“What?” she yelped, and the mattress shifted with her movement.

“Help me,” I whimpered, Batman-style, and yes, it was just as pathetic as it sounds.

“Oh my god,” she said with a shaky laugh. “You’re not blind. Your dumb baklava slid sideways.”

I flopped backward, so relieved that I was shaking. Aly’s frowning face appeared, rising over me as I tugged the mask into place. It was so dark in the room that we must have slept through the entire day, and now it was night again. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten so much uninterrupted sleep, but after we filled up on the breakfast she insisted on making, we’d curled around each other in her too-small bed, and I was out the second my head hit the pillow.

“It’s called a balaclava,” I told her.

“And what did I say?” she asked.

“Baklava. One is a mask. The other a delicious desert.”

“Whatever.” She reached over me, and I had to fight the urge to wrap my arms around her and tug her onto my chest. “You must have forgotten to turn your alarm off.”

I went still, the sound finally registering. My phone had many alarms, but this one, which was loud and particularly blaring, was tied to Aly’s security system – specifically, her back door camera. I’d tweaked the settings so it would only go off if someone was within a foot of the sensor and stayed there for several seconds, which would rule out animals passing beneath it.

Suddenly, I was wide awake, anxiety and adrenaline warring for dominance as I snagged my phone from the nightstand before Aly could reach it. I silenced the alarm and unlocked the screen. The sight that greeted me sent ice sluicing through my veins. The camera was dark. And not the dark of night, but the kind of dark that only came from being covered.

I swore.

“What’s wrong?” Aly said.

“Someone’s at your back door.”

She smirked. “No, that was last night.”

“I’m serious,” I said. “I think someone’s trying to break into your house.”

“What?” she whisper-squeaked.

I jumped out of bed, clad only in my boxers. Where the fuck was Fred? My eyes snagged on his black and white form, curled on the nearby armchair. I grabbed him and handed him to his mother.

“Protect the baby,” I told her.

“What do you mean?” she said, clutching Fred close. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going out there.”

“No way,” she said. “We need to call the cops.”

I froze halfway into the too-small sweats she’d lent me. “No cops. I can’t explain it right now, but…no cops. Where’s the nearest loaded gun?”

“Bottom drawer of the dresser,” she said. “And we are absolutely going to circle back to what you just said later.”

“I figured as much.”

With a final tug, I got the sweatpants up, then paced to the bureau. Aly’s gun was right where she said, and I snatched it out of the drawer and chambered a round. By the time I turned back to the room, she was out of bed, pulling on her pajama bottoms.

“You’re staying in here,” I said.

“Nope,” she fired back, heading toward me.

I angled the gun toward the floor and grabbed her shoulder with my other hand, halting her mid-step as I bent down to look her in the eyes. The thought of her leaving this bedroom was even more panic-inducing than someone breaking into her house, and no, the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me.

“You are a fucking badass,” I told her. “And I don’t doubt you could handle this alone if you had to. But I beg you, for my sanity, please stay here.” I shook her to drive the point home, my ears strained as I wondered how much time we had until whoever was outside tried to kick down the door. “Please, Aly.”

“I don’t like this,” she said, frowning at me in open worry.

“I know, baby, but if you’re out there with me, I’ll be too distracted, and all my focus needs to be on whoever might be outside.”

She bit her bottom lip, brows pinched together. Fuck it. If I were about to die, it wouldn’t be before I felt her sweet lips on mine. I’d denied her last night, wanting to delay the moment we finally kissed until she was begging for it, but now it was me who was desperate.

I jerked my mask up to expose my mouth and crashed my lips into hers. She met me hungrily, greedily, her hands gripping my shoulders as she hauled me closer. My head spun, blood rushing straight to my dick when she parted her lips, welcoming me in, and our tongues brushed.

Maybe I was already dead because kissing Aly felt a lot like heaven. Her body molded so perfectly to mine that it was like we were a matched set, made for each other. Our mouths worked in tandem like we had already done this a hundred times and knew exactly how the other liked it. It was the best kiss of my goddamn life, and it made me even more determined to make sure I got a thousand more from her, just like it. No, a million.

I broke away, both of us gasping, my world tilting on its axis as my true north realigned, pointing straight toward the woman in my arms.

I pressed a final kiss to her lips. “Lock this door behind me and get that other gun out of your nightstand in case anything happens to me.”

She blinked, eyes as wide as saucers. “It might just be a raccoon.”

I forced myself away from her. “Last I checked, raccoons don’t know how to cover cameras.” She sucked in a breath as I strode toward the open doorway. I paused to take what might be my last look at her, memorizing the sight of her standing there in her rumpled pajamas, hair falling loose around her, lips swollen from my kiss. “Get the gun, Aly.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know where all my weapons are.” She paused halfway to her nightstand and turned to point at me. “And don’t you dare get hurt.”

“I’ll try not to,” I said. “But just so we’re clear, I’m the only masked man you asked to break into your house, right? I wouldn’t want to go kick the shit out of some innocent guy over a misunderstanding.”

She looked past me, expression contemplative. “Masked men? No. There was that shirtless jump roper and a firefighter or two, though.”

My spine stiffened. “Woman, you better be joking, or we are about to have our second fight.”

She threw a pillow at me. “I’m kidding. Get out of here, psycho, before I change my mind and go with you.”

I turned and shut the door on her whispered, “Please be careful.”

For you, always, I thought.

The Christmas tree Aly still hadn’t taken down lit my path through the living room. I briefly debated unplugging it but discarded the idea; the person outside might notice the light cut off and know someone was awake and waiting for them. My best chance to avoid injury was catching them off guard.

I moved closer to the far wall, out of sight from the back door, and slowly made my way toward the kitchen where it was located. The sound of the knob rattling was the death knell of any hope that this was an animal. Someone was outside Aly’s house in the dead of night, picking her lock.

The rage that burned through me was so intense I started shaking. I was going to fucking murder them. No. Wait. That could end with me in jail, and then I’d only get to see Aly during visiting hours.

Not if you don’t get caught, a helpful little voice offered.

I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to have an internal debate with my intrusive thoughts. There was nothing to say this wasn’t just a simple home invasion. Crime rates were average in this part of the city – not as high as some parts but not as safe as others. Aly’s car wasn’t in the driveway because she’d taken an Uber home. The person on the other side of the door probably thought the house was empty. It was only my catastrophizing brand of generalized anxiety that made me immediately assume it was something more nefarious.

I focused on the door, plastering myself to the wall as I neared it. Once the potential burglar got the knob unlocked, they’d realize there was still a deadbolt, and I didn’t want them to break Aly’s door and rouse the whole neighborhood with the noise. Slowly, silently, I reached out and painstakingly slid the bolt free.