“I see you.” She cupped my face in her hands, her thumbs brushing over my cheekbones. “I see you, Knox Blackwood. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I dropped my forehead to hers. Kept my rhythm slow and steady. Felt her wrap her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper.
“I love you,” I said.
The words came out raw. Unpolished. But they were the truest thing I’d ever spoken.
“I love you too.” Her voice broke on the words. “God, Knox, I love you so much.”
I kissed her. Poured everything I couldn’t say into that kiss. Years of loneliness. Years of believing I didn’t deserve this. Years of wondering if I’d die in that cell without ever knowing what it felt like to be loved.
And here she was. Loving me anyway.
Our bodies moved together in perfect rhythm. No performance. No proving anything. Just connection. Just us.
I laced my fingers through hers, pinned her hands gently beside her head. Kissed her between thrusts. Whispered her name.
Her breath started to hitch. Her walls started to flutter.
“Stay with me,” I murmured against her lips. “Look at me when you come.”
“Knox …”
“I want to see you. All of you.”
Her eyes stayed locked on mine as her orgasm built, crested, and finally broke over her in a wave of shuddering release. She didn’t scream this time. She just gasped my name, soft and broken.
I followed her over the edge. Gentler this time. A slow, rolling release that felt less like an explosion and more like a homecoming.
We lay there for a long time. Her body curled into mine. My arms wrapped around her like I could shield her from everything the world had ever thrown at her.
I thought about the future. About taking her on real dates. Restaurants with white tablecloths and wine lists I’d have to pretend to understand. Weekend trips to places neither of us had ever seen. A life that looked nothing like a prison cell.
I thought about a ring.
Someday in the not-too-distant future. Not too soon though. I didn’t want her to think the euphoria of my prison release, the intoxication of finally being together, had anything to do with the depth of what I felt for her. These feelings went soul-deep. They’d been growing since the first time she looked at me like I was human instead of a monster.
So, I would wait. I would court her properly. I would prove to her, day after day, that I was worth the risk she’d taken.
And then, when the time was right, I would ask her to be my wife.
But first, I had to remove the shadow hanging over us.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
I pressed my lips to her hair and let my eyes drift closed.
For the first time in fourteen years, I felt peace.
Until a loud crack split the silence.
57
KNOX
Outside the bedroom window, where the noise had come from, the wind began to howl like the earth itself was screaming.
Harper shot out of bed, throwing on clothes. No hesitation. No fumbling. Just muscle memory, born from years of expecting the worst.
