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She laughed. “Kyland, walk,” she ordered. “Walk fast.”

She didn’t have to ask me twice.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Tenleigh

I was in Kyland’s arms. He was taking me to his bed—his bed on the floor. And I didn’t care a single whit. Although the state of his house was sad and pathetic and it made me want to cry for how he’d lived all this time, I would happily be with him anywhere. And he had done this for me. Kyland.

He set me down when we got into his room. It looked the same as I remembered it, except in the place where his twin bed had once been, just like he’d said, there was a quilt laid out with a folded pile of blankets on top of that.

For a moment, he simply gazed at me. I saw the love in his eyes and it filled me with wild wonder. All this time…so much sacrifice… I leaned forward and kissed him, slowly, deeply, and then we began undressing, the air filled with a delicious anticipation. Unlike earlier that day, we were going to take our time, enjoy every moment. I pulled my shirt off over my head and dropped it to the floor. Kyland’s naked chest was already on display—hard muscle covered in smooth male skin—and I took a minute to let my eyes roam over it. I licked my lips, my eyes focusing on one dark brown nipple. God, he was even more beautiful than I remembered, every part of him. His body and his heart.

“Tenleigh, if you keep looking at me that way, this isn’t going to last very long.”

I laughed shortly. “Have you”—I cleared my throat—“been with anyone else? It’s okay if you have,” I rushed on. “I wouldn’t blame you of course, I just…for me, yesterday was the first time since I was last with you and I want you to know that, even if—”

“Tenleigh, I haven’t been with anyone else.”

Oh, thank God. “You haven’t?”

“No. If I was, how was I going to get you to forgive me for leading you to believe I had slept with someone else if all the time you were gone, I really was sleeping with other people? Because I have a perfectly functioning right hand and because I haven’t wanted anyone since you.”

Tenderness filled my heart first and following that, I couldn’t help the image that came into my head of Kyland lying right here, his thick erection in his hand as he brought himself to orgasm. It definitely wasn’t an unwelcome vision.

“I haven’t wanted anyone else either,” I said.

He released a long breath and I moved closer to him, my fingertips lightly moving over his skin, up to his shoulders and down his arms. He was utterly still and when I glanced up at his face, his expression was tense, almost pained.

I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe I was here, with Kyland. He had given everything up for me. He loved me. He’d never betrayed me—he’d only ever sought to make my life better. And I still loved him. I’d always loved him. Somewhere, somewhere inside, the hurt had seemed so unbelievable because it didn’t make sense. I knew this man. I knew his heart, his soul. And he was only good. I sucked in the emotion that threatened to overwhelm me. Kyland brought his hand to my cheek and stroked his thumb over my cheekbone, and I leaned in to his touch. Home.

I needed to be as close as possible to him. I needed to touch him everywhere. I needed to convince myself this was real.

My jeans slid down my legs after I’d unbuttoned them, and I kicked them and my underwear aside. Kyland did the same and we stood before each other naked.

I glanced down at his straining erection, and like the day before, I couldn’t help reaching down to caress it several times from base to tip. Kyland let out a guttural groan.

When he leaned toward me, I expected his kiss to be hard—filled with the trembling lust I was feeling—but instead it was soft…sweet and slow. He tilted his head and nibbled tenderly at my lips, finally sliding his tongue against mine in a hypnotic dance.

Our bare bodies pressed against each other, igniting me, and when I pulled back to lie down on the blankets, he came with me, taking my mouth in another slow, sliding kiss once we were both lying down.

“I’ve always loved the way we fit together,” Kyland murmured, pressing his body closer to mine. I felt his hardness nestled between my legs and moaned longingly. “Spread your legs a little, Ten,” he said against my mouth. Lust shot through my body and I did as he said, widening my legs so he could guide himself to my opening.

He eased in just a little, inch by slow inch, the expression on his face one of focused bliss. God, he was beautiful, his high cheekbones tinged with pink, his lips parted, and a slight sheen on his brow. “I love you,” I said.