“Tulip, all mine, all mine,” he says, his voice low as he dips his head and sucks my erect nipple through the lace.

I stare at his chest, my mouth drying at his sculpted muscles, the six-pack, the deep V that leads down to his jeans. I see his tulip bouquet tattoo, the script letters at the top of the pink blooms. My eyes blur. Emotion lifts me and destroys me at the same time as I trace my fingers over the words.

Tulip. Waiting for you. Always.

He gasps for air. “Tulip, damn you, damn you. Don’t ever leave me, don’t. Stay here and be mine. I did what you wanted. I let you go, I let you find yourself, and I found me too. I did, I did, but I can’t do it without you again. I can’t look at another beach or mountain or country while wondering where you are or who you’re seeing and if you still love me…” His voice breaks as he grabs my face. “Tell me you still love me.”

My heart cracks then stitches itself back together. “Lee Knox Grayson, I love you till the end of time. I never stopped. I never gave up. You’re my destiny. I’m yours. The universe fucking owes me, you feel me?”

He shudders. “I never stopped watching out for you, Tulip. I’ve known where you’ve been since day one.”

“I didn’t doubt it for a moment. You love me. You love me.”

“We needed a new beginning and I wanted to give it to you. Maybe you met someone. Maybe you…didn’t want me anymore. Maybe you walked away and never thought of me again.”

“Never.” My lips brush over his.

“I want you so fucking bad, and I know I just showed up—”

“Take me, please, I’m yours.”

He groans and kisses me, our hands pulling and fumbling as we manage to get our pants off, our shoes. And then he has me back in his arms and I’m staring down at him, drinking him in. I clutch his head, writhing against his skin, feeling the ridge of him through my panties.

“Shhhh, I got you,” he murmurs, kissing my throat, his teeth nipping at me.

I pull his face to mine and kiss him, hard and deep, searching his mouth, sucking on his tongue like I want to devour him. Fast and hard and fast and hard and fast and hard…

I shove his underwear down and even in the dim light, I can see he’s long and thick and firm.

“Tulip, I’ve pictured you in my mind, in my dreams like this, so many long nights without you and nothing is right without you, not beaches or mountains or the sky because I need you, need you, need you. You’re the only one who knows me, who sees me the way I am inside.” He exhales, moving his hips up against my hand.

Without preamble, he slips his fingers under my lace panties and slides one inside my wetness, and I arch up and ride his hand, rubbing him where I need him. My lips and tongue nibble at his chest, my hands roving over his skin, savoring, wanting him so much as I commit his smell, his taste to my memory.

“Condom,” I say in between kisses.

He grunts. “I don’t have any.”

“You idiot.”

He takes my chin. “You’re the last girl I was with. Didn’t need condoms.”

“Same. You’re the only guy I want.” Pausing for a moment, I say, “It’s a safe time of the month for me.”

I shove my hands in his silky hair and dig my fingers into his scalp as he eases me up. I’m standing in front of him, his eyes hot as he slowly takes off my panties. I’m a quivering mess, need and hope like birds rushing to the sky. So long, so long…

He bites his bottom lip and takes me in, and I do a twirl while he smiles then pulls me back to him and places me on his lap, my legs around the outside of his thighs. Staring into my eyes, he pumps inside me like silk-covered steel and we cry out then still against each other, our chests heaving.

“Tulip, Tulip, so good, so good, you, you, you, you,” he mumbles and slides all the way out then back in, his shoulders quivering. “Sweet, so fucking sweet.”

“Knox…” I moan and writhe against him.

He takes me, his hands on my hips, his cock swiveling inside me, his eyes never leaving mine.

My hands cling to him, hanging on as he changes his angle, rotating inside me, the top of him brushing against my clit. He’s rough and fast and good, so fucking good as he pushes in and out. His hands burn my skin where he clutches me. His eyes blaze.

He tells me, “You are mine,” and when his fingers go between us and flick over my clit with delicious intent, I beg him mindlessly, lost in him, to never let me go, to hold me like this, to belong to him, to be part of his world. I come, my core spasming around him as I scream his name.

“Tulip, Tulip,” he calls and goes over the cliff with me, his eyes wild, and oh, oh, I love him so much it hurts.

He breathes into my neck and clutches me tight, rocking me as I hang on to him.

We stay like that for a long time, our hands clinging to the other as he strokes my back and murmurs in my ear how beautiful and fierce I am.

We make love again, slower this time, with me laid back on the couch while he strokes inside me, running his hands over my face, down my throat, to the rapid pulse that beats in my neck. He puts his lips there and owns me, my cries, my gasps, my everything.

Later, he gives me a roomy shirt of his while he changes into loose pajama pants.

“Want to see my place?” he asks gruffly, his eyes on my face, never off me for long. There’s a hopeful look about him.

I nod and he gives me a tour. The apartment is big: three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a kitchen bigger than my dorm room.

“There’s room for Tyler here,” he tells me.

I nod.

“And I’ve been researching schools close to Vandy. There are a few he might like—if you want to move in, that is?” He looks uncertain. “I have money from my mom and I’ve been working for my dad to save up more. I want to take care of you and Tyler the right way.”

Oh, Knox.

He pauses. “I know you’re independent as hell, but I need you with me, Tulip. I let you walk away. I could have chased after you and begged you to come back, but I stuffed everything down and carried on for my family, to get our shit straight, and we did. But there’s no more going slow with me. No more distance. No more time to breathe. It’s our time. Us.”

My chin trembles with the effort of not crying. “Dane needed you so much, and I did too, but I had to get out of there and carry on and put it behind me.”

He strokes my hair. “I get it. Dad told me about how he helped you. He was honest from the get-go the day you left, and I’m happy he helped you with Vandy. I know about you getting guardianship too. Tyler might not want to leave the only place he’s ever known, but he’s part of you and if he’s amendable, I want him with us—”

God. His kindness overwhelms me.

Tears slide down my face as I kiss him. “I can move in tomorrow. We’ll figure out what Tyler wants.”

He wipes my face, and when the sun comes up in our bedroom, we’re still awake, lying side by side, touching each other. My leg is thrown over his hip as he eases inside me, one hand on my bottom, one wrapped around my hair. His lips drink from mine, worshipping me.

“The sun’s coming up,” I whisper.

“Dear Ava, today is the beginning of anything you want,” he says in my ear.