“I love you, Stella. I need you to know that.”
Cade was inside me—actually inside me—and he’d just said he loved me. For a second, all I could do was hold onto those words andfeelthem.
“You don’t have to say it back. I just needed you to know.”
He’d gone still, his body trembling with the effort of holding back. His forehead rested against mine, our breath mingling in the small space between us. One hand cupped my face while the other braced beside my head, holding his weight off me. Waiting.
The crazy thing was, I wanted to say it, too.
Because Cade made me feel safe in a way no one else ever had. He kept showing up, even when he didn’t have to—evenwhen most people wouldn’t. Because he looked at me like I was the most fascinating person in the world, even when I was being difficult. Because he’d told me about his mother—a wound so old and deep that it had shaped everything he was—and trusted me to hold his pain gently.
Because when I pictured my future, he was in it.
The words were right there, burning in my chest, but I was too scared to let them out.
Instead, I pulled him down into a kiss, pouring everything I felt into the slide of my mouth against his.
He moved inside me, slow and deep, and I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Not from sadness, but from the way everything suddenly made sense.
“Stella,” he whispered, his rhythm faltering. “I’m close.”
“Me too.”
He reached between us, his fingers finding my clit, and that was all it took. I came with a shout, my body clenching around him, and he followed a heartbeat later, spilling inside me with a groan.
For a long moment afterward, we lay there tangled together, our breathing slowly returning to normal.
Finally, he shifted, pulling out and rolling onto his back.
I felt the warm rush of his cum leaking out of me, sliding down my inner thigh, and I wanted to reach down and push it—push him—back inside of me.
He immediately pulled me against his side, his arm wrapped securely around me.
“I meant it,” I whispered against his chest. “About you being good and kind and way more than I thought I’d ever be allowed to have.”
“I know.” His fingers traced lazy patterns over the rose tattoo shoulder. “And I meant what I said, too.”
I closed my eyes, letting his words wash over me.
“Cade?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Tell me again in a couple of days, okay?”
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. “I’ll tell you every damn day until you’re ready to say it back.”
“That might be a while. Rumor has it, I’m pretty stubborn.”
“I’ve waited more than half my life for you, Stella. I can wait a little longer.”
He really wasn’t going to have to.
seven
. . .
CADE
