Tristan didn’t wait for the door to close. He pulled Tessa into his arms, kissing her before it clicked shut.

“Oh my God,” she got out against his mouth. “I’m so, so sorry. Tristan, I’m so sorry.”

“No, sweet.” Tristan wrapped his fingers in her hair, groaning as he tangled in the softness. “I’m sorry. My fault, my…family. You were just doing what you needed to.”

“You left.” Tessa’s voice wavered.

Tristan swept her up in another kiss. He still couldn’t quite believe she was there, with him. Letting him kiss her like she was his. “I didn’t.”

She pushed against his chest. “You did.”

“Okay, yes.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and filled his lungs with her. “I did leave. But not how you think.”

“You ran away. From me. Because of me.”

Tristan bent, tipping her face to meet his. “I left. But I didn’t run. And definitely not because of you.” He tracked his thumb across her bottom lip, his eyes following. He could feel both their heartbeats in the simple touch. “Besides, it would be impossible. I can’t run from you, Tessa. I don’t want to. Not anymore.”

Tessa tilted her head in question.

Tristan let the emotions he’d locked away for so long fill his eyes. “I didn’t want to like you. I didn’t want to love you. I was so fucking scared, Tess. I still am.” She tried to speak, but he quieted her, a finger across her lips. “Because I’m not sure I’ll know how. Not even now. Not after everything.”

He glanced around the cabin, trying to encompass all that had happened, all that had been said, in one gesture.

“I haven’t felt it in a really long time, Tess. I know Tamsin loves me, but we haven’t seen each other in years. And Mark, well, that’s been complicated for just as long. Even more so now, I guess. Or simpler. Fuck, who knows.” Tristan rolled his neck, the ache a ghost of what it’d once been.

“What I’m trying to say, badly, as always, is that none of it ever has or ever will come close to what I feel for you. For what I think I started to feel for you that first time in the kitchen.” Tristan drew his finger across her hairline, sending some of her sweet scent into the air.

“You put me on edge instantly. I was fascinated but knew I needed to stay away. I wanted to be around you all the time, but I couldn’t process everything I felt when you were close. I wasn’t just out of practice, Tessa. I was out. Gone. Barely here on earth, barely living. Shut off, closed down, however you want to put it. And every time I saw you, or talked to you, or ate your food, or, God help me, touched you, you brought me closer to shore. Closer to solid ground. Every time, you brought me back to life, just a little bit more.”

Tristan paused, wonder and love on his face. “Somewhere along the line I stopped caring how scared I was or how tight my skin felt when you were around. I stopped craving the ocean, Tessa. I don’t need its weight, its pressure keeping me solid, in one piece. I don’t need it to remind me to keep fighting.”

Tristan spread her fingers above his heart. “I don’t need it, because I have you, here. Holding me together. Keeping me breathing, demanding I stay. Giving me no choice but to live.”

Tessa’s dark eyes were soft and brilliant and reflected every hope he’d ever had. Till she blinked and they sank with sorrow. “I thought I’d ruined everything. You vanished and I was terrified. Of so much. Of never seeing you again, of not having a chance to apologize. Of never telling you how much I love you. Of how fucking sorry I am that you thought for one second I was intentionally working for your father. It breaks my heart, Tristan, that you left your home, your friends, the people who love you. Because of me.”

“Stop. Not because of you. Because I needed to end this thing with my fa—with Max. He’s ruined so much. More than I can list, more than I even want to think about. And I wasn’t going to let him ruin us, Tess. I should’ve told you, should’ve explained before I left. I’m sorry I didn’t. But I was so angry, I didn’t think. I fell back on instinct and just took off. Got a boat to St. Kitts, hopped a plane and came up here. I should’ve called. I was going to call you when I had news.”

“Why here, of all places?”

Tristan shrugged, his palm keeping hers flat to his chest. “I needed to think, to figure out the last few details before confronting Max. I couldn’t do that in New York. He would’ve known the second I landed. Here, I had a little more time to go over everything, to make sure there was no way for him to squirm free. To make sure it was over. For good.”

Tessa shifted, slipping her hand out from beneath his. She found his sides, her fingers fluttering before skimming the skin above his waistband. “Is it?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Her nails pricked the indents at the base of his spine. “’Cause I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

Tessa’s eyes flared, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip. “No more leaving. No more running. No more vanishing. Not ever again.”

Her fingers caught the dip at the top of his ass. Tristan groaned and stumbled forward until he had Tessa pinned to a rough cabin wall. “No more running, Tessa. Never again.”

