“Okay.” I bat my eyes in confusion. That was much easier than I thought. The last time we talked about moving in together, it ended with him storming out.

“Can we live in my house? I like your place, but mine is a little bigger.”

I know this will be where we’ll have the most resistance. He loves his house, and I love mine. However, I have three bedrooms, and he has only one. I would eventually like to have kids . . . maybe.

“Sure. I like your place just fine. How about we start moving there now?”

“Trent!” I glare at him. “Agreeing to agree isn’t going to get to the sex any faster.”

He leans back and rubs his chin. “I’m not doin’ that, sweetheart. I’m telling you we’re going to move in together this week, to your house, and now, I’d like to take you back to my bed and spend the next few hours enjoying you . . . thoroughly.”

I’m dead. He’s going to kill me with words. Trent’s hand moves to my knee and slowly creeps up my leg. “Stop.”

“Stop what, sweetheart? I’m just familiarizing myself with the lay of the land while we talk. Bein’ efficient and all.”

I need to talk faster. Much faster.

“Do you love me?” I ask.

His hand stops moving, and his eyes lock with mine. “I love you.”

“I need to hear it. I need you to mean it. I’m going to be needy. I’m going to question you. I’ve had almost twenty years of doubting us, can you handle that?”

Trent’s hands move to my face. His eyes are sad and full of regret. “I did this to you. I hate that I did. I hate that I put any doubt in your head. You’re going to have to forgive me and I’m going to have to earn that. I know this, and it isn’t anything less than I deserve. I won’t do that to you again, Gracie. I won’t hurt you like that. I plan to tell you that I love you every day, because I do.”

A tear slides down my face. Who knew that he could be so damn sweet?

“Can I kiss you?” Trent asks.

I can’t speak, so I nod. Slowly, his face moves toward mine. It’s a sweet kiss filled with promise and a chance at redemption. I hold his hands as he cups my cheeks. Another tear falls as I give my heart back to him. Each piece of it is his. I wish it could’ve always been like this, but I try to let that go. He’s here now, loving me like I always wanted.

He leans back and rubs the tear away with his thumb. “What else do you need, sweetheart?”

I shake my head. “I only need you.”

Trent’s hands don’t move as his jaw tightens. The air around us shifts and fills with tension. “Say I’m yours,” he demands.

I don’t hesitate. “You’re mine.”

“Say you’re mine.”

“I’ve only ever been yours.”

Trent stands and pulls me to my feet, his arms hook under my knees, and he lifts me. “You’ll only ever be mine.”

I touch his cheek. “And you?”

He smiles as he starts to move toward the bedroom. “I don’t see anyone else but you, Gracie. I’ll fix this. I’ll fix us.”

“I know you will.” I smile.

He kicks the door open and lays me down. My hands glide across his bare chest, and his eyes stay trained on mine. Trent’s body has always been firm, but now I’m takin’ the time to appreciate it all. His arms are big and strong and his stomach is toned and hard. I like it. My fingers make their way to his face, and his eyes close.

I run the pads of my fingertips across his lips, feeling his breath as he sighs. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” I confess.

He moves quickly, flipping me on top. My hair falls between us, and he pushes it back. “I want to see you. I want to see your face the entire time.”

I drop down and kiss him. Our tongues dance without restraint, giving and taking. He’s unforgiving as he nips at my lip. This is everything we are. The need I feel for him is insurmountable. I want him to remind me of what we were and all we can be.

“Don’t make me wait,” I say as my mouth moves to his ear. “I need you.”

Trent’s hands move up my back as I lean back, allowing him to remove my shirt. He stares at me, muttering, “So damn gorgeous,” before pushing me to my back, sliding off the bed, and taking off the remainder of his clothing.

I smile. He’s always made me feel beautiful, especially when we’re in bed.

Trent pushes me back and I watch as his body moves, loving every second.

“You’ve been workin’ out,” I note.

