Hold on.
He arched her back as he kissed down her collarbone. His teeth grazed the inside curve of her breast. She could barely move within the confines of his grip. She couldn’t swallow past the fear in her throat.
“Kade, stop kissing me. Now.”
He didn’t. His fingers dug into her back as he held her tight. She’d lost control of him.
“Kade, you will obey me. Now!”
He took her mouth so abruptly they both fell into the mud with a splash. Beneath him, trapped, not good. The hose was right by her head, pouring water over her hair, gurgling softly. She could reach for it if she could get her hand free and use it as a weapon. But he was still ravaging her mouth. She tasted the mud, felt the grit of it as their tongues slid together in a mad rush.
“I can’t…can’t stop kissing you, Vee. I…”
She clutched at his hair. “You have to—wait, what did you call me?”
“Need…” he said, breathless, talking and kissing her at the same time. “Need…you, Vee. Burning through me.”
He’d called her Vee.
Hope rushed through her, as hot as desire. “I’m here, babe. I need you, too.”
His body pressed hers into the soft earth. He cantilevered his weight, mindful of not crushing her. When he pulled back, he looked down at her with affection, running his hand over her face and painting her with even more mud. The smile he wore, the mist swirling in his eyes…
The mist was fully back.
“You’re my Owner?” he asked.
He was still in the fantasy. “Yes.”
“And we’re married.”
She nodded. “And trying to have a baby.”
He kept looking at her, his mind working to make sense of it, she guessed. She held her breath.
He slid his finger across her chin. “I don’t remember marrying you or seeing you in a wedding dress.”
“It was a lovely wedding. Five bridesmaids and groomsmen, on the beach.”
Panic flitted across his expression. “Why can’t I remember?”
“It’s okay. You have holes in your memory. Let’s not talk about that right now.”
“I do remember making love to you.” He slid his hand down over her breast. “And touching you like this. In the mud. In bed. Bits and pieces of heaven.”
She could hardly breathe. “Who am I?” She wanted to make sure.
He sputtered a laugh. “My wife. That’s what you just said.”
She felt like she was balancing a gem on a wire. Tug the wrong way, it would fall and shatter. “What’s my name?”
“Vee. Violet when you’re mad at me.”
She laughed, though it came out as more of a sob. “Who are you?”
His eyebrows furrowed again, just for a second. “Kade. Every time you said my name, it tugged me out of some dark place. I was in a shadowy alley, and then I was dancing with you. I was fighting a demon and then I was touching you.”
He looked down at her, letting his gaze move over her slowly. “I remember being in the mud with you. How beautiful and sexy you looked.” He got to his feet, then extended his hand and helped her up. He took the hose and poured the water over her, watching it wash away the mud. “How much more beautiful you look without it.”
