His voice breaks on that last word. I cup his dear face and say the words I didn’t realize he needed. “I forgive you.”
The last word isn’t even fully uttered before he’s crushing his lips to mine. I kiss him back with equal fervor to let him know that I don’t want to be let go. That his arms are the only place for me.
Those arms sweep me up against him. He urges me to straddle his waist and carries me effortlessly into the living room, laying me against the cushions. His hard body presses me into the soft down. The steel shaft rubs against my sensitive clit and a moan escapes me. His fingers slide down between us, underneath the elastic band of my yoga pants until he finds my wet, ready heat.
I rip at his sweater and then his jeans. He claws at my shirt and breaks the strap on my bra in his haste to get my clothes off.
“Sorry,” he says, completely unrepentant, and then he’s quiet as his mouth licks a heated path from my collarbone down to my left breast. He runs his tongue around one already erect nipple before engulfing the pert nub with his mouth.
I arch up against his cock, rubbing myself against him like a shameless cat. His free hand slips between my legs to hold me open. I brace myself for his intrusion. Even after a month of making love, my body is always surprised at how large he is.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he murmurs against my skin. “You know I’m not going to hurt you ever again.”
“I know.” I take a deep breath and relax. He slides in slow until my entire passage is filled with his cock.
“I love you,” he breathes as he starts to stroke me.
I clutch him to my chest. “I love you, too.”
His eyes glow with excitement. “What happened to us sucked, Kate. We could have been kept apart forever, but, instead, I found my way back to you. That’s all that matters. We’ve been given a second chance. Let’s not waste more time. Marry me and let’s make another baby.”
My heart fills with joy at his statement. “Yes. Yes. Yes to all of it.”
He throws back his head and whoops loudly.
I slap a hand over his mouth. “Anna!” I remind him.
He grins adorably, the dimples appearing. “I couldn’t help it.” He swoops down and kisses me with fierce tenderness and joyous love.
He was right. The amnesia, his missing Anna’s birth, our separation—it was all terrible, but, somehow, we won. No matter what curveballs life may throw us, no matter what bombshells may drop, we are together. As the Christmas music plays and the snow falls and the lights twinkle, we bind our promises with cords of passion, devotion, and unending love.