“It was either that or I beat the shit out of someone. I didn’t think that would earn me any brownie points.” He smirks.

“Good choice.”

He climbs back on the bed and stares at me. “Get naked, sweetheart. I’m done talkin’.”

I remove my pants and climb under the covers with him. His mouth finds mine, and our limbs tangle together. My body responds to his touch without a thought. His hands cup my breasts, his thumbs brushing across my nipples and making me groan.

When he takes one in his mouth, I buck under him. “Trent!” I cry out as my desire spikes.

He doesn’t stop. He sucks, nibbles, and massages each breast. My fingers fist the sheets as he continues to extract pleasure from my body.

When Trent’s fingers find my clit, I almost lose it. I’m so primed from his words and just being with him again that it isn’t going to take much to get me there. Thank God, because I’m going crazy as it is.

He slides down my body and hooks my legs over his shoulders. My head falls back as he swipes his tongue up and down. I can’t breathe as he starts to work me over. I grip his hair with my fingers as I shudder and squirm beneath him. It’s too much. His tongue circles, and when he presses against my clit, I’m gone.

I writhe beneath him as he refuses to yield, driving my orgasm on and on. When he’s content that I can’t take anymore, he climbs back up so we’re face to face. “Look at me,” he requests.

My eyes open, and I see it all reflected in his gaze. The love he has for me. The promises he intends to keep. The pain he endured from losing me. And the determination rolls off him in waves.

“I love you,” he says as he lines himself against my entrance. “I want you to keep your eyes here, understand?”

“Yes,” I say on a moan as he pushes into me slowly.

Trent has always felt good, but here . . . right now . . . he’s giving me more. He’s giving me the piece of himself I’ve been missing, and it’s overwhelming. I want to close my eyes and bask in it. The need to imprint the feeling to a permanent place inside me flutters my eyelids, but I hold them open, trying to focus on his face. Watching the way his jaw tightens as he pushes deeper inside me. I relish in the fact that his control slips with every inch and how he’s the first to break eye contact when he’s fully seated.

“Trent,” I whisper. “Love me.”

“I’m going to, hold on, sweetheart.”

And he does.

He loves me with everything inside himself. He loves me enough for the two of us. He loves me like he’s never done before.

After my second orgasm, I think I’m going to pass out, but he keeps me going. We make love for a long time, both of us are sweaty and out of breath but completely sated when we finally collapse. We lie here with our legs intertwined, and my head on his chest as I listen to the sound of his heart.

Neither of us speak for some time. I’m in my own head thinking about how different that was for me. We’ve made love countless times, but this was like coming home. It was the same, yet it wasn’t.

Trent’s hand plays with my hair, and I gaze at him. “That was . . .”

He grins with self-satisfaction. “Yeah it was.”

“Who knew that all we needed was a break.”

Trent pulls me on top of him and kisses me before sighing. “I don’t think we should try it again.”

“You missed me that much?” I say playfully. His look doesn’t have any humor, though. He looks sad and forlorn. “Honey?”

“I don’t know how I lived through these last few weeks.” His eyes harden. “Seein’ you with him, it killed me, Gracie. You have no idea what it did to me.”

I roll off him and turn so we’re face to face. “It wasn’t easy for me, either. I was wrestling with tryin’ to move on while still lovin’ you. I don’t want you to think it was a cake walk for me.”

Trent shifts a little and runs his fingers against my lips. “I don’t think that. I just don’t think you can imagine what it would be like if I were datin’ Charlotte or anyone else. You want to beat the shit out of anyone who talks to you. You want to beat the shit out of yourself. It’s not easy, and it sure as hell isn’t fun.”

“Why didn’t you ever try to give me more?”

He rests his hand on my hip and gazes into my eyes. “Because I believed you’d always be there. I never thought you’d leave me. I was wrong and took you for granted. When I realized you weren’t mine anymore, that you’d given up on us and it was my fault, I woke up. I knew I had to find a way to prove what you’ve always meant to me.”