It’s like we’re fighting, only this time we’re battling each other to get closer, closer. Every move I make is the best I can do to thrust deeper, to press my lips harder into her skin, to lick her collarbone and taste her.

Fucked-up ankle or not, she meets me with every single move, her dark eyes searing.

“Why did you go?” She breathes the words and then bites down on my shoulder like she can’t stand to hear the answer.

I have to pull back, make sure she’s looking directly into my eyes, which is not an easy fucking feat when all I want to be doing is taking her like I’ve never taken her before. “Because I was an idiot.” There’s no time for anything in this moment but raw honesty, and Reggie’s mouth curves upward just a little. “I knew it was a fucking mistake to leave you.” I can’t stop myself from moving over her, from bending my head to plant kisses along the hollow of her neck. “And once I got back to the city...” She moans a little into my ear. “I knew that I had to—”

“That’s enough,” she says, arching back.

“But I’m not done explaining—”

Then she’s doing something with her hips that makes me forget what I was going to say next. It’s wiped from my mind in a cascade of pleasure.

It’s electric, like a storm raging around the both of us, and we’re in the center, drawing in all of the energy. At some point, deep in the rhythm we’ve settled into, Reggie’s hair elastic snaps, freeing her hair to fall over her shoulders.

I run my fingers through it and to the back of her head, tilting that proud chin backward. It’s a momentary pause, just long enough to lower my lips to hers, slowly, deliciously slowly, and take her bottom lip between my teeth. She sucks in a breath and with a restraint that’s almost torturous leans forward to complete the kiss.

My cock pulses inside of her and I feel her smile against my own lips, and shit, there it is again, a tightening—I have no idea how she’s doing this—that puts just the right amount of pressure there and there.

I’m not doing this without her. Not this time. I tilt my own hips until, with every movement, I’m coming into direct contact with her clit. I know because Reggie squeezes her eyes shut and bites down hard on her lip, cheeks pink, and her legs tremble on either side of my hips.

“Please, Adam...” It’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in the world, Reggie begging for more.

“All you ever had to do was ask.” I let the words slip into her ear and she locks her legs around me, holding on for dear life as the orgasm rocks her back onto the bed. This time, Reggie doesn’t hold back. She cries out, her nails digging into my back.

There’s a moment right before I come when everything freezes. It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven, looking at her like this, with her hair falling back onto the cushions, her head thrown back with the pleasure, body arching toward me.

I am never leaving her again. I am never leaving her again.

The release that follows is so fucking intense I momentarily go blind. All I can see is a negative image of Reggie’s gorgeous face, her unbelievable body, and then it’s gone, replaced with the sensation of my hands on her skin, of my face pressing into her collarbone. Then her hands are moving over my head. She runs her fingers through my hair, murmuring something I can’t make out. I’m just trying to catch my breath.

Then a peace settles over both of us. There might be more waves coming on the horizon—if they involve orgasms, there had better be tsunamis—but right now we’re rocking gently together like that rickety boat in the middle of Ganagua Lake. Easy. Free.

There’s only a few things left to do.

“I had to take care of some things in the city,” I say into the side of her neck when I’ve recovered myself enough to speak.

“What?”

Reggie’s hands move up and down my back. “You asked me why I left. I had to take care of some things in the city.”

“Mmm,” she says languidly. “Like what? Business?”

“Pleasure, really.”

She laughs a little, and when I pick up my head she’s giving me a look. “What do you mean?”

“It was a stupid mistake to ever walk out of Reckless Falls, and the moment I got back to the city, I—” I shake my head. “You don’t need to know all the details.”

“Oh, I do.”

“Not these. Not now. I’ll tell it to you after—”

“After what?” Reggie’s eyes are sparkling with excitement, and my heart nearly bursts. She’s excited. She’s not dreading what I’m about to say. She trusts me, and I’m going to work for the rest of my life to make sure I deserve that.

“I guess I have something to show you.” She glances downward, toward my cock, with a grin. “Not that. Come on.”

I help her into her clothes. She doesn’t really need the help, but it’s another excuse to run my hands over her curves, and she doesn’t fight me on it. Not this time. Then I throw on my shorts and shirt and take her hand.

“Are you ready?”

“I’m ready for more of that,” she says, and I almost give in, but now that we’re dressed, I want it to be worth it.

“Just give me a few minutes. It won’t take long to get where we’re going.” She purses her lips but lets me lead her out to her front porch. I throw my arm out wide, toward the other side of the street. “Here we are.” There’s a little yellow house there. It’s no New York City penthouse, but I’ve got a team coming in tomorrow to do some hasty renovations. I can live without all the amenities, but I want to have them available for Reggie at a moment’s notice. I want her to have everything I have. Every comfort. Not that any of them mean a thing without her.

“What are you waving at?” Reggie looks up and down the street. “Did you get a new car?”

“No,” I say with a laugh. “That.” I point directly at the yellow house.

“That’s the Millers’ house,” she says slowly, like I am the biggest idiot ever to cast a shadow on her front porch. Maybe I am. I don’t care, as long as she doesn’t want me to leave.

“No. It’s mine.”

Reggie laughs out loud. “What? Stop it, Adam.”

“I bought it because I need temporary housing.”

Her smile is so big she can hardly contain it. “Temporary—you don’t need a little house like that. You can have anyplace you want.”

“I need temporary housing because I’m not going back to the city.” Reggie’s mouth drops open. “At least, not permanently. I’m going to renovate my father’s house. But while that’s being done, I’m going to live right there.”

“There.” She points at the yellow house. “Across the street from me.”

I wrap my arms around her and pull her in close. “I told you I was done running.” A tiny spark of nervousness settles in my gut. “I’m renovating my dad’s house, and when it’s done, we can both move into it together. If you’d like that.”

“Like that?” Reggie’s voice seems choked, and when she raises her head, her eyes are shining. “I would love that.”

“You know what I love?” I can’t help myself.

“What?”

“I love you.”

She throws her arms around me then, holding on tight. “I love you.” Then she steps back, tugging just a little on my waist. “Now...can we go back inside? There are some other...things...I’d like to do.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Then I sweep her up into my arms, carry her across the threshold again, and kick the door shut behind us.

It’s good to be home.