She could hear the smile.
Cate practically ran to the door, fumbling with the locks, scrabbling at the doorknob. And then when she finally got it open, she could barely speak.
Soren Andersson, leaning in her doorway, thick, muscular arms crossed, eyes glowing.
He stood up straight and ran a hand through his long blond hair, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Whatever you’re thinking, Cate,” he said, “stop. Whatever you’re afraid of, you’re wrong. I know why you didn’t tell me. And I don’t care that you didn’t. I know you would have eventually, but I messed up, too. I should have told you that I love you, in all the broken ways that I know how.”
Cate leaned against the door, her legs feeling weak.
Everything feeling weak.
“You…?”
“I love you,” he said again, simply. “I should have said it from the very beginning. I should have known it from the very beginning. But I’m going to try to make that up to you, starting right now.”
“
Soren
—”
Cate stopped, suddenly unsure of what to say or how to say it. She was speechless. Soren Andersson had robbed her of speech. And she needed to touch him.
“
Soren
—” she tried again, but this time it only ended in a sob.
“Quiet,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got more.”
“More?” she said in a daze. She didn’t need more. She had everything now.
“More,” he said. He pulled some folded-up papers out of his back pocket and handed them over to her. “I got you something.”
Cate recognized them even before she got done unfolding them.
“Soren, these are my divorce papers,” she said, her voice going a little unsteady. “This is more than my divorce papers. There’s an added non-disclosure agreement, and—and they’re all signed. Signed and notarized.” She looked up, not understanding. “Soren, they’re all signed.”
Soren’s smile was brilliant, his eyes soft.
Cate had never felt so loved in her entire life.
“You’re free, Cate,” he said. “You’re free, but I’m not. I’m yours. You don’t owe me anything, but I’m yours.”
He touched her face.
She was shaking. She could look down at the papers in her hand and see that she was shaking.
“How did you do this?” she asked.
“I made a deal.”
Cate looked up, confused and worried and tumbling further into love with this crazy person who’d magically gotten her a divorce.
Except that obviously it couldn’t have been magic.
“What deal?” she asked.
Soren sucked in a breath and gave Cate the first of what she hoped would be many ‘you caught me, honey’ looks. “I traded with your ex,” he said.
Cate’s face fell. She didn’t care about Jason’s blackmail anymore. She would have gone ahead, steam-powered through the divorce. Soren didn’t need to do anything, and now he’d given something up for nothing.
“Traded what?” she said.
“I told him I’d go to Mark Cheedham and say Jason got me to agree to settle the case,” Soren said. “Jason gets a job, you get a divorce,
the
case is over. Everybody wins.”
Except, of course, for Soren, whose reputation would have been forever ruined by a
settlement.
That is, if there was still a case to settle.
Cate put one hand over her mouth, stiflingoutpan> That a laugh. It was no use.
“This is funny?” Soren asked, smiling.
“Oh God, yes, it’s funny,” Cate said. “I’ve been calling you to tell you.”
“Dead phone. Died while I was ‘negotiating’ with that prick. Tell me what?”
“Soren, the case is done. I found evidence that Cheedham paid
Daniella
. There will be an announcement sometime later this week, an investigation, the whole thing. I fixed that today.”
“So Cheedham…?”
“Probably going to jail.”
“So Jason gets…?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
Soren’s smile was blinding. “Holy crap, that is funny.” Then he paused. “Wait, what happens to
Daniella
? She’s not a bad person, Cate.”
Cate put a hand on Soren’s chest and smiled. She just wanted to feel the heart that beat there.
“You really are very sweet,” she said softly. “And you’re right. She was doing it because her nephew is sick. I already took care of it, Soren; his medical bills are paid. And I told her you probably wouldn’t be suing her.”
“Hell no, I’m not suing her,” he said.
“I took care of her,” Cate said. “I got her a lawyer, she’ll get a book deal out of the whole thing. She’ll be ok.”
“That’s almost enough to get me to forgive you for calling me sweet,” he said. His big hand circled around her wrist, and Cate let the shivers ripple through her body.
“You haven’t let me tell you what I wanted to tell you,” Cate said.
Soren pushed her gently back into the house, closing the door behind him.
“You better make it quick,” he said.
Cate couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she looked into those eyes.
“I love you,” she said.
Soren grinned. “I know,” he said.
