I barely slept. Even with Sasha curled up and safe against me, nothing settled the torment raging in my head. I could have lost her. It was as simple as that. Seeing her with a gun aimed at her and bleeding kept replaying in my head. I’d seen some fucked up shit on the job, but that was the worst experience of my life.

After everyone had left yesterday, we had a visit from the Captain and Sasha gave her account of what happened at Hamilton’s. Then I’d spent the day exactly how I told her we would; with her in my arms. We watched movies, dozed on the couch, showered together, and we were in bed before sundown, and she fell asleep within minutes of going to bed.

I spent the night staring at her, and listening to her breathe.

“Happy Birthday, Detective.”

At the sound of Sasha's breathy greeting, I tilted my face down, and in the early morning light blanketing my bedroom; I met her sleepy gaze. In the craziness of the past week, I’d completely forgotten that my birthday was coming up. But it would seem someone hadn’t forgotten. She shifted up my body, her naked chest gliding over mine, and she kissed me good morning.

Our kiss began soft, with gentle tongue, tender nibbles, and soft caresses. My eager hands roamed and memorized her smooth skin and luscious curves. I pulled her tight against me until her softness meshed perfectly with my hardness. Her breathy moans floated through the air as I ground my cock against her naked pussy. She might not know it, but every time she sighed against my lips, she breathed life back into my lungs.

“I need to give you your birthday present,” she hummed, pulling away slightly and resting her lips just above mine.

“Does my birthday present involve you riding my cock?” I growled, grinding against her so she could feel exactly how ready I was for her.

She stared down at me with lust filled eyes. “That’s part two. Now, let me get up.”

With a groan, I loosened my arms, and she slid off me. I sat up, leaned against the headboard, and admired her as she moved to the chair in the corner of the room. She was so fucking beautiful. Naked and safe, and rummaging through her bag for my birthday present. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but I was claiming the luckiest man in the world title, and I'd be willing to fight for it. After pulling something out from deep inside, she glanced over her shoulder and shot me tender eyes.

"Close your eyes,” she demanded quietly. “And no peeking."

I grinned at her, then obeyed and shut my eyes.

I heard her take a deep breath and then listened as she moved tentatively toward the bed and hesitated briefly. Her nervousness filled the room, and even though I had no idea what to expect, I loved the thought of her surprising me with something that obviously meant something to her.

The bed dipped beside my hip, the scent of her shampoo roamed around me, and I waited to see what she'd do next. She probably had no idea what she was doing, but she was delivering the best kind of torture, and she was in full control. Something she didn’t usually have in the bedroom. She straddled my waist, and I hissed as her thighs barely touched my cock, and waited as she got comfortable. My hands, like magnets, shot to her bare hips because I couldn’t stop myself from touching her. Softly, and with tentative fingers, she placed something small on my stomach.

"You can open your eyes," she spoke soft, almost nervously. "I hope you like it."

My eyes shot open, and on my stomach I found a small rectangle box, wrapped in blue paper and with a silver bow tied around it. I had no expectations or any idea of what it could be. Removing my hands from her hips, I lifted the box and gently pulled on the ribbon. The sound of her taking a deep, unsteady breath caused me to look at her, and I found her staring back at me with a nervous smile.

“You’ve changed me, Ben," she whispered, and now it was me that sucked in a desperate breath. "You’ve given me so much, and every day I have you in my life, you give me a little more. I’ve always been a sucker for romance books and movies and hearing other people’s stories, but I never wanted that. I was terrified of that. But then I met you. With you, I’m living the most beautiful kind of romance. You’re bossy, ridiculously stubborn, and you have caveman tendencies, but you’re mine.”

She was killing me. But she wasn’t done. I braced for more.

“You’re the only man I want to have my key. The key to my heart, my thoughts, my future, my everything. All that I am, every part of who I was, who I am today, and who I'll become is yours. I am so in love with you, Ben, and I know I have been for a while; I was just so scared to admit it. But I’m not now. I want you and everyone to know.”

I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down to my mouth. I devoured her lips like I was a famished man. My tongue swept over hers, and she didn’t hesitate in letting me in. The kiss felt like our first, tenth, hundredth and thousandth kiss rolled into one. A kiss of promise, of confirmation and, most importantly love. Hearing her tell me she loved me was incredible, but knowing she gave me the keys was life changing. All I wanted to do was heal her hurt, and this was the invitation to keep doing what I was doing. Her content sighs licked the air and offered the confirmation I needed.

I got the girl.

“Fuck, sweetheart. I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that to me,” I murmured against her lips. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

“You’re the first man to say that to me,” she admitted in a whisper. “Can you say it again?”

