His hands gripped my waist as he continued to look around the room. When he’d finished, he said, “I like it.”

I’d spent the day decorating the house. Nitro had added some furniture when I’d been in hospital, but we still needed more. And we needed some colour in the place. I’d brought rugs, candles, pillows, artwork and a few other decorations. I’d also printed some photos of our families and us and hung them on the walls.

I smiled and the tension that had worked its way into my shoulders eased. Reaching up, I detangled his hair with my fingers. “I worked something out about us today.”

His arms moved around my body and he hugged me. “Yeah? What’s that?”

After I’d finished combing his hair, I threaded my fingers into the back of it and left them there. “Well, I got to thinking about the fact that neither of us has had a home for a long time. We’ve had houses, but a house isn’t a home. I mean, you didn’t even have much furniture, let alone anything else. And when I asked you once about it, you told me you gave all your furniture to Marilyn when she moved out.”

He smiled and it reached his eyes. I loved that I made him feel that. “You’ve got a good memory.”

“I do. I’m a lawyer. Remember? You can’t get anything by me, champ.”

His chuckle rippled through my soul and it felt so damn good. “Duly noted.”

“A home is love, Nitro, and I think you must have felt alone after Marilyn and Renee left. Is that why you didn’t replace your furniture? Were you waiting for them to come back?” I held my breath a little while I waited for his answer. I wondered if he’d dig deep for me or brush it off.

“No,” he said, and I thought that might be all I’d get out of him, but he surprised me when he kept going. “I wasn’t waiting for them to come back. I didn’t want that for them. I wanted Marilyn to stand on her own two feet. But I had no reason to fill my place with shit once they left.”

My heart broke for him and what he’d been through in his life. I could only hope that my love would help bandage his soul back together and bring him the happiness he deserved.

“You have a reason now.”

“Yeah, I do.”

I traced patterns on the skin at the nape of his neck. “Everyone needs a home, and you’re mine. It’s not this house. It’s not a building. It’s wherever you are. That’s my home.”

His arms tightened around me and our bodies pressed together. “I fucking love you, woman. Especially when you get all deep on me. I’m so damn hard for you right now. And for the record, my home is wherever you are. With or without furniture. I don’t give a shit if we sleep on the dirt, so long as I’ve got you with me.”

“For the record, there will be no sleeping on dirt. Well, you could sleep on the dirt and I will just lie on top of you, but this body ain’t touching dirt.”

He pushed up off the couch, taking me with him, and walked me into the bedroom. It seemed to be one of his favourite things to do—always carrying me to the bedroom. Not that I complained. Depositing me on the floor, he reached for my T-shirt. “Now that we’ve got that sorted, can I please fuck my woman?”

I let him remove my shirt and then I placed my hand on his arm to stop him. Stepping close, I said, “So long as you use your knife on me.”

His breathing slowed, right along with his movements. His eyes met mine, searching. “You sure about that, Vegas? I didn’t think you were into the knife.”

My heart beat faster in my chest and I took a breath. “I realised something else about you today.” At his questioning look, I continued. “The knife is all about trust, right?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“And you’re not going to cut me, are you?”

“Not unless you want me to.”

I bit my lip. “Well, I think it could be hot for you to cut my clothes off.”

A growl came from deep in his chest. “Fuck,” he swore, his face a mask of desire.

“I trust you, Nitro.”

He moved to his bedside table and removed his knife. A moment later, he stood in front of me. “Don’t move. I need you to not make any sudden movements. If you need to, let me know first.”

I nodded, more turned on than I’d been, maybe ever.

He placed the tip of the knife against the skin between my breasts. The cold metal and the fear I felt sent a shiver through me. I wasn’t scared of Nitro. I trusted him completely. But there was still an erotic element of fear to all of this.

I wore skimpy denim shorts, and he flicked the button open and pulled the zip down. While he held the knife to my chest, he slid his other hand into my panties. He ran the blade down my body at the same time that he ran his fingers through my pussy.

I was so damn wet for him that he easily pushed two fingers inside me. He fingered me for a few moments, his eyes never leaving mine. “You want me to keep this up or do you want my tongue now?”

“I want all of the above.”

He kissed me while his fingers reached deeper inside. Ending the kiss, he dragged my bottom lip between his teeth before saying, “So fucking greedy.”

A second later, my shorts were thrown across the room. He traced over my panties with his knife, transfixed by what he was doing. Every single nerve ending of mine blazed with lust. I was way past ready for him to slice them off.

Turning me so my back faced him, he then ran the knife over my ass. When he was done, he pulled the knife away and hooked an arm around me across my chest, holding me against him. His erection ground into me and his teeth sunk into my neck. He bit me and I moaned.

“I want you to lie on the bed,” he said against my ear.

I crawled onto the bed, making sure to treat him to an eyeful of my ass along the way. I’d barely positioned myself on my back when he straddled me. The knife drew my attention as he glided the tip of it over my stomach. I couldn’t help it, I sucked my tummy in. It was a combination of nerves and excitement. I wanted him to use the knife on me, but it scared me all at the same time.

His eyes met mine. “I can put the knife away, Tatum.” The care I heard caused my heart to flutter. How Nitro had changed from when I met him. But even back then, if I’d known him better I would have realised that, in his own way, he’d been caring for me from that very first moment.