I heard laughter when I opened the door and, when it shut, the noise stopped completely. There was a buzz in the air and it was making my heart race. I felt like I should have known what was happening, but I was so far gone from what was going on with Cassidy, I couldn’t focus on it enough. Turning the corner to the living room, I stopped dead and gripped the corner of the wall.

Cassidy, Isabella, and Mama were sitting on the main couch, each with completely different expressions on their faces, but all I could focus on was Cassidy’s. She looked like she was about to burst, like she’d just seen the sun for the first time and was terrified that it was about to be taken away from her.

She slowly got off the couch and made her way to me, stopping when she was just inches from me. All I could think about was the fear she’d had in her eyes the night she left and how she’d flinch away when I tried to touch her. The fear on her face now was nothing like her fear of me, so I slowly brought my hand up, dragged the tips of my fingers across her right cheekbone, and cupped her face. Not once did she flinch, not once did she blink, and her body didn’t still when I touched her; it relaxed.

That was all I needed to know.

I grabbed around her waist to haul her body to my chest and crushed her mouth to mine. Not caring that my entire family was staring at us. Not caring about anything except for that little noise in the back of her throat, and that her arms immediately went around my neck, her hands taking off my cowboy hat and letting it fall to the ground, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. Without another word I walked us out of the house and toward my truck, cursing when I realized it was blocked in. A second later the Tahoe bleeped and the lights flashed, and Cassidy smiled slyly as she handed me the fob.

“How?”

“I’ll explain everything. Can we go to our spot?”

Kissing her soft lips once, I whispered against them, “I’ll do one better.”

I drove us to the house and watched Cassidy’s confused face as it came to view. “What is this place, Gage?”

Swallowing hard, I grabbed her hand and looked at her. “It’s our house, darlin’.”

At the word our, her head whipped around to mine and her eyes went wide. “Our house?” she whispered. “We have a house?”

“If you want it.” Her eyes went bright with unshed tears and she turned to look out the windshield, taking in everything about the outside. “C’mon. Let’s talk and I’ll show you around.”

We walked around the house first. The entire time she held my hand tightly, and her other hand was covering her mouth, which was wide open. By the time we got inside, I couldn’t go any farther; I pulled her to me and kissed her long and hard. Something about being in our house ignited something in both of us and the kiss quickly escalated.

I was kicking off my boots at the same time as I unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them over her hips, taking her lacy black underwear with them. My fingers trailed over her heat and I damn near died when I found her completely ready for me. She moaned and arched against my hand when I slid two fingers in her and her gasp filled the empty house. Her head had fallen back, and she righted it, trying to focus her eyes on my plaid button-up. When she was tugging it down my arms, I took my fingers away and helped her remove the shirt, laying it flat on the floor before standing up and grabbing that sexy-as-sin green shirt she was wearing and pulling it, and another light shirt I hadn’t noticed, off her, revealing Cassidy without a bra.

“Babe,” I growled, and bent to take one of her perfect breasts in my mouth, loving the way her fingers slid through my hair as she gently kept my head in place.

Too soon her hands were gone, but then they were at my jeans and in no time she had them off and had taken my length in her hands, and I had to struggle to stay standing as I kicked the jeans and boxer-briefs away from us. Removing her hands from me, I hitched her legs up around my hips and helped lay her on my shirt on the floor.

“Gage, I love you,” she breathed as she brought my face to hers, and I smiled against her lips.

“God, darlin’, I love you so damn much. Don’t ever leave me again.” I kissed her once more before making my way down her body.

I should have taken my time kissing every inch of her now that she was back in my arms, but that would have to wait ’til later. I needed to take care of her, of us, and I needed to do it right now. Not wanting to tease her, I dove right in and her back arched off the ground. The sexiest moan you’ve ever heard filled the room and her hands wove their way through my hair to keep my head where she wanted it. I groaned against her, having missed the taste of her, the way my sweet Cassidy completely let go when we were together, and thanking God that she had come back to me.

She came so hard and fast, I wanted to stay there and make her come again that way, but I knew I’d have time for that later. Now I needed her. Her hands were already pulling my body back up hers, and though I tried to be considerate to her and not kiss her after that, she slammed our mouths together and swiped her tongue against mine, moaning even louder when she tasted herself. Dear Lord, my girl was hot. She wrapped her legs around me at the same time I sank into her and our kisses cut off as she cried out and I groaned. Feeling her around me took away the last of the tension of those last two weeks and I reveled in the feel of her.

