A whole lifetime of somethings.
Starting now.
The vision released me with a lurch.
I came to, breathing hard. My eyes hit Cade’s. He was watching me carefully. We were still connected — he was planted inside me, not moving, just holding me there, his arms locked tight around me.
“Beautiful, you back with me?”
I leaned forward and kissed him. And kissed him. And kissed him some more, pouring everything I wanted to say into my lips. My hips rocked against him, a rhythmic grind that sent spirals of pleasure through me. Wave after dizzying wave.
“You weren’t the only one, you know,” I confessed in a cracked voice. Tears were tracking down my cheeks, unstoppable. “You made my world start turning, too.”
I saw Cade’s eyes flash with a fierce, intense look — one I felt all the way down to my bones. Moving like lightning, he flipped me onto my back and flung up my legs so he could drive into me, deeper than ever. I felt my orgasm build to a fever-pitch. I was close, seconds from coming.
He could feel it.
His hips kept driving, but he stopped kissing me. I didn’t know why — until he rasped something against my lips. Something that made my tears gather all over again.
“I love you, Imogen.”
The tears slipped out of my eyes. “Cade?—”
“Fell in love with you the first moment I saw you.”
God.
“Love at first sight,” he muttered. “And will be, till my last.”
Those words, in combination with his deep strokes… I couldn’t hold it off anymore. I came. And he came with me, driving into me over and over, wringing every ounce of pleasure from both our bodies until we were a tangle of limp limbs on the bed.
Afterward, I laid on his chest, my bare hands skimming up his chest. Allowing myself to explore his skin without any more barriers, as I’d wanted to for so very long. I slid my fingers up into his thick, perfect hair. It was just as soft and silken as I’d imagined. Leaning in, I whispered the words against his lips before I kissed him. And it wasn’t half as scary as I thought it would be, saying it out loud.
In fact, it wasn’t scary at all.
“I love you too, Cade.”
* * *
The next morning, Cade brought me to the police station for what he called a “debrief” — which, upon arrival, I learned was basically just a meeting with Chief Coulter, Detective Aguilar, and two agents from the FBI field office in Boston.
Cade sat close by my side as I walked them through everything that had happened the day before. Occasionally, someone would cut in with a question or request a clarification but, for the most part, everyone simply listened. The only sound in the conference room was my voice, the faint patter of rain on the windows, and the light scratch of four pens unanimously jotting down notes.
When I was done, the Feds closed their notebooks, got to their feet, murmured their goodbyes, and left the room. I got the sense neither of them was particularly thrilled with my involvement, and were eager to get the hell out of Salem altogether.
Chief Coulter stood, but he didn’t leave. He stared directly into my eyes and offered me his hand.
“Very grateful for your help, Miss Warner,” he said solemnly, pumping my glove up and down in a vigorous handshake. “The force owes you a debt. The whole city does.”
“Oh.” I blinked in surprise. “I didn’t do much.”
“You did more than you had to. And, if you hadn’t, Rory O’Banion might still be out there alone in the marshlands.”
“I was happy to help, Chief Coulter.”
“Good. Another case like this ever comes up, we’ll need your help again.” He finally released my hand. “You plan on sticking around?”
My eyes flickered briefly to Cade, who was fighting a grin. “Yes,” I told Coulter. “I think I am.”