At first, her pussy was tight, but then it loosened as he moved, relaxing as excitement built, as he touched each of her contracting muscles. She trusted him to give her what she needed, to take the ascent they were both trying to reach.

Thrusting deeper, he put his mouth to her ear. “If I never have another moment on this earth, I want to spend the last with you like this: with my dick in you, giving my soul to you. You’re the only reason my heart is still beating.

“I rode across most of the United States and Mexico, just so I could come home and breathe again. Fade was killed, and Raul turned his gun on me. I wasn’t even afraid of dying, because I knew we would be together again. It might have taken years and years, but you would be with me again in eternity. I knew you would find me when it was your time to pass. You would hear me calling to you until you could find me.”

He thruster harder until he was pounding her into the bed, grasping the mattress so they wouldn’t fall to the floor.

“Penni … Penni … You’re my own Penni from Heaven.” His raw emotions lit a passionate fire in her that had Penni curling her legs around his, slamming her pussy up to take what she needed from him.

Jackal … He heard her calling his name over and over without a sounding passing her lips. Their souls were claiming each other back, erasing the pain of the last six months and replacing it with a joy that would last through the lifetime that lay ahead of them.

When he could breathe again, he was able to focus on her face as they lay curled into each other, stroking the each other, unable to believe they were together again.

Jackal curled an arm over her shoulder, enjoying the serenity of the climax she had gave him and holding her close again.

He lifted one tired eyelid to see hers scrunched in worry. He hastily closed his eye, not wanting to know what was going through her mind.

Damn, he was tired … and Penni was obviously not.

When Jackal couldn’t ignore her jostling his shoulder anymore, he raised both of his eyelids to look at her.

“What?” he grumbled.

“We have to leave. Henry charges double on Friday nights.”

“I’ll pay for it. Go to sleep.” Jackal closed his eyes tightly, hoping she would take the hint.

“Uh … You promise you won’t be mad?”

Jackal opened his eyes.

“I had Ice place another bet for me, and I placed one for you, too. I thought it was a done deal. How could we lose?” She bit her bottom lip.

Any other time, he would give her something else besides her lip to nibble on. Right now, though, she had his undivided attention.

“I really thought it would take you longer to figure out where I was. Max won.”

“How much did you bet?”

“I only bet a hundred for myself,” she hastily told him.

“How much did you bet for me?”

“I knew you needed a new motorcycle, so I bet five hundred for you.”

Jackal sprang out of bed, shoving his head through the opening of his T-shirt. When he picked up his jeans, he quickly tossed Penni her clothes. “Get dressed.”

She climbed out of bed, clumsily getting dressed. “I’m so sorry. I mean, how could we lose?”

“You said that,” Jackal snapped, putting on his boots then helping Penni button her blouse.

“You’re mad,” she stated the obvious.

“It’s okay.” Jackal remembered the phone that had fallen to the floor, handing it to Penni. “You can make it up to me. I bet Max we would have more kids than him.”

Penni hurried across the room as Jackal opened the door. “Does the one I offered to be a surrogate for with Winter count?”

Jackal crashed into the doorjamb at her words. “No, it didn’t include …” He lowered his voice, seeing everyone in the room watching them. “We can talk about this later.”

“Okay, we’ll wait until you’re in a better mood.”

No matter how good of head she planned to give him, she was not going to convince him to let her have Viper’s baby.

“Jackal, I need to talk to you before you leave.” Henry said as he left the booth he and Sherri were sitting at.

“Can it wait?”

“You need to pay for the room. If I let you get away with it, then the other employees will expect it, too.”

“I already paid!” Penni exclaimed.

“Your card was declined.”

“I have another card.” She began to open her purse.

“The credit card company told me to cut it up. They said the cardholder had closed your account.”

Penny pouted. “Shade closed my account?”

Jackal ground his teeth. After reaching for his wallet and taking out a card, he gave it to Henry who walked away happily with it in his greedy hand.

“You’ve been using it every time we rent Henry’s rooms?” Jackal spoke out of the corner of his mouth to keep from yelling at her.

“He said it had to be an emergency when I used it.”

“Remind me why I want to marry you.” Jackal commented as they walked out of the club after he had put his card back in his wallet, the sunlight hitting his bloodshot eyes.

“That hurts.” Penni put her hand dramatically across her heart. She looked at the row of cars parked in front of the strip club. “Where’s Grace’s car?”

“Your car’s not here?”

“No, Grace dropped me off. My car’s in the shop.”

Jackal mumbled something under his breath.

“What did you say?” Penni tilted her head toward him.

“Nothing.”

Jackal called Ice, moving them into the shade so he could see.

“It won’t take him long to get here,” she soothed, patting his arm.

“You’re going to make this up to me … a lot.”

“Yes, Jackal,” she answered submissively. “You don’t happen to have a spare key to my condo, do you? I forgot to take it off my key ring when I dropped the key off this morning.”

Jackal was afraid to answer her question, seeing spots dancing in his vision.

The door to the Purple Pussycat opened, and a man his age came out, seeing Penni standing by his side.

“Didn’t I see you come out of there?” The drunk winked at her.

“Mind your own damn business,” she snapped.

“Bitch, I have a stick bigger than he has—”

The man’s head hit the brick wall.

“Do not call me a bitch!”

Jackal grabbed her around the waist.

“I’m calling the police.” The man whined, trying to find his cell phone.

“Here, take mine.” Jackal handed him his cell phone, listening as he called the police.

“Why did you do that? They’ll arrest me.” Penni looked around, trying to find a place to hide.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them I did it. He’s so drunk they’ll believe anything I tell them. Call Henry and tell him to destroy the video of the front door.”

“I’m not going to let you go to jail for me,” Penni protested, but she did call Henry to destroy the tape. “Why are you doing this? We still have time to get away; Ice just pulled up.”

Jackal refused to budge, waving down the police car as it approached.