Authors: Lindsay McKenna
And it was love, she realized, feeling him begin to tremble violently, hearing his breath change, getting shallow. His hand slipped from beneath her hip and he held her face between his hands. Then, he thrust hard inside her, holding her, growling her name. She opened her eyes, sinking into his stormy green and gold ones.
Suddenly, he gasped, tensing, his brow against hers, groaning as Lia felt his own climax flood deeply within her. She smiled faintly as he prolonged all those wonderful sensations this first time. Cav had given her so much, but most of all, he’d given her back her freedom. And if that wasn’t love, what was?
Cav groaned against Lia’s neck, kissing her, nuzzling her, feeling her thrumming with satisfaction. He felt so weak but he knew his full body weight was upon her. His mind wasn’t working at all, but he knew he couldn’t continue to crush her into the mattress.
Groaning, he slowly pulled away, but she resisted his withdrawal, her hands sliding to his shoulders, pulling him back down upon her. It felt so good being inside her tight, small body, and he breathed in her heat and the heady musky scent of their immersion into each other.
He slid his fingers into her hair, caressing her strands, rising up enough to take her mouth tenderly now. How he loved this woman. He was overcome with the intense desire to always protect her, to make her, his own, to stamp himself into her in every way. She was his universe, and he kissed her long and sweetly, feeling her smile beneath his mouth, her hips moving slowly, continuing to engage him, continuing to give him pleasure. There was nothing but unselfishness in her, something that Cav had immediately recognized. As he carefully eased off her a bit, despite her objections, he opened his eyes, studying her.
Lia’s hair was mussed, her cheeks a deep pink, her gray eyes large and lustrous. Her feminine softness captured him fully as he smiled down at her. Words weren’t necessary. Cav could feel his body pulsing and throbbing with fulfillment. There was no one like Lia in the world and she was his. He didn’t want to dominate Lia but wanted to feel an equal kinship with her. He considered them co-owners of each other. He leaned down, kissing the shell of her ear. “I don’t know how we got so damned lucky to find one another, but I’m so glad we did, baby….”
Lia slid her fingers through his short hair. Cav’s face looked so different, so relaxed. “Me too,” she said, her voice wispy sounding. “I never realized it could be this good, Cav. Did you?”
He shook his head, awe in his deep, gruff tone. “No, baby, I didn’t.” He slid his fingers through the curls sticking to the dampness of her brow, pushing them above her hairline. “But it’s you, you know? Us. We’re good together. I always knew we would be.” He kissed the tip of her nose, watching as she grinned with delight.
“You just had to work me up and over that fear of my scar, was all,” she pointed out archly.
He heard the humor in her low, smoky voice and continuing to feather his fingers across her scalp, seeing that she enjoyed it. “We all have hurdles, Lia. Every last one of us.”
“You looked so whole and confident to me when I’d met you, Cav.”
A sound rumbled through his chest, his grin deepening. “That’s because I’d worked through some of my hurdles a little earlier than you did, was all.” His voice deepened with emotion. “You need to know, Lia, that you’ve been healing me ever since we met. I had wounds that were still open and when I was around you, they began to heal.” He kissed her mouth tenderly, easing inches from her wet lips and rasped, “You’ve helped me so much and I don’t think you ever realized what you’ve been doing for me all along.”
“Oh, Cav…no, I didn’t realize it…”
“You do now, baby. We’re slowly healing one another over time. We’ve entrusted ourselves to each other.”
Sighing, she framed his sweaty face, lost in the happiness in his gaze. “Thank you for helping me with that last one…”
“That’s what love is about—helping one another, offering a hand, and wanting to see your mate grow and be happy.” Cav pressed his mouth to her brow, her cheek and then slowly captured her willing mouth beneath his.
Wanting to kiss her with all the love he held in his heart for her, Cav pushed his hips forward to show that he was here for her as long as she wanted him.
As he left her lips, he opened his eyes, holding her glistening gaze. “You’ve done the same for me, Lia. I wanted you to walk free, baby. To be able to be who you really are, not what had happened to you. You’ll never forget that event, but now it no longer holds its former power over you. You had the courage to destroy its power. I wish you could see, from my eyes, how much you’ve grown since we met.”
