“Well, I didn’t… I didn’t give you… Why—”

He cut her off with a deep kiss, and she no longer cared why or when he’d done it. The sight of her had driven him to buy condoms. She should be flattered, right?

“If I had the slightest chance with you, I wasn’t going to blow it by not being prepared,” he whispered.

She reached down and wrapped her hands around his hard length. He hissed and closed his eyes. “Yes, touch me, please.” He was silky and smooth under her fingers. She watched the alternating agony and pleasure dance across his face as she handled him. He pressed the condom into her hand. She opened it and rolled it on him, as he watched her with a dreamy look. She ran one hand up his chest, massaging with deep pressure. Her other hand pleasuring him, keeping that lustful look in his eyes that made her feel like the most powerful woman in the world.

She’d buried herself in her work, seeking that sort of power. Wanting her colleagues to admire her skills and leaning on her successes to give her satisfaction in her life. It didn’t matter how anyone else saw her, she knew. It was about what she meant to one man, and what he meant to her.

She moved on top of him, sitting on his stomach, and his eyes lit up. Seth made her feel sexy and female, a feeling she didn’t get very often. She arched her back, making her breasts lift. Could anyone across the street see them? A naughty part of her hoped so. She felt a bit like showing off. It was safe here, just the two of them. The expanse of gray wet skies filled the room with light, exposing everything.

Seth ran a hand up one of her thighs. “You’re beautiful, Tori.”

Her heart swelled. She shifted her weight and pressed his covered tip against her opening. And then met his wide eyes. His jaw was locked, one hand gripping the sheets. The other dug into her thigh, almost hurting her in his excitement. She pressed down, watching him. His lids fell closed as his chin lifted, digging the back of his head into the pillow. His legs and stomach tensed.

She looked back to Seth, a wide smile on his face. He met her gaze and clamped his hands on her hips, grinding himself in deep. She gasped for breath, small fires shooting up her backbone.

“I love you, Tori,” he forced out from clenched teeth.

She froze, her hands on his. “I’ve always loved you, Seth.”

He stopped moving beneath her. “I’m not going to let you get away again. This is it. You and me. Moving forward from here. Together. Agreed?”

She tried to shift her hips beneath his grip, but he held her tightly in place. Part of her wanted to leap off and hide. But that urge was rapidly smothered by an overwhelming need to stay with him permanently.

“I won’t leave you,” she said softly. She felt the last bit of her walls dissolve.

Seth rolled them over, his hands tighter on her hips. Suddenly she was on his pillow with his eyes inches from hers, his look fierce. He was still deep inside her and he pushed harder, emphasizing his words as he spoke. “You and me. We’re going to live out the rest of our lives together, driving each other crazy, okay?”

Moisture filled her eyes. He was giving her exactly what her heart had ached for. She nodded through her tears.

She was lost in his eyes, feeling his hands touch everywhere on her body. She wanted to let him take every inch of her that she offered up before him. His words rang through her head. The rest of our lives. They’d been said before, but they’d been nearly children at that time. Now the words held a power, a truthfulness. They were coming from a man who knew what he wanted.

She surrendered to Seth’s pleasure. In her heart and in her body.

Seth opened his eyes as a rare burst of sunshine touched his face. By the time he’d realized that Tori was curled up at his side, the sun was gone, hidden again behind dark gray clouds. Tori nestled into him, his arm gripping her tightly even in his sleep. With her eyes shut and hair mussed, she looked totally innocent and approachable, a look she rarely projected during waking hours. He was glad she’d relaxed. She’d been stressed for a solid day.

He still regretted taking her to see that witch this morning. She could blow it off all she wanted, but watching her go through the excitement of meeting her possible mother and then the absolute desolation had nearly cracked him.

He wouldn’t believe that woman was her mother. The two women couldn’t be more different. It’d take DNA to prove it to him.

He doubted Tori would ever request that Isabel give a sample. It appeared Tori had no desire to ever contact the woman again. Who could blame her?

He glanced at the clock on the side table and silently moaned. Two hours had vanished. He probably had a half-dozen calls and texts from people wondering what’d happened to him. He slowly untangled from Tori. She rolled to her other side and burrowed into a pillow.

He sat up, watching her, and smiled. She made his soul happy, and brought a calmness he’d missed for years. Even though he needed to get back to work, he really didn’t care that much. They were together and moving forward on the same path.

Finally.

When he’d first seen her he’d wanted her back in his life with a fierceness that’d surprised him. When they were together, the universe made sense. Everything moved in harmony. He rubbed a hand over the stubble that’d formed on his chin, feeling slightly sheepish at his fanciful thoughts, but damn if they didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense at the moment. Would he hear angels sing next?

He got up and looked for his jeans he’d worn yesterday, finding them on a hook on the back of the bathroom door. With his personal phone in the back pocket. He sighed at the feel of the case against his palm. He hated having to carry two cell phones. How had he left it behind? He’d been in a funk all morning. The other cell phone he carried on loan from the medical examiner’s office didn’t have all his personal contacts on it.