“What do you mean, you know?” Cate swatted him in the chest. “You let me suffer?”
“No, I was just stupid.” Soren took her other wrist in his hand and walked her backwards, his gaze roving over her body before resting on her eyes. “I told you I sucked at this. But you’re the only woman I can love, Cate. You have my heart. So I’m going to keep loving you until I’m really fucking good at it, ok?”
Cate licked her lips. “Ok.”
He smiled. “I wasn’t really asking.”
“I know.”
“And that cute smile you’re doing right now is not going to stop me from putting you over my knee whenever I feel like it.”
“I should hope not.”
They were standing together in the middle of the living room now, staring at each other,
not
wanting any of it to end. Eventually Cate broke; she didn’t have the discipline of a Dom. She tore at his jeans, not wanting to look away from his eyes, but needing, needing for them to be together, as soon as possible, right freaking
now
—
She got him free and her clothes were off so quickly she didn’t quite know how he’d done it. And then his huge hands under her buttocks, lifting her up, guiding her, slowly lowering her onto him until he’d impaled her to the hilt, his eyes boring into hers while he did it.
He filled her. He loved her. He made her
know
she was loved; he made her know it was possible.
“Soren,” she said, moving her hips against him as much as she could while he held her up.
“Look at me,” he said.
She did, brushing his wild hair out of his face. She loved him more than she thought possible.
“I love you, Cate. Do you understand that?” he said softly. “Do you understand that I’m never going to get over that? That I’m never going to stop being grateful to you for the opportunity to feel like this? You
astonish
me.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “Soren, I need you. Right now.”
“Cate,” he said, and hefted her up once, sharply, swiftly, before bring her back down, making her scream out as the head of his cock dragged against her favorite spot. “I’m gonna marry you just as soon as you let me.”
“I only just got divorced!”
“I’m not above using all kinds of persuasive techniques to get what I want,” he said, driving up into her.
She groaned.
“I might—” she gasped, “—actually be ok with that.”
He laughed, that sound filling her with so much joy, even as he tumbled them both onto the sofa and pinned her arms above her head.
“How do Lucy and Ethel feel about it?” he said.
Declan and Molly’s engagement party, much delayed, was basically a present to
Adra
.
Adra
loved Christmas stuff. Like, truly, truly loved it, as only a woman born and bred in southern California can love the suggestion of snow and everything that goes with it. Molly had decided to save her energy for the wedding—apparently planning a wedding to a rock star was like planning the invasion of a small country—and when she heard that
Adra
was still upset about whatever was happening with her and Ford, she decided to give
Adra
the gift of planning a Christmas engagement party.
Adra
had literally squealed. Cate had heard it herself. There had been gleeful squealing, and then
Adra
had covered her mouth and looked around to see who had heard.
“I’m a grown woman,” she’d said shaking her head.
“Relax,” Cate had laughed. “Get into the spirit.”
Adra
had done more than that.
Adra
had
become
the spirit. Or she’d somehow kidnapped the spirit and then forced it to do the decorating at Club
Volare
.
Because the place had been turned into a wonderland. Outside it was sunny and eighty degrees. Inside: winter wonderland. Cate was in awe. So was Molly.
“Holy—”
“—Night,” Cate finished, giving her friend a smile. “That was my contribution.”
Molly giggled. “Well, it’s going to be some kind of night.”
That was another thing Cate had to be grateful for: she had been fully accepted into
Soren’s
found family pretty much immediately, and Molly and
Adra
had been at the forefront of that effort. Cate’s wariness around people had returned, to some extent, when she found herself trying to build her own friendships with these people, and Molly and
Adra
would have none of it. They’d worn her down in the best possible way.
And now…she was here.
Cate looked around again as Molly went off to do the rounds, greeting all the people who’d shown up to congratulate her and
Declan
. There was not one person here who Cate felt she had to hide from. They all knew her. Really, really knew her, the real her, all sides of her. They were all people who she would invite into her home, if she hadn’t already. She hadn’t felt that panic or white knuckled fear in months.
It was all, frankly, amazing.
And she had
Soren
to thank for it.
Cate sme="font iled, eyes searching for him amongst the crowd. A giant blond Norse god shouldn’t be hard to find, and anyway, she knew he’d come track her down in a few minutes just to put his arms around her. He always did, even at home.