Page 26 of One Merciful Moment

"No one is going to tell me what I can and can't do." Vaughn stood from the chair.

He was out of the booth and grabbing the front of Vaughn's shirt, slamming him against the wooden bar, before anyone could stop him. All he saw was Vaughn threatening Everstill's fragile, shifting balance that Ashley was helping to build.

Finn grabbed Boone's arm. "Let him go."

Moe wrapped both arms around Boone's shoulders. "Come on, man."

He resisted. Vaughn was always mouthing off. He'd gone too far this time. No one could touch the deer.

"Boone." Ashley's soft, worried voice cut through the noise in his head.

Moe and Finn managed to pull him off Vaughn, dragging him back a few steps. Vaughn slapped his chest with his hand, taunting him to come after him.

Kallie and Jillian rushed to Ashley, guiding her away before she could get caught in the chaos. Boone's gaze followed her until she disappeared through the kitchen door.

Copper stepped between them, his expression hard. "There will be no fighting. Not in here. Not anywhere."

Boone looked at Vaughn. He wouldn't let him undo everything Ashley had worked hard to do for Everstill. He wouldn't allow the deer to be shot.

Copper pointed at Boone. "You start something again, and I'll throw you in the cell."

Boone kept his mouth shut and clenched his fists. No one was going to tell him what to do. Because the deer weren't just deer. Because Ashley was the only thing in his life that mattered. Everstill was changing, and Boone wasn't about to let anyone break what she was building.

"Get yourself under control and then go home." Copper's gaze flashed between them. "Both of you."

Ashley rushed out of the kitchen. Boone barely had time to register the movement before she launched herself at his side.

He grabbed her hand. "Come on."

He pulled Ashley toward the door, weaving through the tables and chairs, ignoring the stares from the others and the muttered comments from Vaughn.

He'd like nothing more than to slam that ex-cult leader to the ground. All the men here were as worthless as he was. They all came from a criminal past. Most of them were felons.

Ashley stayed beside him, matching his stride. Halfway home, he stopped. Despite the rush of anger, the physical release of slamming Vaughn against the bar, and the verbal threat against their livelihood, Boone had never felt better.

"You scared me." Ashley stepped closer. "You could've gotten hurt."

He cupped her face in his hands and exhaled slowly.

He was finding himself. He was learning what strength felt like without numbness. He was becoming a man who could choose, not just endure.

And Boone knew, with absolute certainty, that he needed her close. Now.

He led her home, her shoulder brushing his arm. His adrenaline skyrocketed. He'd gone from defensive fire into predatory heat. Every cell in his body vibrated, brimming with a raw, masculine energy that demanded release.

He didn't just want her; he wanted to claim every inch of her. Emotions that he'd lacked his whole fucking life were born inside of him. He had a primal need to possess, to sink into Ashley and lose himself.

They didn't make it to the bedroom. He backed her into the hallway wall, the impact jarring but unnoticed, as he stripped her clothes away with a frantic focus. He wanted her bare, stripped of everything but the heat radiating off her.

Without a bra to hide her breasts, her nipples peaked. He lowered his chin and sucked in a breath. "I'll kill anyone who thinks they can harm you."

"You don't have—"

"No." He slipped his finger into her pussy, already damp for him. "You're mine. I've never had anything, and now that you belong to me, I'll protect you with my life."

He trailed his finger up her stomach and underneath each slope of her breasts, then lifted, weighed, and admired the way her nipples tightened even more. He circled her areola.

"So fucking beautiful." He lowered his head and swiped her nipple with his tongue.