The kiss was wild, the stress of the night straining their mouths, making their movements sharp, ungraceful. Tristan squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm the clamor in his blood. “When I heard the knock on the door, I never guessed it would be you. Never even hoped.”

“Who did you think it could be?” Tessa moved to his neck. “Lots of guests showing up here at three in the morning?”

Tristan chuckled. “No. I had no fucking clue. But when I opened the door, Tess….” He groaned as her tongue stroked his Adam’s apple. Tristan’s hips jerked forward. “When I saw you, Tess, I swear to God, I thought my heart was going to explode.”

The tenor of his voice made Tessa stop. When she tipped her head up, the hunger on her face was replaced by cautious curiosity. “Why?”

“Because no one’s ever done that before.”

“Done what?”

“Come after me.”

Tessa’s breathing hitched.

Tristan continued, “You’re the first one who’s ever followed. Who’s ever found me. Who’s ever tried.”

Tristan swept his thumbs across her cheeks, catching the tears that slipped free. Tessa levered up on her arms and kissed him, long and warm and sweet. With just a hint of salt.

“Always, Tristan. I always will. I love you.” She pulled back and met his eyes. “I love you. I’ll make sure you come back to me. Always.”

Tristan hauled her up, her legs around his hips, his torso pinning her to the wall. “Fuck, Tessa.” He held her face between his hands and kissed her so deep, so long, he could taste her promise on his tongue. “I love you. I didn’t know how. I didn’t think I could. But I love you so fucking much. You won’t need to follow. Never again.”

Tristan knew there was so much more to say. Max, Jacob, Dexter, Mark, their life at the hotel, the memories stored in that cabin. But he didn’t give a fuck. Not at that moment. He was done talking.

He dropped Tessa to her feet long enough to tug off her jeans. Her shirt came next. Their arms tangled as she helped him get off his clothes, and he yanked off her underwear and bra.

He was about to tumble them to the floor when Tessa cupped her hand between his legs, her fingers smoothing across his heavy sac. She looked up at him with an impish grin.

“Is what he said true?”

Tristan didn’t hear her at first, his ears ringing as all the blood rushed to his cock. “Huh?”

“What he said about you, uh—” Tessa’s face went red, but she continued. “About you getting off in your room. About you groaning my name.”

“Fuck.” Tristan did groan, his cock straining to feel her. But Tessa didn’t reach for him. She kept her eyes on his face and her hand teasing his scrotum.

“Is it?” She kissed the divot between his pecs, just above the knot marking the start of his abs.

“Maybe.”

Tessa bent, her laugh tickling his stomach, her hair gliding down the angles that cut to his groin. “Maybe?” Her tongue marked the question just shy of where his erection jutted against his abdomen. “You can do better than that.”

“Oh, God.” Tristan grabbed her shoulders, trying to stop her. But Tessa sank lower. He looked down and his dick pulsed, hard. She was kneeling in front of him, one warm hand still cupping his balls, her other tracing a lazy path between her breasts.

“Well?”

“Yes,” he groaned. “Fuck, yes. I did. I couldn’t help it, Tessa. I wanted you so fucking much, I was losing my mind. I got off thinking about you, saying your name.” Tessa drew her finger up along the soft indent between his testicles and stopped at the base of his cock, pressing on the thick vein that throbbed beneath his thin skin. “Jesus fucking Christ.” Tristan hissed when her soft laugh caressed his shaft.

“Show me.”

Tristan stared down at her, vision going lopsided. “What?”

“You always tell me to watch.” Tessa dropped her eyes to his erection, the pink tip of her tongue catching her teeth. “And I will. If you give me something good to look at.”

Tessa dropped her hand, sat back on her heels. And waited.

Tristan gripped his cock and her hair at the same time. His legs locked, pre-come beading on his tip, as Tessa leaned into his grasp, her eyes never leaving his other hand.

He fisted himself tight, stroking up, squeezing his head before dropping back down. “Like that?” he demanded, half-hoarse.

Tessa nodded, her whimper quiet but clear. “Again,” she whispered.

Tristan stroked again, then again, his ass flexing as his hips jerked forward. His toes curled against the floor, his brain barely processing the sight in front of him. Tessa was riveted by his powerful, paced movements. She was teasing her breasts with one hand, her other skimming one thigh. Every time he stroked down, Tessa rocked against his hand where it was buried in her hair. On every pull up, her mouth opened a little wider, her tongue getting more and more restless.