“Oh, Gage, please. Please move.”

I smiled and bit at the hollow of her neck before whispering in her ear as I slowly slid out, “Yes, ma’am.” And slammed back in.

“Gage!” she cried, and her back bowed off the ground again, her head pressing against it.

I wanted to take this slow, I swear I did, but I just couldn’t. And thank God she was right there with me, matching each thrust and urging our bodies to go faster and harder. She had just started to tighten against me when her body started shuddering and I rode out her orgasm a little longer before I found my own release and collapsed onto her. Cassidy took my weight easily and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, letting one hand softly caress my back.

“Welcome home,” I mumbled into her shoulder, and she burst into giggles.

“I’d say that was definitely a welcome home.”

“Don’t ever leave again, darlin’,” I pleaded again, and she squeezed my shoulders before releasing them.

“Never.” She brought my head up and kissed me softly before looking into my eyes. God I missed those whiskey eyes. “Do you want to get dressed and we’ll talk? It’s going to be a long talk, I have a lot to tell you.”

“Nope.” I rolled off her and pulled her onto her side as well. “I want you to stay like . . .” I trailed off as I caught a flash of color on her exposed shoulder and leaned up to look over it. “You got a new tattoo?”

“I did.” Her smile was one I’d never seen before and she rolled away so I could see it. It was one badass-looking phoenix, and before I could ask what had made her get that, she rolled back so she was facing me. “I’ll get to that part but not yet. It’ll be explained though.”

“All right, darlin’.”

CASSIDY

THREE AND A half hours later, and I was sitting up on the floor, looking down at Gage, who was propped up on both elbows, staring down at the hardwood floor. I’d just finished telling him my story, every part of it. He’d thrown on his jeans and I’d put on my underwear and my racer-back tank when he had to go out to my car to get the letter from my mom, but other than that, we’d stayed half-naked and in the same spot where we’d had our “welcome home.”

Of course he’d known some things about the beatings from Tyler, but he’d never heard about them from me. I told him about all the different ones that stuck out in my mind, how and what Jeff would reward my mom with right in front of me after they got done almost killing me, and about the times when I’d be able to walk away after they beat me, how I’d still be able to hear their moans filling the house. I told him about how I had to shut off my emotions, what I felt when it was happening, before and after, and how Tyler was my savior during those times.

He flinched, but I still told him everything I felt and thought when I saw him hitting Grant, when he elbowed me, and the flashbacks when he turned to hit me again. I explained how I’d thought that until I was able to be past that, I couldn’t talk to him, because it would just continue to get worse for us. Then I mentioned the fire and what led to Detective Sanders and Detective Green questioning me, which led to the reading of the will, all the money, and the letter from my mom. I’d had to stop for a second and take a few deep breaths before I told him all about Detective Connor Green, and when I say “all,” I do mean all. I told Gage about my feelings for him after he’d shown up that night years ago, the coffee shop this past week, the alleyway, and the hours afterward. Gage read the letter again after I told him about the alleyway with Connor and that was when I told him how I had come to see the beauty in my mother’s actions with the fire and why I’d decided to get the tattoo. I didn’t need to explain why I got a phoenix, since it was in the letter, but I did tell him all about my dad’s ring and the painting that had been on my bedroom wall. Gage was pissed that Connor had kissed me, but his eyes had gone solid when I told him about the hours on the phone and texting in the days following, and going to his house Saturday morning. I didn’t leave a thing out from then either; I told him everything, from the way I felt to taking his tie off for him and watching him take his shirts off. How I kept thinking about leaving to see Gage while Connor was in the shower and, as soon as Connor was back, how the butterflies were back again. What happened when I showed him the tattoo and how he had my legs around his hips and me pressed against the wall in under a second, and how I’d started to kiss him back before I told him to stop.

As I had with the phone calls, texts, and coffeehouse, I told Gage everything we talked about when Connor had me pressed to the wall, including my promise to him. Gage’s hands had curled into fists and his jaw started ticking from the pressure. I wanted to run my fingers down his jaw so he would relax, but seeing as I was the reason he was so pissed off, I just scooted back a few inches and held his flat stare as I continued to tell him how I told Connor not to wait for me and that Gage was it for me, kissing him, and then leaving. I ended with flying back to Texas, going to the town house to find it empty, going to buy my dream car, and stopping to see Jesse and Isabella in hopes of helping them with their financial situation before going to find Gage so I could tell him about how I’d been forced to face my demons, and that I knew what I had to do to overcome them.