A small part of me was angry that he carried protection around with him. That other women had touched him and saw him like this also, but then our eyes met, and I remembered that he was mine again now. At least for these few moments.
"I still love you," he said quietly, putting every unease at rest. "I never stopped."
Tears pricked my eyes again, but these weren't sad. "Show me."
He pushed inside me in one slow, devastating stroke.
I gasped, my body stretching to accommodate him, the fullness overwhelming. He stilled, giving me time to adjust, his arms trembling with the effort of holding back.
"You okay?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"No." I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him deeper. "I need you to move."
He chuckled against my neck as he finally moved.
Slow at first, long strokes that made me feel every inch of him. Then faster, harder, as the need built between us. I met him thrust for thrust, my nails digging into his back, as I started to chant his name, god’s name and every other thing that came to my mind that I wanted him to do.
"That's it," he growled against my neck. "Let me hear you. I've waited eight years to hear you say my name like that."
"Knox." I was falling apart, pleasure building at the base of my spine. "Don't stop. Please don't stop."
He shifted angle, hitting a spot that made me see stars. "I'm never letting you go again, Daisy."
The orgasm hit me, roaring through my body, making me cry out his name as I broke under him. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep, groaning my name against my throat as he came.
We lay there in the aftermath, tangled together on the cool rock, breathing hard, staring up at the endless stars. His weight on top of me felt solid and real after years of drifting.
"Well," I said finally, when I could form words again. "That was worth waiting for."
He laughed, a low rumble against my chest. "Eight years of waiting. Had to make it count."
I smiled. Then the smile faded as reality crept back in.
"I still have to talk to Cal."
Knox lifted his head, looking down at me. "I know."
"I'm furious at him. For what he did to us. For making choices that weren't his to make."
"He had a good reason though Daisy."
I sighed, as I pushed against Know slightly to let me up more. "I know. And he’s family. The only family I have left."
"He was trying to protect you. In his own misguided way." Knox's voice was quiet. "I've had eight years to hate him, and somewhere along the way, I realized I couldn't. Because I understood why he did it. He loved you. He wanted better for you than a twenty-one-year-old with a record and no future."
"That wasn't his call to make."
"No. It wasn't." He kissed my forehead. "But he made it anyway, and here we are. The question is what happens next."
I looked up at the stars, thinking about everything I'd learned tonight. About Cal's ultimatum. About Knox's sacrifice. Aboutall the years we'd lost to silence and secrets and misplaced protection.
"I choose you," I said. "Whatever happens with Cal, whatever comes next, I choose you. I should have chosen you eight years ago, and I'm not making that mistake again."
Knox's eyes went soft. He kissed me, slow and deep, and I let myself sink into it. Into him. Into the future that had finally, impossibly, opened up before us.
We stayed on that rock until the cold became unbearable, then gathered our clothes and walked back down the trail hand in hand. At the edge of Cal's property, he pulled me into one last kiss.
"Tomorrow," he said against my lips. "You deal with Cal. I'll be here when you're ready."