Page 43 of Protecting What's Mine

The sounds of our love-making echo throughout the kitchen, and my body takes flight. I’m no longer thinking about tomorrow or the future. I’m only thinking about my body’s fire right now. How there’s a current pulsing through my veins and I want to reach that pinnacle moment where everything comes crashing back down to earth. And I want to reach it with Ranger. I want him to be the man who drives me higher and higher. My heartbeat races so fast I may keel over and die, but I no longer care, because I feel like I’m flying.

My body builds and my core tightens. “Yes, oh god, yes,” I scream out.

Ranger goes faster, groaning out strings of curses that would make a sailor blush.

I have to say it turns me on in the most wicked of ways. I love the filth that possesses him when he’s turned on. I love the control he loses when he scans my naked body.

It’s like he’s seen nothing so sexy, and it makes me want to do anything for him.

“Come all over me, sweetheart,” he groans out.

He reaches around with one hand and rubs my clit, and it makes me go temporarily insane. My body bucks beneath him and I reach my orgasm just before he reaches his. He pulls out, releasing all over me once more. I’m beginning to love it.

“What are you doing to me?” he mutters, and I’m not sure if he meant for me to hear that. It was low, like it escaped him before he could stuff it back in.

“The same thing you’re doing to me,” I breathe out.

Chapter 21

Ranger

This woman is doing something to me I can’t quite comprehend. Making me break rules I never thought I would.

I kiss the back of her shoulder before leaving her to find a towel. I clean her up quickly and Tory leans off the counter, picking up her clothes. We clean up the kitchen together, and when we’re done we settle on the couch together.

“So, do the crystals have a special meaning, or are they just crystals?” I ask, picking up what looks like a pink rock.

“That’s a rose quartz, and the crystals emit an energy.”

“What energy does this one emit?” I turn the crystal over in my hand, trying to feel this energy she speaks of.

“Universal love. It gives off feelings of love, acceptance, and caring.”

Normally, I’d laugh off this type of talk, but the way her eyes sparkle like sapphires makes me want to take what she says as gospel. I’ve never known anything about crystals, and she’s also one of the smartest women on the planet, so perhaps there is some merit to this thing. I close my fist around the rock, trying to channel the energy into my body.

I sit there, staring at the small crystal in my hand, waiting for… something. Anything. But nothing happens.

“Does it take a bit of time?” I ask, my tone teasing but curious.

Tory glances up at me from her seat on the couch, her expression soft and thoughtful. “It’s not a magic crystal,” she says with a small smile, her voice gentle but sure. “I think when people know the meaning of the crystals, it opens them up to allowing just that into their lives. Like, when they wear a pink crystal, it’s not the crystal itself doing anything—it’s them. It makes them more open, more willing to accept love into their world.”

Her words hit me harder than I expect, settling deep in my chest like a stone dropped into still water. More open to love.

It’s not just what she says, but the way she says it—with so much quiet certainty, like she knows exactly what she’s talking about. Like she believes it.

I stare at her, the warmth in her blue eyes, the way her fingers trace the edges of the crystal in her lap. She’s not just talking about anyone wearing a pink crystal. She’s talking about herself.

And maybe… maybe she’s talking about me too.

Before I even realize what I’m doing, I lean forward, cupping her face gently in my hands. Her skin is soft and warm under my touch, and her eyes widen slightly as I tilt her chin up.

“Tory,” I murmur, my voice low and rough, the words catching in my throat. “I want to be with you.”

I close the distance before she can respond, capturing her lips with mine in a kiss that’s slow and deep, filled with every emotion I’ve been holding back. Her hands slide up to rest on my arms, her fingers curling against my skin, and for a moment, the world fades away.

When I pull back, her eyes are wide, her cheeks flushed. Her lips part slightly, and she stares at me like she can’t quite believe what she just heard.

“You… you want to be with me?” she whispers, her voice trembling.