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“I love you too. Always have. Always will.” And then with one thrust, he was completely inside me.

I gasped at the intense feeling of fullness, my body relaxing around his invasion as I wrapped my legs around his hips.

For just a second, I recalled the way he’d felt the first time he’d thrust into me, tearing my flesh and filling me in a way I’d never been filled before. It had hurt so much I’d almost told him to stop, but I hadn’t. And after a few minutes, the worst of the pain had begun to ease and I’d been able to focus on the awe of Kyland above me, moving inside me. I’d been so desperately in love with him.

I still was.

He brought his mouth to my nipple and flicked it with his tongue as he began to move, and I was suddenly very much back in the present. I groaned and wove my fingers into his short hair, my fingernails scratching his scalp. A groan escaped his mouth as he came up off one breast and moved to the other, still thrusting leisurely into me. “Kyland, oh God,” I moaned. I brought my hands down to his shoulders. The steady drumbeat of arousal between my legs was increasing and I raised my hips to meet his thrusts.

“You feel so good, Ten.”

I tried to speak, but my words dissolved on my tongue as the most intense orgasm I’d ever had detonated and sent shock waves all the way down to my toes. I leaned my head back with a whimper as I clenched and spasmed around Kyland.

His movements became jerky and uneven and then he thrust into me one final time, spilling into me as he moaned his orgasm into my neck.

We lay there for several minutes, our breathing labored, our skin dewy with exertion. Finally, Kyland brought his head up and smiled down at me. “God, I missed you so damn much. I wondered if yesterday would be the last time.” His smile was so incredibly tender, but there was sadness in his eyes.

I put my hand up on his cheek and ran my thumb over his cheekbone. “We have a lot to make up for. But all the time in the world.” I smiled, my heart filled with hope and joy.

Kyland pulled out of me and I winced slightly. He rolled to the side and sat up to pull a blanket over us. Then he gathered me in his arms and I rested my head on his chest.

“I’m really sorry about this bed situation.”

I snuggled closer and turned my nose in, to his skin, inhaled, and then kissed his nipple. “What bed situation?” I asked, smiling against his chest.

He chuckled. “I don’t know. I forgot what I was talking about.”

I propped my hands on his chest, and rested my chin on them so I could look at him. “What are we gonna do, Ky?”

“I guess we’ll buy a bed.”

I laughed. “Not about that. About everything. About us.”

His hand halted. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to figure out where we’re going to live—”

He released a breath. “Oh. We’ll figure all that out. Once I find the willpower to get out from under these blankets with you. Which could be three months from now.”

I laughed. But I got up and sat on my knees facing him and looked at him very seriously. “I have to stay here and finish this school. I made a commitment and it’s important to me. And I know you’re still working to pay for my mama’s care.” I paused to revel in that knowledge again. It was still unbelievable. “But after that, Kyland, I can hire someone else to run the funding for the school and I can work anywhere. Like I said, I get to give that gift back to you now. And so it’s your turn to go to college.” I was speaking quickly, the ideas coming fast and furious into my brain. “Rather than staying here, I could come with you, wherever you want to go—anywhere. And I’ll get a teaching job there and we’ll get a really small, inexpensive apartment and we might have to take out a small loan, but—”

Kyland laughed, a joyful sound. I halted talking, realizing that, like that day we’d gone sledding so long ago, his expression was filled only with joy. “That’s all very sweet,” he said. “And we can talk about all that, but Ten, you’re topless right now and I haven’t had any sex for four years, so I’m finding it hard to concentrate here.”

I laughed and leaned in and kissed him. He smiled against my mouth, kissing me back. I squealed when he flipped me over and gazed down at me, grinning his beautiful grin. “We have options now, beautiful girl. I have a couple more months at the mine and your mama is going to be in the hospital for a few more months too, but after that, the world is our oyster. Or at least it feels like it.” Peace. I finally felt it, and I could see he did too. That smile spoke peace—peace and hope.