Poked and prodded and paper-worked to death, I plowed through my medical release. The only thing that kept me sane all week was my regular evening calls with Grace. It was like she was here holding my hand, and that made it easier to let go.

When they’d said I had to retire, I had thought about a life full of nothing, but that was so far from the truth.

Fury had dealt me some shitty blows, and yet it had brought Ana to Ryker and Grace to me. And as much as I thought I didn’t want children, I was falling hard and fast for Blue. In just a few short days, the kid had me wrapped around his little finger.

I’d spent an hour in Babies “R” Us picking out things he’d grow in to like cars, and trucks, and Whoopee cushions.

That toy was my favorite. I’d always loved to put the cushion under an unsuspecting victim, which was usually my mom. She was unfailingly a good sport about it. Her little hand would cover her mouth and she’d say, “excuse me.” Then she’d pull the rubber bladder from under her bottom and chuck it at me.

For the first time, I was thinking about a future that included Little League games and birthday parties and Christmases—stuff I’d never considered before Grace and Blue.

I stopped at the florist and picked up flowers. I’d never purchased flowers for anyone in my life, and I had no idea what she’d like, so I got a bunch of everything and made the three-hour drive home. If it hadn’t been a six-hour round trip, I would have been in Grace’s bed every night. The three days I had spent there before I left for Fort Carson were the best I’d had in a lifetime.

When I pulled into her driveway, she rushed out of the door and flung herself into my arms.

“You’re home.” She peppered my face with what seemed like a thousand kisses, and it wasn’t enough. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” I gripped her ass and pulled her up until she wrapped her legs around my waist. “It scares me how much I missed you.” I covered her mouth with mine and relished the taste of her and the feel of her in my arms.

I needed her, and that was scarier than walking through a minefield, which I’d done several times. A minefield could take you out with one wrong step. Failing at love could be much more painful. It was ongoing hurt that reminded you that you were unlovable, which was why I’d erected a wall around my heart years ago. But this woman was chipping at that barrier every day with her love and affection. Add in a little fatherless boy, and I was a goner.

“Are you home for good?” She unwrapped her legs and slid down my body.

Home. This was home for me now. It wasn’t Fury. It wasn’t Ryker. It was this fiery little green-eyed redhead who had worked her way into my head and my heart.

“I’m home to stay.” I reached into the car and pulled out an armful of flowers and handed them to her.

“Silas Savage, who knew you were a romantic?” She brought them to her nose and breathed in their fresh sweet scent. All the way up here I had smelled them, and they reminded me of Grace’s perfume.

“I’m working on it.” I shut the door to Ryker’s car, thinking I’d have to get my own ride soon. “Where’s my little buddy?”

Grace looked over her shoulder toward the front door. “I just put him down for a nap.” There was a sexy glint to her eye and a knowing smile on her face.

“So, we have an hour?” I was already pulling her to the house.

“At least, maybe two if we’re quiet and lucky.”

I rushed her straight to the bedroom. “I’m feeling pretty damn lucky.”

She wasted no time in stripping my clothes off and pushing me down on the mattress. That was what I loved about Grace. She was one part angel and three parts she-devil. She knew what she wanted, and apparently right now it was my cock in her mouth.

The minute she pulled me into the hot wet recesses and swirled her tongue around the sensitive tip, I was lost. “What are you doing to me?” I groaned. My fingers threaded through her long red hair and followed the up-and-down movements as she swallowed my length.

“I’m loving on you,” she whispered against the tip. The vibration from her words nearly sent me over the edge.

“I’m loving your loving.” Grace had serious talents in the bedroom department. I didn’t dwell on how she became so skilled at pleasing me. I didn’t care. Neither one of us was a saint.

“I have a surprise for you.” She slid from the bed and rose to her feet. With the hem of her T-shirt in her hands, she pulled it up and lifted it over her head.

I stared at her pink lacy bra and grinned. “I like it.” She might have worn that for me, but what I really wanted was under that strip of fabric—her little surprise would be gone in seconds. Then she pulled off her pants to show matching pink underwear. Well, I couldn’t exactly call them underwear since there was little more than a string and strip of fabric, but I liked them too.

“When’s the last time you went bare?” She nipped at her own upper lip while she crawled back between my legs.

“Umm … Umm.” How was I supposed to focus when she deep-throated my cock? I gripped a handful of her hair and stopped her motion. “I can’t think.”

She pulled her lips off me with a pop and wiped the saliva that pooled in the corner of her mouth. “You don’t have to think. You just need to feel good.”

I pulled her up my body until she lay on my chest. He hair smelled like citrus, and her skin smelled like lavender. “You make me feel so good, Grace, and I’m not talking just about my dick. I feel normal when I’m with you.”

“You are normal.” She reached her hands behind her back and unlatched the hooks of her bra. Soft globes spilled from the cups onto my chest. She sat up and straddled me. My length sat squarely between her legs. My hands reached for the lush curves of her breasts.

She covered my hands with hers and showed me how she liked her nipples rolled between my fingers. She ground that strip of fabric between her legs against me until we were both soaked from her arousal.

“How long, Silas?” Her breath was as labored as mine. Her desire ratcheted up to explosive levels.

“I don’t know, Grace, like two years or so.” I lifted my hips to get more friction. “It was a stupid thoughtless moment, but nothing came out of it. Why?”

“I want nothing coming between us, Silas. I want you inside of me.”

My heart hammered in my chest. The beat pulsed through my cock like a gun on rapid fire. “Grace—”

“I got the shot. It’s effective right now. We can be as close as ever, or we can still keep that little barrier between us. It’s your call.”

Holy fuck … She got the shot for me. For us. There was only one call to make, and that was to flip her over and get rid of that piece of damp pink fabric that blocked my entrance to heaven.

“Are you sure?” I knew Grace had gifted her bare self to one other man, and I wanted to be worthier than him.

She reached forward and lined my length up with her opening. “I’ve never felt so sure about anything.”

I didn’t thrust inside of her. I wanted the feeling of her gift to wash over us. I pressed inside with a slow and gentle force. Every damn nerve ending in my dick came alive, and with every inch I buried inside her, a piece of me went with it. And the empty spaces left behind from years of sorrow and loss were filled up with the pieces she put inside me. I lost track of where I ended and she began. We were melded together by want and need and something far stronger than both. As silly as it all seemed, I was falling in love with Grace Faraday. In a brief time, she had become as necessary as the air that I breathed and the blood that pumped through my veins. Grace had become everything.

“You’re mine, Grace.” I hovered over her body, thrusting gently inside.

Her nails skimmed my back. Her eyes pierced my soul. “I’m yours, Silas.”

We made slow deliberate love to each other. No other promises were made, no other words spoken. Just the coming together of two hearts and two souls.

Grace got up before me to shower and dress.

I teetered between sleep and a twilight state of bliss until I heard her voice rise in anger: “He doesn’t belong to you. Get out.”