Since he believes in letting everyone do his dirty work for him, he wasn’t hurt. He’s in Knox’s jail, waiting for the Texas Rangers to come and get him. I imagine he’s planning more song and dance, holding the whereabouts of those women to himself.”

Digger, the man responsible for the attempts on Lily’s life, was a piece of shit who had mistakenly assumed he was capable of outsmarting everyone.

“I hope not. I’m going to pray for him to let those women go tonight.”

“You do that, Lily. I have a feeling he’s going to need your prayers tonight,” Shade said, stroking her back.

Digger was going to need more than prayers; he was going to need a miracle.

Lily set her hairbrush on the table then stood up, her violet eyes staring down into his. “It’s my turn.”

Shade’s grin widen as he scooted over on the bed, patting the mattress. During the short time they had been married, when they had sex, Lily preferred for him to make love to her gently. The newness of their relationship and being around the women club members had her instinctively needing the reconfirmation of his feelings for her. He understood and didn’t care how he had her.

Lily shook her head. “Uh-uh. I want you to stand up.”

Shade was puzzled by her behavior. Lily had never been the one to initiate having sex.

He rose to stand next to her. She walked across the room, turning the overhead light off yet leaving the bedside lamps on. Shade was shocked when she opened his cabinet, which he no longer kept locked since it had been moved to his house.

Turning, she walked to stand directly in front of him where she took off her robe and tossed it onto the chair by their bed. She stood completely naked before gracefully lowering herself into a kneeling position, placing her hands on her lap, palms up.

He stood staring down at the perfect submissive pose she had voluntary presented him, struggling for several seconds to find his voice.

“You did very well, Lily. Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “The other night, I told you that you were not allowed to kiss other men to show your gratitude, yet you did so today, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I also said one man in particular you were not allowed to touch. Who was it?”

“Pastor Dean, Sir.”

“Have you got anything to say for yourself?”

“I’m very sorry, Sir. I won’t do it again.”

“Thank you for your apology, but that won’t get you out of your punishment.”

“I didn’t think it would, Sir. I deserve your punishment for disobeying you.”

Shade went to his cabinet, finding it hard to keep his face impassive. Her wanting to please him didn’t keep that worried frown from her face as he sorted through his toys.

“Lie down on the bed.”

Lily obeyed as Shade readied the contents of the package. He came over to Lily, bending between her spread thighs, sliding the metal balls inside of her.

“Sir?”

“I didn’t give you permission to talk.”

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

Shade climbed off the bed, going to the bathroom then coming back to stare down at her naked body on his bed.

“You did very well, Lily. Since this is the first time I used them on you, I will tell you that I inserted two metal balls inside of you. They will add to our enjoyment tonight. Now, I want you to get up and get dressed.”

Shade handed her a new pair of tight, black jeans, a sweatshirt, and then a thick jacket and boots, no bra or panties. They dressed without talking.

They left their house, walking behind it and down the pathway. When Shade got on his bike, Lily hesitated then grinned, getting on behind him. It was the first time he had let her ride with him without a helmet. The night was about being bad, and he wanted Lily to be very bad. He wanted her to feel free after being held hostage. Although, with the balls inside of her, he planned to go slower than his usual speed.

She circled his waist with her arms, gripping the front of his jeans as he pulled out onto the road. The metal balls inside of her would feel the vibrations from the road and his bike. Shade knew her pussy would be on fire by the time they arrived at his intended destination.

It was one of the warmer days of winter—cold, though not unbearable.

Shade slowed his bike, turning into a clearing in a private cove off the lake where Lily had first seen him. Shade cut the bike off, not far from the water. They sat there in the quiet for a few minutes, but Lily couldn’t sit without moving around on the seat.

“I remember the day I saw you here in the lake. I’ve thought of how beautiful you were and how frightened you looked. I wanted to protect and fuck you at the same time. I thought the years I had to wait for you were a nightmare, but all those days and years combined didn’t equal the torture of not knowing where you were today and that I couldn’t protect you.”

Lily got off the bike, coming around to face him. She touched his face, rubbing her thumb over his cheek. “Shade, I’m not going to say I’m not afraid of dying, because I am. Everyone is. But today, what I was most afraid of wasn’t dying; it was the fear of being separated from you. I prayed that, if I died, I would forget you because I knew, if I remembered you, I would be in Hell.”

Shade jerked her to him, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth, exploring every part and memorizing the feel and taste of her. When Lily’s mouth broke away from his passionate kiss, gasping for breath, her hands full of his shirt, Shade was gasping as much as she was.

Lily leaned forward, placing butterfly kisses against his throat, tenderly kissing the curve. Her hands slid under his T-shirt as her mouth traveled to the base of his throat before tracing to the side where his neck and shoulder met, sucking a piece of his flesh into her mouth.

Shade groaned as she unzipped his jeans, pulling out his cock. She slid her hand up and down it as her teeth bit into his shoulder. Her tongue then brushed against the barely-there teeth marks.

She lifted her head as her hand began to slide even faster on his flesh. Lily bent over him, placing her mouth over his cock, sucking him deeply then sliding her mouth up, letting her tongue tease the tip of his cock.

“Damn, angel, quit teasing. Suck my cock,” Shade groaned.

Lily stopped torturing him, sucking on him harder as he buried his hand in her hair, pushing her down on him as she used her tongue. Seeing her lips around his cock had him sucking in air to keep from coming. He didn’t want the pleasure to end too quickly. Hell, he didn’t want it to ever end.

She thrust her hand deeper inside his jeans to play with his balls while Shade lifted her hair to grasp behind her head so he could watch every move, tugging her hair to make her go faster or slow down.