I grinned up at her. “I love you.”

“Yeah, I like that a lot.” She leaned in and brushed her lips over mine quickly, before sitting back up and stealing her mouth from me. “You need to finish opening your present.”

I picked up the box that had fallen off my stomach and landed on the bed beside me, then continued to untie the bow and unwrap the present. Glancing up at Sasha, I saw her bite her lip, and her eyes sparkled at me. I lifted the lid, and my chest tightened at what I found. Resting on the crisp white tissue paper was a silver key and chain. I pulled it from the box and dangled it in front of me. The chain was long, and the key polished. It looked like a restored antique house key. In the morning light, I read the inscription.

“Do you like it?” Sasha whispered, hope echoing through her words.

Emotion jammed in my throat as I looked up at the woman who would be mine forever.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cop. I finished high school, did my training, moved through the ranks, and finally became detective. That was my dream. My dream changed the day you put your hands on me at Missy’s, and now you've cemented it.”

I changed our position, twisting our bodies so she was under me. Her arms wove around me, and her hands rested on my back.

“You’re my dream now, Sasha. You giving me your key is life changing. So yeah Sash, I like it, and I love you so fucking much.”

Her face softened, and she lifted her mouth to mine. Before our lips collided, I had one more thing to say. “Best birthday ever, sweetheart.”

Her giggle rang out through the bedroom before I stole it with a kiss.

I finally had all of my woman.

* * *

We spent the morning in bed before showering and celebrating my birthday again on the bathroom floor. After her stomach growled, she’d pulled me to the kitchen and then made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Our peace was shattered an hour after our late breakfast by the arrival of my family. Half an hour after they’d arrived, Austin, Crazy John, Missy, and Carson turned up. And Gigi turned up five minutes later carrying a cake.

Happy Birthday was sung, cake was eaten, the girls fussed over Sasha, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“How's she doing?” Austin asked, stepping up beside me and handing me a fresh beer.

Sasha was on the couch between Dad and Crazy John, the three of them talking quietly and both watching her with expressions of both admiration and concern. It was no secret that she’d gone through hell, not just over the past week, but over the past thirteen years. She'd repeatedly got knocked down, but she always found the beauty in life to get back up. Her past would have destroyed many. But the strength she possessed was immeasurable. She was determined and stubborn as hell. Fierce yet gentle. And that was why she was going to be okay.

“She’s okay,” I answered truthfully.

As if she knew she was the topic of conversation, she looked over at us, and when she saw us both looking, she gave a little wave before turning to Crazy John and laughing at something he'd just said.

“We’ve gotta tell her what’s going on. I dropped in and told Drew on my way here. He showed nothing. No emotion, no reaction, no nothing. We are going to keep an eye on him, make sure he handles the shit that’s been piled on him,” Austin sighed, running his hand through his hair as frustration rolled off him.

After leaving my place the night before, Austin had gone to the station and had the fucked up job of spending the night talking to both Holly O’Leary and Abigail Hamilton. When he arrived, he’d waited until Sasha was locked in an animated conversation with Missy, which resulted in Missy blushing and Sasha holding up three fingers, and then he’d told me about the conversations. Fucked was the only word I could use to describe what I was told.

“Sash, can you come here for a minute?” All eyes in the living room focused on Austin and me, then Sasha stood from the couch and slowly walked toward us.

“Is everything okay?”

“Sash, Austin has some things to talk to you about in regards to Holly O’Leary and your mother.”

“Can we please start referring to her as Abigail Hamilton?” Sasha requested firmly.

Austin shot me a look, took a deep breath and then unloaded. I focused on Sasha.

“Okay, I’m just going to say it, and we can talk about it once I’m done. But brace, babe because some of this shit isn’t good.” He waited until she acknowledged with a nod of agreement and then he divulged what he knew. “Abigail Hamilton was brought into the station this morning for questioning, and later today she is going to be formally charged with extortion, and there could be the possibility of some additional charges. Evidence is piling up against her and the O’Leary’s. Holly O’Leary confirmed that Edward organized the hit on the victim that was found in the warehouse. Apparently, the victim, a known dealer in the next town over, was detrimental to the plan to get drugs going through Hamilton’s so a hit was ordered to wipe out the threat. Abigail Hamilton has been working with the O’Leary’s on the plan to get you and Drew out of Hamilton’s from the beginning. The more I learn about this, the more fucked up it gets.” He sucked in a breath and then his eyes darted between Sasha and I. “I also found out about the tape.”

She visibly tensed. “Tell me.”

“I don’t thi—”

“Austin, tell me. I want to know it all.”

