Winter silently listened to her husband’s scornful words, feeling droplets of water trail down her cheeks.

“I had your name tattooed on my chest, and you’ve got my name on you. Do you see anyone else’s name on me?”

Through trembling lips, Winter answered, “No.”

“I put my ring on your finger. If neither one of those things show you how much I love you, then you’re just shit out of luck. I’m not going to kiss your ass to prove my love to you. If you wanted a marriage like that, then you should never have married me.”

Viper toed his boots off, taking his T-shirt off at the same time before unbuttoning his jeans and yanking them down.

Winter treaded water away from him as he began stalking her from the pool deck. Her husband reminded her of a wolf, determined to catch his prey.

“You think you can outswim me?” he taunted, as he walked to the edge of the pool.

His threatening stance made her shiver. She now understood how he kept men like Shade, Razer, Knox, and the rest of the Last Riders under his control. He was terrifying.

She stopped treading water when her toes finally felt the pool floor under her. “I know you love me. You just don’t understand what it’s like to see other women wanting you, too. Most women can go to their homes and not be faced with that every day. I see it every morning and every evening until I go to our room at night.”

“How many times have I offered to build you a house? How many times have I offered to build one for Aunt Shay? You’re both stubborn as shit.”

He had. Numerous times. She had always put him off.

Viper was wrong about one thing, though. She wasn’t anything like her aunt. Her aunt was independent. She enjoyed the house she and Uncle Dennis had built, even though she had lived in it alone since he had died.

“I enjoy living with the Last Riders. I really do,” Winter confessed, which was something she had never told him before. “I like the house filled with them, even though they’re a pain in the ass sometimes. On the nights you have to work late, they give me someone to talk to. They give me someone to hold hands with when I know you’re putting your life on the line for them. They keep you from getting bored with me when I talk too much about the school and my students. I like that there’s always a light on because someone’s up.

“When my father died, the house was so quiet. He used to always joke around or talk about anything to everyone. I missed that so much when he was gone. Even after all these years, I still miss it.

“When I started dating you, I felt alive again. Even my mother did. You were a godsend, helping my mother with her flights for her cancer treatments, so she wouldn’t have to drive so far. Then she died, and I found out who you were. I was alone then; except, that time, it was so much worse. Not only was I left alone without my parents, but I had lost you, too.

“I redecorated, trying to remove every memory of you being in my home. It didn’t work. Nothing did. That’s why I sold the house when I married you. That’s why I haven’t let you build me a house. If you fell out of love with me or something happened to you, then I would be left alone in a home we had built with only memories to keep me company.”

Viper dove into the water, coming up several inches in front of her. “Come here.”

Winter swam into his arms. “I love you so much,” she cried, sobbing into his neck. “Do you know how hard it is to be afraid of losing you?”

“Yes, every time you talk about having a baby.” Viper held her close as she relaxed against him, letting him take her weight and the fears she had kept to herself.

“Maybe we both need to man up.”

“Pretty girl, I love sucking your tits too much to want you to man up.”

Winter gave a hiccupping laugh. “My breasts aren’t big enough to put that look on your face.”

“You can’t see them as well as I can.” He moved so more of the light could fall on her. “They look pretty damn good from here. They look bigger, actually. I need to get Beth to make more pies.”

Winter playfully hit him on his shoulder. “Jerk, I haven’t gained any weight.”

Viper brought his hands to her midriff, tugging her top off then throwing it over the diving board. “Never mind. They might be smaller.”

Her laughter was cut off when Viper caught her lips in a kiss that drove her doubts away.

The dreams she had built were just that—dreams. Her husband was flesh and blood, not an intangible dream she couldn’t hold on to. They comforted her, but they couldn’t sweep her away on a tide of longing that only he could satisfy.

That was what Viper had been trying to tell her: she was the only one capable of filling the hole in his soul. She had been meant for him. He had been meant for her. Every beautiful piece of him had been meant for her. Only her.

“You still love me?” Winter breathed into his mouth, as his tongue wrapped around hers.

“So much it hurts,” he repeated her words back to her.

Winter circled her legs around his naked waist, and Viper guided her to the side of the pool, where he took off her shorts, flinging them over her head.

“My aunt could come out,” she warned.

“If she does, she’ll leave when she sees my naked ass.” He lifted her up so he could see the water lapping at her nipples. “I’m going to fuck you, but I want you to know that, before I do, you’re going to be punished for doubting me.”

10

Winter licked his bottom lip, arching into his sleek body. “As long as it’s not seed inventory. If it is, you might need to take a cold shower, instead.”

“No, Raci’s been stuck with that since Genny left. I have something different in mind for you.” Viper reached between her thighs to her swollen clit. One finger plunged into her channel, and blinding passion hit her core, nearly making her climax. The surge of lust quaked throughout her body as goose bumps broke out on her arms.

“How can you blame me for being jealous over you?” She lifted passion-glazed eyes to his. “Every time you touch me, I don’t want you to stop. However, when I see Shade and Lily, it’s like looking at two pieces of the same soul. I don’t think they could survive without the other. You could survive without me.”

“Every relationship is different. I’m no Shade, and I’m not like Lucky, Razer, or Knox, either. Do you think their wives mean any less to them than Lily means to Shade? Would I hurt myself if I couldn’t have you? Fuck no. But would I take another woman? Hell no.”

“I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself if you lost me; that’s not what I’m trying to say. I just don’t want you fucking other women.”

Viper moved his hand away to replace it with the head of his cock. She opened her legs wider, and he pushed inside of her.

“Are you serious? Are you asking me to never fuck another woman, even if you go before I do?” He stopped moving, staring at her with his mouth open.

“Yes.”

“It’s not enough that I wouldn’t remarry, but you want me to never touch another as long as I live?”

Winter was becoming irritated at his slack-jawed incredulity. She considered it a reasonable request.