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floor, pain sliced through my foot like a hot blade. However, the pain was minimal compared to the deep ache in my chest.
    How did I lose myself to him so easily? How could I allow him to control me the way he did?
    Fear.
    There was so much fear. I was still terrified. I knew he wouldn’t be in jail forever and the time would come when he would try to find me. My body trembled and shook with the thought of seeing him again.
    “Shit, MaryAnn, are you okay?” The voice was faint due to my uncontrollable sobbing, but I registered the concern in his measured tone.
    “Yes,” I replied, but I was not okay.
    I didn’t know if I ever would be.
    “Damn it. I shouldn’t have left you.” His face was inches from mine, one hand on my knee, the other fanning the side of my face. “What is it? What’s wrong? Did you fall?”
    I shook my head, the tears coming in earnest now. “I’m scared.”
    “You have nothing to be afraid of anymore.”
    “What about when he gets out? He’s going to come looking for me.”
    “He won’t find you. Trust me.”
    Ryker gathered me in his arms, lifting me from the floor and settling us on the couch. He situated me on his lap, cradling my head to his strong chest as I cried.
    Gently stroking my head, he murmured soft words against my hair. “Everything will be all right, I promise.”
    His words sunk into my heart, echoing through the shattered walls.
    Safe, strong arms holding me close, the smell of sweat mixed with something else, something powerful and real. My fingers knotted in his shirt, desperate to hold onto the feeling he provided. He calmed me in a way no one else could. I knew I shouldn’t latch on to it. But how could I not? There was so much conviction in his voice. Then, when his lips pressed against the temple of my head, right where Trent had inflicted that nasty gash, I completely melted against him. The gesture offering up far more than comfort.
    That tender kiss gave me peace.
    “I’ve been afraid for so long,” I confessed.
    “Not anymore.”
    Surprisingly enough, the thought of falling in love with Ryker all over again didn’t scare me at all. I certainly knew what love was not.
    Maybe it was time to learn what love could really be.
    “I know what you need,” he finally said.
    “What?”
    “A bath.”
    I pretended to be appalled but my smile gave me away. He was good at making me smile. “You trying to tell me I stink, Cunningham?”
    His hand moved to the back of my neck, angling it so he could drag his nose along my jawline. “Hell no. The way you smell is making it really hard to be a gentleman right now.”
    A roaring desire swept through me, and I closed my eyes, welcoming the oncoming heat. “Really?”
    He shifted beneath me.
    “Oh.”
    “Yeah.”
    His eyes held mine. “I think it would help you relax.”
    “How do you always know what I need?”
    Reaching for my hand, he placed it over his pounding heart. “I just know.”
    Ryker hovered as I shuffled toward the bathroom, his hand placed protectively at the small of my back to ensure I made it in one piece. I hobbled to the toilet, taking a seat on the closed lid as I looked down longingly at the tub. It was quite large. And rather clean, despite his earlier remark about being messy. I mean, he wasn’t the neatest guy in the world, but he wasn’t a slob either.
    Leaning over, he plugged the drain before turning the faucet on, checking the water several times until the temperature was to his liking. “I’ll grab a plastic bag to wrap your foot so it won’t get wet.”
    “I think I can manage not to get my foot wet.”
    He didn’t even give me a backward glance when he left the room.
    I lifted the hem of my shirt, removing my top and holding it over my chest, realizing for the first time that I would need Ryker’s help to take off my yoga pants. The nurse had helped me dress before I left the hospital yesterday, so it didn’t occur to me until now just how much help I would really