“And I’m grateful.” She yawned. “So grateful.”

“Other nights, when it’s almost unbearable out there on the couch by myself, I look for things in your house that could restrain me. I’d be willing to wear a rope, a cuff, a damn chain again if it meant my hands would be kept away from your lovely neck and we could sleep safely side by side.”

Gem twisted in my arms, our faces almost touching. “I never want you restraining yourself, do you hear me? You’re not going to be trapped again, Kas. Even if it means my safety.”

“You’re not listening. Now, I don’t have to be.” I kissed her gently. “Fang is my restraints.”

She pulled away, her eyes searching mine. “Fang?”

“He growled at me because he thought you were asleep and therefore helpless to prevent whatever I was going to do to you. I might have been the one to free him, but he’s chosen to protect you.” I laughed again at the perfection of it. “I told you, Gem, we recognized each other. He knows what I’m capable of because he’s capable of the same thing. He loves and trusts both of us but he’s loyal to you. Loyal...even if it means going against me.”

Her eyes slowly tightened with understanding. “You’re saying...if you woke in a nightmare and tried to hurt me, Fang would hurt you back.”

I nodded. “I know without a shadow of a doubt, if I try to lay a finger on you in violence, his teeth will be at my throat.”

She shivered. “He’s already bitten you once. We don’t need a repeat.”

I kissed her. “I would gladly be his damn chew toy if it gave me peace of mind while sleeping beside you.” I laughed with absolute freedom, with joy at this incredible gift. “I will continue to have nightmares. That’s a part of my healing that I doubt I’ll be able to rush or ignore. I know some of those will wake me with rage and total unawareness of my surroundings. It could be years before I’m stable enough to sleep beside you—just like that damn book said. But...” I hugged her so fucking hard. “I don’t have to wait years to enjoy this. To be in your bed. To make love to you and go to sleep with you tucked in my arms. We can have this now...all because we have an alarm system. A dog that will bark if I wake in a nightmare. A creature who will happily bite me if I come anywhere near you in anything but kindness and love.”

Gem studied me before arching her head to look at Fang.

His head popped up, his tongue lolling out as if totally agreeing with me. He whined once and wagged his tail before placing his chin back on his paws.

“See?” I grinned. “He’s game if you are.”

“You’re asking if I’m okay with you getting bitten if you so much as wriggle too close to me in your sleep?”

“I think he’ll give me some leniency, but yes, that’s what I’m asking.”

“And you’ll happily get bitten instead of sleeping safely on the couch? We can buy you another bed, Kas. I’ve been thinking of redecorating one of the spare rooms back into a guest—”

“Don’t use that word.” I shivered, panic and anger flowing through me involuntarily.

Fang instantly leaped to his feet, sensing my change, most likely smelling the ripeness of fresh adrenaline and animosity.

He was like my own personal alert beacon—sensing my mood before even I did.

Voices tried to whisper through my thoughts but Fang’s intensity helped block them, keeping me present, fading my sudden panic.

I reached out and ruffled his head. “You’re a good boy. The best. So in-tune. So fucking perfect.”

He yipped, licked me, then collapsed back into a fur puddle again.

Without even knowing it, he’d just passed the ultimate test.

I didn’t even have to be asleep for him to protect Gem against me. He’d tapped into my psyche. He understood the baseline of my happiness and recognized the flush of panic through whatever sixth sense dogs possessed.

For the first time since meeting Gemma, I fully relaxed.

I let my mind go.

Truly, blissfully go.

I stopped censoring my thoughts and pre-empting whispers and memories.

I let myself be fully with her, every piece of me—the broken and the mended.

Tiredness slammed into me.

A lifetime of exhaustion—decades worth of living on the edge, twitching with wariness, and bracing against future pain—finally coming to terms that it was finally safe to rest.

Okay to surrender.

I was ready to let life happen instead of fighting it.

My body had been free for years.

But now...now my mind was too.

And it was all thanks to a dog who saw me.

A dog who would kill me if I ever laid a cruel finger on the girl I loved with all my glued-together, patched-up heart.

Turning Gemma until she faced away from me, I scooped her around the waist, pulled her into my body, and together...we fell into so much more than sleep.

We fell into our future.

A future we’d fought for, earned, and absolutely treasured.

A future of us.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

EPILOGUE ONE

“EH, KAS...WHAT ARE you doing?”

Kas smiled as he ripped his blue T-shirt over his head and slipped out of his jeans. His boxer briefs were next, yanked down his legs and thrown onto the grass. “Giving you a pretty big hint.”

“A hint for...”

“Oh, I don’t know, Gem. Whatever could it be?” He narrowed his eyes at his cock. “Let me know when you figure it out.”

I fought a laugh, my heart skipping a beat. “You’re naked...in our garden.”

“I’m glad you figured out that bit at least.” He splayed his legs, his erection heavy and hard. “Figured anything else out?”

“That you should probably put some clothes on while we’re outside?”

“No one can see us.” He licked his lips. “And the wildlife don’t care. They’re naked all the time.”

Fang barked, racing from the dense forest at the bottom of the garden, living his life with absolute joy. Running around Kas’s naked legs he threw himself into the long grass, disrupting a couple of butterflies, snapping at them as they fluttered around his fluffy head. His coat had grown back in, erasing any trauma from around his neck, and he positively glittered in the sunshine with good health.

Kas grinned at his dog.

The dog grinned at Kas.

I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming—the scene was just too perfect.

“Admit it.” Kas winked. “You’re aroused.”

I laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

I’m aroused by everything.

This house.

This life.

You.

“You’re flushed and your eyes haven’t risen above my waist.” He shifted his hips left and right, sending his cock swinging indecently. “You don’t have to just stare, you know. You can touch it.”

Oh, God.

My core clenched as my inhibitions faded, one shameless piece at a time.

I moved one step toward him.

His eyes flashed ebony. “That’s it. I won’t bite.” He bared his teeth. “Not as hard as Fang, anyway.”

My eyes traveled up from his cock, locking onto the healed puncture wounds on his arms. After Kas had chosen to sleep beside me, I’d been torn. A part of me was so glad he wanted to be close to me as much as I wanted to be close to him, but the other part of me was still wary.

I’d been strangled one too many times by him and I never wanted a repeat, but I also didn’t want him to be a pincushion for Fang’s teeth.

Turned out...my opinion hadn’t mattered.

Jareth wasn’t there to stop Kas from killing me, so Fang now had the honor. For the past six months, Kas hadn’t left my bed and he had the bite marks to prove it. His nightmares didn’t happen as often—most of them he just thrashed and mumbled, settling back into rest if I kept my distance and didn’t try to wake him. But those nights when his mind was working through a particularly bad memory...he’d sleep walk. Or at least, sleep attack.