He stroked slowly, careful not to bring himself too close to the edge. But Tristan didn’t know how long he’d survive, not when he could see how turned on Tessa was getting just by watching him.

Tristan bit the inside of his cheek when Tessa’s hand joined his. She stroked up with him, drawing the next drop of liquid all the way down to his base. Tristan grunted when she stopped there and squeezed.

“I want to taste you.” She was looking up at him through her lashes, her freckles so fucking sexy against her flushed skin. “You’ve had your turn. I want mine.”

Tessa leaned forward and Tristan felt her hair drag between his fingers just before she tongued his slit, licking off the moisture there. She hummed—fucking hummed—like he was the best thing to ever touch her mouth.

Tristan’s thighs trembled as Tessa took his head between her lips, tracing the underside with her tongue before pulling him deeper. “Holy fuck—” Tristan couldn’t stop staring. Sweat slipped down his spine and his feet were numb and he couldn’t stop staring as Tessa swallowed his cock. He was big, and she was so small in comparison, and his shaft was only halfway in, but—goddamn—his entire fucking body was on fire. His blunt head hit the back of her throat, and the pressure behind his eyes almost drove him blind. But there was no way in hell he wasn’t going to watch this stunning woman—his stunning woman—fuck him with her mouth. Not even if the entire world came crashing down on his head….

Tristan pulled Tessa’s hair when her teeth caught the underside of his glans. On purpose. Fuck it. Bring the world down. He didn’t care. Not when Tessa was looking at him from her knees, her small hands cupping his balls and stroking his shaft and she was swallowing him deeper, love and greedy hunger welling up in those fathomless eyes. And it sent joy and ecstasy, distilled, crashing through his veins.

Tessa hummed around his head, her fingers ghosting across the hyper-sensitive skin behind his balls. Tristan’s knees almost buckled, a groan ripping free. He didn’t want it to stop, he never wanted it to end, and he was gonna come so fucking soon.

Then Tessa pulled away.

Tristan gripped her head harder, catching himself before he fell to the ground. He could barely focus on her staring up at him. Tessa sat, hands on thighs, and tongued the bow of her upper lip before saying, “Stop holding back. I love you, Tristan. I love the silent, scarred man, and I love the strong, fierce one. I love every single part of you. I want to show you how much I love you. I want you.” Tessa cupped his ass, canting him forward. “Now take me and I will.”

Eyes locked on his, Tessa opened her mouth, laid out her tongue, and waited. Tristan’s lungs burned. His balls ached. His cock strained, everything about Tessa drawing more moisture to his tip.

He was scarred. He was strong. He loved her fiercely and, God help them, he wasn’t going to be able to stop.

Tristan reached his long fingers around Tessa’s skull, fisting himself in his other hand. The drag of her tongue on the underside of his head obliterated his lingering restraint. His hips slammed forward and Tessa swallowed, taking him all the way back. She flexed her nails into his backside, keeping herself steady as he drove into her mouth.

Fast, hard, wild, just as she’d demanded. Just as he wanted.

Tristan cupped her face with his other hand, his thumb catching a tear that escaped from one eye. He stuttered, slowing his thrusts, but Tessa shook her head, her tongue coaxing him back into rhythm.

“Fuck!” Tristan growled and it burned. “Jesus, Tess. You feel so fucking good. Too-fucking-good.” His voice stumbled but his hips didn’t slow. Wet, rapid sounds warmed the cabin.

Her mouth, her lips, her tongue, her teeth. The bite of her nails, the hum at the back of her throat. Her heat. Her eyes, always on his. Even though he could barely keep his open. It was beyond anything Tristan had ever fantasized about. He felt like his spine was going to shatter and Tessa was going to pull his boneless body to a place he never dreamed existed.

Tessa captured his broad head on a deep swallow and Tristan cursed, done. “Fuck, Tess. Fuck! Stop. I’m gonna come and—fuuuuuuuck.” Her nails tickled the crevice between his ass cheeks and Tristan jerked, hard.

He pulled free, a pop audible in the heavy air. Tessa stared at him, eyes watery, hot and surprised. “Wha—”

She didn’t get to finish. Tristan dropped to his knees and crushed her to him, his mouth as wild as she’d made him, made even wilder by his flavor on her tongue.

“I need you, Tess. I need to fuck you. I need to come inside you. With you beneath me, with your eyes on mine. Your lips on mine. Your body soft between me and the ground.” Tristan pushed her to the floor and sank his hand between her thighs, growling when he found nothing but slick, abundant heat.

