“You can’t fight every man in the world,” she said gently.
“I don’t need to,” he replied. “Just the ones who come near you.”
Silence settled between them—thick, charged, and intimate. She leaned in first this time. The kiss wasn’t frantic like the night before. It was slower, deeper, and deliberate. It was as though she was claiming him, but it didn’t feel forced.
His hands slid to her waist, firm and confident. There was no hesitation this time. When she shifted over him, pressing her body against his, he let out a low groan against her mouth. The tension in him wasn’t anger anymore. It was heat.
Ant was quickly learning that possessive tension didn’t have to mean dominance. It could mean intensity. It could mean knowing what you wanted and not apologizing for it. His hand tightened at her hip just enough to make her inhale sharply.
“Ant,” she warned softly, but there was no real warning in it.
“You sure?” he murmured. Her answer was a kiss that stole the rest of the air from his lungs. This time, there was no hesitation. No uncertainty. Just the knowledge that they’d already crossed the line and neither of them was walking back.
He rolled, settling over her body. He was always careful with her, controlled even, the weight of his body on hers was deliberate. She met his gaze without flinching, and when he kissed down her neck, she arched into him. She was so responsive to him, it was almost like she was the perfect woman made just for him.
He didn’t rush, because he didn’t need to. The tension between them had been building for weeks. It wasn’t about proving anything to each other. It was about claiming his space with her. When she whispered his name again, not in her sleep this time, something inside him felt as though it sparked to life. For the first time in a long time, he felt as though he belonged to someone.
When she lay against him again, he rested his chin against the top of her head. It felt so intimate and right to hold her that way—he never wanted to let her go. “You’re not alone anymore,” he said quietly.
She traced idle circles on his chest. “Neither are you,” she breathed. That truth was heavier than any jealousy he had felt earlier. Sure, outside, the world was still dangerous. The man who thought she owed him was still out there somewhere. But inside his room, the lines were clear. Ruby wasn’t something to be bought. She wasn’t something to be taken. And Ant wasn’t going to let anyone forget it—even if he had to become her personal bodyguard.
Ant knew the calm wouldn’t last. It never did. Ruby was still asleep when his phone vibrated across the nightstand. He moved carefully, easing out of bed so he wouldn’t wake her, and stepped into the hallway before answering.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
Bolt didn’t bother with hello. “We got something,” he barked into the other end of the call.
Ant’s pulse sharpened instantly. “Tell me that you know where he is,” Ant demanded.
“We got a traffic cam hit in Montgomery on our guy, two days ago. He’s moving south,” Bolt said.
Ant ran his hand down his face; his mind already mapping routes, exits, and contacts in that area. “Is he alone?”
“Looks like it. But he’s switching vehicles every so often. He’s smart,” Bolt said. That might be, but Ant had a feeling that he was smarter than the asshole who tried to hurt Ruby.
“Not smart enough,” Ant muttered.
Bolt hesitated. “Are you going to tell Ruby?”
“No,” Ant breathed. He didn’t want her worrying about them catching the guy. When they had him in custody, Ant would fill her in then. Ant glanced back toward the bedroom door. Toward the woman who’d finally let her guard down in his arms.
“I’ll tell her when we have the guy in custody,” he said. “She deserves to know, but I won’t worry her with the details until then. Keep me informed. I’m not sure if I’ll be in or not today.” He didn’t want to leave Ruby, but he knew that sooner or later, he’d have to.
“Will do,” Bolt said, ending the call. Ant hung up and stood there for a second, trying to decide if he was doing the right thing, keeping Ruby in the dark. He had feelings for her, but danger didn’t pause just because feelings got involved.
When he walked back into the bedroom, Ruby was sitting up, sheet pulled around her body, watching him. “That wasn’t a casual phone call, was it?” she asked.
“No.” She didn’t ask him to lie. She didn’t look afraid, either.
“Tell me what’s going on, Ant,” she insisted.
He sat on the edge of the bed, trying to decide how much to share with her. He was betting that Ruby wouldn’t allow anything but the whole truth from him. “A traffic cam picked him up. He’s heading south and switching cars, trying to disappear.”
Ruby absorbed that quietly. “That means he’s running.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Good,” she breathed.
