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I’d been lost in my anger and resentment, not giving a thought to what would be revealed.

Soft, wet lips pressed against my temple. Travis’ tongue licking away the tears I hadn’t realized were slipping from my eyes. He tried to pull back, and I clung to him.

“Please don’t leave me.” My voice a hoarse whisper.

“Never,” he said as he kissed my lips. “Open your eyes, baby. Let me love you.”

I blinked my eyes slowly. Opening them to look at the ceiling. Afraid to see something in his gaze that I couldn’t return. Something unfamiliar that terrified me.

Something he professed, but I was afraid to accept as truth.

“Look at me, Melissa. See me. The man who loves you. The man who wants to praise you. Worship you. Protect you.”

Closing my eyes for a moment, to steel up my reserve. Bolster my strength to reach out for what I wanted most in this world. To be loved. To be cherished. To be wanted.

When I finally looked into his eyes, it was there. Everything he felt, everything he claimed. Everything he offered was shining back at me.

Travis pulled back gently only to return equally unhurried. The slow push and pull of our lovemaking was a balm to my soul. He used his body to tell my heart what I refused to hear.

That even when he left, he would still be with me. And more importantly, he would always return. His careful, even thrusts spoke to my heart.

My heart broke apart into tiny pieces. And Travis was putting them back together. Filling in the spaces that had been stolen away. Replacing them with pieces from his own.

I grabbed his face in my hands and pulled him to my lips. Wanting to be connected everywhere. My kisses were desperate. Trying to convey everything I had into it so he felt even a small percentage of what he was doing to me.

Travis increased his pace. Creating the friction we both needed. Stoking the fire building, slowly becoming an inferno, that would consume us both.

“Come for me, Princess. Let it go. It’s mine now. They’re all mine,” he whispered in my ear, and a wave washed over me at his words. The release was more than a climax.

It was letting go of the pain of my childhood. Letting go of the hurt and abandonment from my family. Letting go of the resentment toward Danny and the lies he told.

It was healing.

When Travis tipped over the cliff after me, he filled me with his seed. But there was more. He filled the empty places in my heart and in my soul with pieces of him.

His love.

His devotion.

His trust.

His life.

It was the greatest night of my life. It wasn’t dirty and hurried from passion and lust. It was slow and deliberate. Filled with honor and respect.

He rolled over, pulling me with him. Settling me against his chest. His hand was on the back of my head and we both panted, trying to slow our heartbeats.

Grabbing my knee, Travis pulled my leg over his. Like he couldn’t get me close enough. Like he wanted to crawl back inside me and stay there.

“I love you, Melissa. I’ll never fucking leave you.”

Tears rolled down, pooling on his chest. I wanted so desperately to speak the words back to him, but emotion clogged my throat, keeping me from uttering any words.

I clung to him as I cried.

“I’ve got you, Princess. I’ll always be here.”

He knew just what to say. He knew the words my heart needed to heal. His love and devotion had the power to make me whole again. He gave me the strength to allow myself to let him.