The birthmark sits low on my belly like a question I have never dared answer. Merritt stands over me now with the ledger dropped between our hands on the gravel, but his gaze has already moved past the papers. He wants the barn, the seclusion, my body held flat beneath his while he takes what he needs to claim us both.

I can feel the restraint in his fingers, the way he will grip my hips and wrists to keep me still until he has filled me and the future is certain. The rival threatens everything we have built, yet it is his need to breed me like this that terrifies me most. Once the deed is secure, will his weight lift from my body, or will I remain pinned to these rough planks long after the danger has passed?