He pushed a finger in. Tessa’s heels kicked against the floor. “I”—he dragged that finger out, Tessa’s hips bucking—“need”—in again, deeper—“you.” Tessa’s eyes rolled back, her hips off the ground as she echoed his demand with her body. “Forever.”

It didn’t matter that they were on the floor of some forgotten-about cabin out in the middle of the woods. Or that a world outside was waiting for them. Let it wait. Let it all fucking wait. Because Tristan was done waiting.

Tessa’s soft skin was sweet beneath his mouth. Her lips, her neck, her breasts. She arched again, crying out, when Tristan pulled one, then the other, into his mouth. Tugging, sharp, then gentle, his tongue tracing her nipple before biting down, dragging out her cries.

His cock slid across her stomach, marking a trail as he moved down her body. Tristan scrambled in his nearby pants, grabbing one of the condoms he always kept handy now, just in case. His dick was such a hopeful little fucker. And it throbbed as Tristan rolled the latex on. On his knees, between Tessa’s thighs, Tristan squeezed the base of his erection.

Tessa’s hair fanned across the floor, her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen, her nipples hard, glistening from his mouth and tongue. Her hands flexed open, then closed, on the ground, her hips swaying, restless, as Tristan ate her up with his eyes. As Tessa’s eyes glazed over in near frenzy.

“I need you,” she gasped when he nipped at her waist. “You can go slow later. But now….” She twisted in his hands as Tristan licked below her belly button. “Jesus, Tristan. I need you inside me right now.”

“Hmmm,” he answered, dropping lower. A tease. A mistake. Tessa’s sweet scent invaded him and Tristan’s cock jumped against the cabin floor.

He surged forward, bringing them face to face, chest to chest. “Tell me,” he ground out.

“I need you,” Tessa repeated, the truth mirrored in her eyes.

Tristan lined them up, the crest of his cock teasing her entrance. Tessa trembled. “And….” He rocked forward gently, torturing them both.

Tessa’s neck bowed, her whole body calling, demanding his. “And…I love you.”

Tristan sank home, the words pounding through him as he took her. He bracketed her head with his forearms, their lips catching and parting on every thrust. “I love you, Tess. My sweet, sweet Tess. My ocean. My heart. My love.”

Tessa spread her legs wide and Tristan sank deeper. His jaw locked, his lungs expanding with something other than air. They were a storm together. Reckless and boundless and free. He flexed into her again and again, his knees dragging across the wood with the effort. Tessa squeezed his hips with her inner thighs, holding his head down for kiss after kiss. They were connected in every possible way. Hearts and minds, burning bodies and healing souls.

It was fast, almost savage. Tessa moaned, the first waves of her orgasm flaring. Tristan groaned into her mouth, her tight, wet body coaxing his cock deeper. Tessa bit down on his lip and Tristan felt the jolt in his spine, his balls tingling, tightening.

“Fuck, Tristan…” she whimpered, gasping for breath. “I’m so close. Come…come with me. Please….”

Tristan couldn’t speak. His body was a tempest of sensation. Too many, too much, too fucking amazing to express any way but with another kiss, another thrust, another surge into her lusciousness.

Tessa cried out. Tristan’s cock swelled, harder, so close to the edge. He worked a hand between them, catching her clit with his thumb.

Tessa’s hips flew off the floor and she pulsed around his dick, frenzied. Her eyes widened then blanked, her lips shaping his name before freezing in a keening cry.

Tessa came and Tristan kissed up her cries as he fucked her, loved her, until there was nothing else in the world but her and him and the crest of emotion dragging them both under. Her sheath gripped him painfully, perfectly. Tristan groaned. She was so tight it was almost impossible to pull out. But he wanted to feel it again, the way she took him, squeezed him. Accepted him.

Jaw locked, his vision overwhelmed by the look of utter bliss on Tessa’s face, Tristan withdrew, slowly, memorizing every flutter, every attempt her body made to pull him back. Hands in her hair, lips on her mouth, Tristan sank home one last time. Thoroughly and so far, his release ripping through him when her sigh tumbled through her body all the way into his.

Tristan shouted out, emptying himself into the woman beneath him. His life. His love. His sweet, sweet Tess.

Tessa’s hands found him as he collapsed. Tristan tried to shift so that he didn’t crush her. But she stopped him, holding him down on top of her. She kissed his jaw with soft devotion.

“No. Stay.”

His brain wasn’t working. But it didn’t matter. Tristan’s heart answered for him. “Always.”