“The tape was of her and O’Leary. It was while she was still living in Monroe, and he was young. I’m talking underage, so it was before she started fucking his father.”

“What!” Sasha screeched, and everyone turned to look at her. “Oh my God! I just, oh my God. I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“What was filmed as a teenage boy’s fantasy has been used as a way of blackmailing your mother to be involved in this. When she got word of what they were planning, her involvement grew, and it twisted into some wild fantasy that she was going to get Hamilton’s back, and then destroy it with the help of the O’Leary’s.”

Sasha began to pace as everything started sinking in.

“So, let me get this straight, my mother helped organize this, got her son stabbed, me with bruises and stitches in my head, and almost raped, just because she was jealous and felt entitled, oh and because she had sex with a teenage boy over twenty years ago?” Her bewildered face turned between us. “This is messed up.”

I grabbed her hand and stopped her pacing and pulled her toward me. “Sash, you okay with all this? This is a lot to take in.”

“She hasn’t been in my life for thirteen years. What I found out about her just confirms that I want absolutely nothing to do with her. She brought this on herself, and I feel no remorse toward her. If that makes me a bad person, then I’ll deal with that, but to be honest, this makes me relieved that she won’t be able to come back here. I’m shocked and disgusted, but I’m not going to let her destroy any more of my life. Wait, does that make me sound like a bitch?”

I watched her as she stared back at me. Fuck, I was a lucky bastard to have this woman. “No, it doesn’t make you sound like a bitch.”

“You are a strong woman, Sasha.” Austin gave Sasha a look of admiration. “This would have destroyed a lot of people.”

“I’m not going to lie. This hurts, a lot. But I’m not going to let her actions control me any longer. Drew and I have a bar that we need to get back to what it was, I have a life to start living, and a man to keep loving. I’m pretty sure those three things deserve to take up my time.” She kissed me quickly and then turned to Austin. “And I have a woman to find for you, so please don’t tell me that you are one of those men that have a particular hair color you like? I do not want stipulations as to who I find for you.”

“As long as she’s breathing, he’ll like her.” I laughed, and excitement ran wild over Sasha’s face, and the tension in her body releasing.

“Can you please control your woman?” Austin groaned although I knew he secretly loved the attention. “Babe, I’m not looking for a woman. But if you are so concerned about my 'loneliness,' how about you and I have a date night once a week?”

“Ohh, dating another hot detective on the side?” She leaned in close to him but spoke loudly enough so I’d hear. “We’d have to do it secretly because my boyfriend is a bit of a caveman. If he found out, he’d find us and storm in, throw me over his shoulder, and walk out thumping his chest and saying ‘mine.’”

“Damn right I would.”

Sasha burst out laughing and wrapped her arms around my waist, and just like that, she decided to take control of her life. I was fucking excited to be sitting right beside her when she did.

* * *

“Am I moving to your place, or are you moving in here?”

It might not have been the most romantic way to ask the woman you loved to move in, but the question had been sitting on my tongue since the first time she was in my bed, and I was done with waiting around. I had no plans to settle, no plans on finding ‘the one,' and no plans on needing a woman. But all that changed with one flash of those green eyes, and a dose of that sassy-as-fuck mouth. My mother and grandmother had been waiting for this moment, and my grandfather had warned me it would hit with a force I’d never experienced before. It would send me out of control and encourage me to imagine the unimaginable. It would be the moment my other half became a reality. When the universe decided it was my time to become fragile. To become fluid. To become open to a brand new forever. Sasha was my moment. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I’d spend the rest of my days taking on her fears, healing her scars, and stopping at nothing to give her the freedom to fly.

She swung around from the sink, the dish she’d been washing now dripping bubbles onto the floor, and she stared at me.

“What?” she whispered, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“I want you to be the last person I see before I fall asleep and the first person I see when I wake. I don’t want a suitcase sitting on the bedroom floor anymore. I want to leave work every day knowing I’m coming home to you. I need that. I’m never going to stop needing you, Sasha.”

Slowly, and without breaking our stare, she gently placed the plate back into the sink and slid off the rubber gloves. With soft steps, she glided across the kitchen, a single tear sliding over her flushed cheek, and a smile started tugging at her lips.

“I like your bed,” she whispered, and her eyes went soft when she placed her hands on my chest and gazed up at me. “I like your back deck. I like Gigi. I like the sunlight in the kitchen in the morning. I really like that this is where we spent our first night together, but most of all I love that this is where we each said I love you for the first time. So, I want this to be our home.”

I dipped my face to hers and claimed her mouth in a kiss that we’d remember forever because right then, this was the beginning of something bigger than either of us had experienced before.

“Welcome home, sweetheart.”