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“You think it was Maria?”

“She works right next door. She’d be in and out of the diner all the time. That’s why no one thought twice about her being there. If it had been Rick—”

“Someone would remember a stranger.”

“Still, it’s not proof. I need to find Rick. If he can point the finger at Maria, then that’s another charge to her long list of crimes. If it was him, I don’t want him thinking he can come back and finish the job.”

“I finally get to claim you as my badass boyfriend.” Her grin made him smile back.

He brushed his fingers through her hair. “You own me, Angel. My heart, my soul, all of me.”

“Well, whatever am I going to do with you?” The sexy look in her eyes said she had some ideas.

He palmed her ass and pulled her body snug against his. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

“On your back, baby.”

He grinned and complied, loving the feel of her rising and straddling his hips. “You like being on top.”

She took his wrists and moved his hands to her breasts. “I like your hands on me.”

“So do I.” He molded the soft mounds to his hands, her hard nipples pressed to his palms.

She sighed and rubbed herself against his thick erection as she leaned forward, her beautiful hair spilling around him in a curtain, her lips taking his in a searing kiss. Their tongues tangled and glided over each other’s until they were both desperate to breathe and lost in the building passion. He broke the kiss and pulled her up over him so he could take one pink-tipped breast into his mouth. With her up on her knees, he slid his hand down to her wet center and stroked his fingers through her soft folds, teasing, tempting, and making her moan. He gave her other breast some attention andslid one finger, then two into her tight core. He kept the push-and-pull rhythm slow and easy, but she had other ideas and rode his hand, her breath coming in pants. He circled her clit with this thumb and sent her over the edge. He enjoyed bringing her back to herself with featherlight strokes of his fingers and a kiss that melted her into him.

And then she sank back on him, taking his hard length into her in a slow glide that made him want to plunge fast and deep, but he let her take him in her way, in her time, until she was seated on him all the way to the hilt. She rocked once, and he clamped his hands on her hips as she rose up and rocked again, her head falling back, her long dark hair brushing his thighs.

He looked up at his angel and saw the ecstasy, felt the connection between them, and let pleasure reign as he thrust deep and moved with her.

She fell forward, her hands on either side of his head. The kiss she gave him scrambled his brain and amped up the desire riding him hard. She took him up to the very edge, held him there until he wanted to beg, and then her body tightened around his cock. He followed her into pure bliss. And when she collapsed on his chest, he held her close, kissed her on the head, and said what he needed her to know more than anything. “I love you.”

He’d said it before. She knew he meant it. He just really needed to say it. She deserved to hear him say it to her every day.

She pressed up on one hand, the other went over his heart. “I love you, too, Mason. So much. Never doubt it.”

“I don’t. I won’t. Because I see it every time you look at me.”

“Well, I like looking at you.” She smiled. What a gift. She had no idea how much he loved this peaceful, normal, impossibly important and poignant moment in his life. He’d wanted this for so long, and now he had it.

And nothing and no one was going to take this from them. Ever.

Chapter Thirty-One

An hour later, Mason and Lyric finally made it out of bed. Mostly because they’d worked up a big appetite. He was sitting at the table finishing another pancake and his second cup of coffee while Lyric showered, when someone knocked at the door.

This time, he didn’t have to worry about who saw him here. Though he did pull on a T-shirt to go with his jeans before he opened the door barefoot and still rumpled from his tumble in bed with his angel.

He didn’t expect to see his brother this morning, but it put a smile on his face.

Nick stared.

“What?” Mason asked, confused by his brother’s silence.

“You look... happy.”

Mason felt it for the first time in a long time. “I’m where I want to be, not where I need to be.”

Nick got it immediately. “And where is she? I owe her a huge thank-you for making you feel that way.”