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, her lower lip trembling as she caressed his face, never wanting this moment to end. “You loved me enough to be patient.”
“That’s true,” he murmured, moving his thumbs across her cheeks, removing her warm tears. Cav silently celebrated that Lia wasn’t trying to stop from crying this time. He knew how sensitive and vulnerable she was, and reveled in her latest positive step. “I like you open like this,” he growled against her cheek. “Never stop being yourself. I saw who you were, Lia. I fell in love with that woman. And she’s incredibly beautiful, whole and perfect for me. And she always will be.”
Lia was warm. Moving up through the delicious layers of sleep, almost to the edge of wakefulness, she smiled, cuddling into Cav’s body wrapped around hers. The sense of love, of being fully protected, flowed through her. Joy was on its heels as she nuzzled beneath his jaw, absorbing the hard, tensile warmth of his chest, his hair tickling her nose.
Her other hand was draped across his narrow waist. Her one leg was entangled with his, drawing her as close as she could be against his hips. Feeling his erection thickening against her soft belly, she sighed, remembering the other two times that they’d awakened and made urgent, hungry love with one another. Each time it was better and better.
Lia was still floating in that cloud of absolute pleasure she hadn’t know existed until Cav had taken her there with his hands, mouth and body.
Now? Now she knew what real love was. It was more than the physical. It consumed her on every level. She felt so whole right now, more than at any other time during her life. And it was because of Cav, his love for her overlaying her own for him. Her heart dwelled on them as a couple. They had both been terribly wounded. Cav had walked a much harder road than she had as far as Lia was concerned. And he’d had the inner strength and desire to break free of it and become the man who lay in her arms this morning. His courage made tears come to her closed eyes.
Cav had turned around, recognizing her own imprisonment by the past, and miraculously helped her to break free and clear of it.
Lia knew the scars would always be there to remind her of that night. But it didn’t mean that the past had to keep her imprisoned. She moved her hand slowly from Cav’s waist, her fingers moving up his chest, tangling into the silk of his dark hair across it.
Cav’s love for her had set her free. Love had done this. She knew she had a part in this, too, but Cav had taken her that last mile, carrying her, supporting her, asking her to walk into a new life, with him. And she had.
She was almost incredulous now, looking back at her ridiculous fears about that last scar. Cav was right: it was no worse looking than the others he’d already seen and accepted,
simply because he loved her.
Shaken by how love could change someone like herself, Lia felt a special gratitude for Cav’s unexpected arrival in her life.
He’d been a caring bodyguard for her while she was dealing with political dangers swirling around La Fortuna. He’d been her safe harbor emotionally when she was stretched and strung out so tightly that she thought she’d never make it. His sensitivity toward her was almost awe-inspiring.
Just seeing him as a security contractor didn’t even begin to plumb his depths. Lia wanted to spend the rest of her life discovering this man and all his layers of being. She was starved to hear what he thought, how he saw things, including her, himself, and the world around them.
Perhaps because Cav had gone through so much and survived it, it had made him stronger. But it had also made him compassionate toward others like himself. Lia appreciated anew how lucky she was to have come from a loving, healthy family. She could hardly wait to take Cav home to Oregon to meet her parents. Lia knew they would instantly love him as she had done. And more than anything, she wanted to offer Cav the gift of her family. She knew her mother and father would willingly embrace him, and include him in their family immediately. They were like that.
Hearing about Cav’s terrible childhood made Lia appreciate her parents so much more. They had raised her right, given her a sense of selfhood, courage and confidence. Cav stirred at her side. She stopped stroking her fingers across his chest, waiting to see his eyes barely open. Smiling into them, Lia caressed his stubble cheek. “I want to wake up like this for the rest of my life with you,” she whispered. Leaning upward on her elbow, she caressed his mouth, feeling the returned heat of his kiss. Lifting his hand, he skimmed his fingers along the line of her shoulder.
“Mmmm,” he growled, “I feel the same way.” He lingered against her lips, seeing her smile, feeling the softness of her body against his, the way her fingers glided over his back and hips, inciting him, making him want her all over again. And his erection grew between them. Her hair was tousled, her gray eyes inviting, her wet lips parted, breathless. His love deepened even more for Lia, if that was possible. This morning she was a new woman. The change was remarkable. Magical.
