Tonight, everything is about to change.
I see his bike before I see him.
The chrome catches the moonlight, gleaming like something out of a dream.
It's parked near the north pasture gate—a simple metal structure that marks the boundary between grazing land and the wilder parts of the property.
And leaning against the fence, one boot propped on the lower rail, is Shadow.
He's wearing his cut—the leather vest with the enforcer patch that means everything to him. A black t-shirt underneath.
Jeans that hug his thighs. Boots. And a cowboy hat tipped low over his eyes.
He looks like sin and sex all wrapped up in leather and denim.
I park my truck a few yards away and kill the engine.
For a moment, I just sit there, hands gripping the steering wheel, trying to remember how to breathe.
This is it.
The point of no return.
I could start the engine. Drive away. Pretend this never happened.
But I don't want to.
I open the door and step out into the warm Texas night.
The sound of my boots on gravel seems impossibly loud in the quiet.
Shadow doesn't move, doesn't straighten from his casual lean against the fence.
But I can feel his eyes on me, tracking every step I take toward him.
"I came," I say when I'm close enough, my voice steadier than I feel.
"I can see that, darlin'." His voice is low, rough, sending shivers down my spine despite the heat.
He pushes off the fence and steps into the moonlight, and I get my first good look at his face.
His jaw is tight, his eyes dark and hungry.
He looks like a man who's been waiting for something for far too long.
"You can still leave," he says, and I hear the effort it costs him to offer me that out. "Turn around. Drive home. I won't chase you. Not tonight."
My heart pounds. "What about tomorrow?"
His smile is slow and dangerous. "Tomorrow I'm coming for you whether you're ready or not."
I take another step closer, close enough now that I can smell him—or rather, the cigars he’s always smoking, and something darker, something that makes my mouth water.
"Then I guess it's good I'm here."
Something flares in his eyes. Heat. Possession. Need.
He moves toward me, and suddenly the space between us disappears.
