“Then I’ll keep saying it until you do.”
His mouth covered mine, so I said it in my head. In the way I touched him and ground my core against his. Drawing him toward pleasure. Making him feel as good as he would allow. I desperately wanted him inside me, but I didn’t push. His needs mattered just as much as mine, and it was important I showed him that.
He reached between us, rolling my clit under the pad of his finger and lowered his mouth to my breast, sucking greedily. I wrapped my legs around his hips and followed the rise of his tide until we were panting, hot and needy.
My mind was a hazy maze, but I managed to keep my words clear as a bell. Whispers of “I love you so much” floated up to the stars like a wish. Even when he brought me over, the cries I released were his name and love and promises of my heart belonging to him.
It didn’t take long for Cormac to follow. Hot spurts of pleasure coated my belly and his when he collapsed onto me.
We held each other through it. Naked and spent, the wide-open sky above us.
He nuzzled into my hair. “Say it again.”
I rolled to my side, bringing us eye to eye. It was dark, but the moon was bright enough for me to see him as clearly as I should have all along.
“I love you, Cormac Kelly. I really do.”
His eyes threatened to close, but he kept them open and pinned on me. “You have no idea…never thought I’d hear that. I thought I’d be in this alone. I’d accepted it.”
“You’re not.” I touched the patch of scruff beneath his bottom lip. “You’re never going to be alone in it again. Iloveyou.”
His lips grazed mine. “About time.”
Then his mouth hitched in a smirky little grin, making me laugh.
I gave his shoulder a hard shove. “Shut up and tell me you love me too.”
That got a real laugh out of him. “I thought I didn’t have to say it back.”
“That was before. Now you do.”
Still chuckling, he scooped me into his chest and buried his face in my hair. “I love you, you stubborn, gorgeous woman. Now I’m going to take you inside, clean you up, and show you just how much.”
“Again?” I squealed as he climbed to his feet with me in his arms.
“Still.” He hoisted me over his shoulder and smacked my butt. “Always.”
Always. That sounded like almost enough.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Zara
Thefollowingweek,Iused my day off to meet with Dell Rivers. He’d taken over dealing with Jackson and Ryan Mercer, and it appeared this ordeal was coming to an end.
Jackson had dragged his feet until Dell sent an official letter to him and his brothers. Miraculously, things began to move swiftly then.
Not swiftly enough for Mercer and his client. He’d called Javier again, and me as well. But while I was in his office today, Dell spoke with Mercer on the phone. For a nice old man, he really put the screws to him.
When he hung up, he grinned at me, his wrinkled cheeks pink with delight. “Well, that was fun. Not often I get to throw my weight around like that anymore.”
“No? Ranchers don’t give you trouble?”
He waved me off. “Pfft. They’re pussycats compared to your PI. He was all business until I brought up the law codes he was breaking, then he backpedaled like a scared little girl.”
I arched a brow. “As a person who was once a fearless little girl, I resent that remark.”
He laughed with delight. “Sorry, darlin’. I take that right back. If Mercer were forced to face you down, I have a feeling he’d be scared of you at any age. Lucky for him, he seems to understand the people he needs to lean on are Jackson and his brothers.”