“I don’t want to leave this bed,” she admitted, kissing his cheek, his jaw, and then the corner of his mouth as he smiled.
“Aren’t you sore?” he asked, tipping his head back enough to engage her full gaze.
“Well, a little,” she said, and then shrugged. “But it’s a very small price to pay, believe me.”
He settled on his back. “Come here,” he growled, and he eased her fully over him so that their bodies were pancaked together. “There,” he said, moving his hands down her strong, curved spine, ending at her sweet cheeks.
Moving his erection against her, he saw her eyes close, those sweet sounds in the back of her throat telling him everything he needed to know.
Lia sighed, feeling her body growing wet, dampening her inner thighs as he languidly moved his hips against hers, and teasing her.
“I’m so hungry for you, Cav. All of you. Again.”
He framed her face, drawing her down to his mouth, caressing her lips. “Well,” he murmured against them, “I don’t want to disappoint the woman I love, do I?” In response, she laughed, her whole body shaking, and he pulled back, absorbing the pure joy she was releasing.
“I want you again because I love you, because I can’t get enough of you, Cav. You’ve given me so much since we met. Now, I want to give you the same.”
He nodded. “Well, then, I think we need to make this a little more official, Ms. Cassidy.” and he brought her to his side. Reaching for the top drawer of the bed stand, he opened it and pulled out a box. Closing it, he coaxed her up into a sitting position next to him.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, seeing the sparkle in his eyes.
“This,” Cav said, bringing a bright red velvet box between them, pushing it into her hand. “Open it, so I can see if we’re sharing the same dream.”
Lia frowned as he propped himself up on one elbow, watching her through half closed eyes.
Opening the box, Lia gasped, unable to process what she was seeing. Inside was an engagement and wedding ring. They were gold; a single solitaire diamond stared back at her.
“Do you like them, baby?”
The diamond was a soft pink, her favorite color. Lia was enchanted by it. She gently touched the sparkling solitaire, giving him an incredulous look. “They’re gorgeous, Cav!”
“But do you like them?” he asked again, grinning at her.
“I love them!”
“I want to marry you, Lia,” he told her quietly, holding her gaze. “No rush, baby, but I wanted you to know I was serious. I’m committed fully to you. I have been from the day we met.”
He pointed to the rings cupped in her hands. “This proves it. You don’t have to do a thing with them right now.” He searched her face, his voice deepening. “They’re there when you want them. I know how you feel about one-night stands, and just for the record, this isn’t one.”
Her heart spilled over with love. She saw the sincerity in his burning gaze, heard it, and absorbed every word of it. “Yes,” Lia whispered, her voice unsteady, “I understand.” She placed them on the bedstand, then turned, rose to her knees, leaned over, and enclosed Cav’s shoulders with a hug—hugging him as hard as she could.
Her voice was wobbly as she whispered against his ear, “I love you so much…so much…”
Cav brought her against him, her head rested on his upper arm as he tucked her in, knowing she needed that sense of protection right now. “The last two months have been a special heaven and hell,” he told her, resting his palm against her cheek. “We have the time now, baby, to really get to know one another. I don’t know how you feel about this, but I’d like nothing better than for you to move into my condo with me. I want you in this bed, beside me, every night.”
He moved his thumb across the warm velvet of her cheek, watching for a reaction. “What do you want? Because in the end? I’ll do what you ask of me, Lia. I never want you to feel pressured by me. A relationship is about two people, not one.”
“You’ve never pressured me, Cav. Not ever.” She smiled a little. “Dilara is going to be over the moon about this!”
Snorting, Cav grinned sourly. “Yeah, she’ll be saying, ‘I told you so.’”
Giggling, Lia pressed her full length against his hard, lean body. “First,” she said, “I want you to come home with me and meet my folks.”
“I thought about that,” he said, curving his hand across her shoulders, holding her gently. “Name the time. I’m sure Dilara will give us a week off.”
“Yes,” Lia said with a half laugh, “and in the next breath, she’ll want to know when we’re getting married. I know how that woman’s matchmaking brain works.”