Under the Stars

“I’d like to sleep in a bed—if only for a few hours.”

I take the baby from Evie, who wakes at once. “Did I fall asleep?” She looks around, and I smile.

We all say our goodnights, and Roland activates the house alarm once they’re gone. Jilly is asleep on my chest, but I don’t want to put her in her room.

“Can we move her crib to our bedroom?”

Mark smiles, and goes to her little room. Roland stands in front of me, smoothing his hand down my arm.

“You know I’ll protect her with my life, right?”

Nodding, I step forward to give him a half-hug. It’s the best I can do while holding my sleeping baby.

“I hate leaving this way.”

“Just do what you need to make sure you’re safe. I’ll also never let you be taken to prison for getting rid of—”

“I won’t let that happen.” Mark passes behind us, Jillian’s portable crib in his hand. “Let’s try to get a few hours of sleep.”

* * *

Mark

Lara’s head is on my bare chest. I’m propped up against the pillows listening to the soft shush of my daughter’s breathing from her small crib at the side of our bed.

My forehead has stopped bleeding, but it still throbs with every heartbeat. The streetlight illuminates the window, and the house alarm is activated.

Still I can’t sleep.

I thread my fingers through Lara’s silky hair, thinking about everything that happened tonight. Landry, the bastard. I hope he’s dead. Armand, the mystery. He’s turning into an interesting ally. Roland and Evie, the faithful ones.

The beautiful woman in my arms…

I think about how sexy she was tonight in that green silk dress. Her voice has always hit me like a storm surge—knocking me out, destroying me, claiming me, since the first night I saw her.

My mind drifts to that first night so long ago. We were so young, and she appeared at the top of that ladder wrapped in her dressing gown. She was shy. Then she took off the robe, and damn…

Her incredible body was on full display, and I pretty much had blue balls for a week.

Her lashes move against my chest. “Are you awake?” I ask softly.

“Can’t sleep,” she says, and I slide to the side, down so our faces are a breath apart.

“Are you afraid?”

She shakes her head, her eyes blinking to my lips. “I’m never afraid with you here. And Jilly’s there… safe.” A little sigh. “I just can’t sleep.”

I trace my finger along the line of her hair, sliding a dark lock away from her face. Her cheek is silvery in the moonlight. I remember falling in love with her under the stars.

“Remember the night we ran around the city?”

Her cheeks rise with her smile. “I remember you slipped and fell.”

Warmth floods my chest for the first time in ages. “I remember you laughed.”

“I fell in love with you that night.”

Reaching out, I slide my hand under the thin cotton tank she’s wearing, placing my palm against the warmth of her bare skin. “I’d been in love with you for weeks.”