Nico walks to me slowly, his eyes never releasing mine. He stops as he reaches me, falling short of contact between our bodies, but just short. We’re standing so close I have to tilt my neck back and look up at him to keep our eyes locked, but I don’t dare move for fear that one of us will blink and the moment will be gone. He raises one of his big hands and softly brushes my hair back from my face, his touch is so tender and gentle. Slowly, he lowers his head down to mine and I think he’s going to kiss me, his face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath on my lips, but he doesn’t. He stops so we don’t have to lose the contact of our locked eyes. And then everything I felt shift is confirmed and my world changes.

“I love you, Elle.”

I don’t have to think about my response. Because there’s never been anything in my life I’ve been surer about. “I love you, too.”

Then he kisses me. Sweetly. Gently. Passionately. Really kisses me...in a way that I’ve never been kissed before. It’s not a prelude to sex or foreplay. It’s love. Pure and simple, it’s love pouring from both of us and connecting in a kiss. And in that moment I realize, I’ve never really been kissed before. I thought I’d been, but I wasn’t. There was absolutely nothing before this kiss, and I can’t wait to see what comes after.

By the time we break for air, I’m holding onto his shoulders in order to keep upright. Without his arms wrapped so tightly around me, I would be a puddle on the floor. My knees are weak and my arms are shaking and then there’s the tears. The tears have welled up in my eyes and I can’t stop them from falling when he looks at me that way. I’d heard people say they cried tears of happiness before, but I’d never given the term any thought. But that’s what they are and they start falling. Streaming from my eyes as I smile up at the man that I’m madly in love with. And he with me.

He smiles back down at me and wipes the tears from my eyes. “You’re smiling and crying.”

“I know…I think fifteen years of holding back my emotions just got the best of me…and now you’re in trouble.” I laugh as I speak, realizing how ridiculous it must sound, but it’s true. I haven’t felt anything for fifteen years, really, and now I’m overwhelmed with emotions I hadn’t even realized I was capable of anymore.

Nico smiles before he reaches down and lifts me into his arms, cradling me tightly against his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking the woman I love to bed to make love to her.”

“Oh.” His words are like music to my ears.

***

The next morning I wake to a familiar warm hand on my exposed back, rubbing gently up and down my spine. I turn my head to face the man I’ve professed my love to and he smiles at me. “Mornin.”

“Morning.” I smile back and can’t help that it’s a goofball smile, I feel satisfied and happy and completely and totally in love. I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed. Telling Nico about my past has lifted a weight off my chest that I didn’t even realize I was carrying.

Nico laughs at my smile. “I want to take you out onto the lake this morning before it gets too hot.” He pushes my hair covering part of my face behind my shoulder and kisses my cheek.

“Okay.”

“I could get used to this new agreeable woman that you’ve become.” Nico lifts up and kisses my bare back, just above the sheet that is covering me from the waist down.

“And I could get used to waking up to this.” He trails sweet gentle kisses up from the small of my back all the way to the nape of my neck.

“Come on, before we don’t leave the bed all day.” He abruptly stops kissing me and I miss the warmth of his body covering my back instantly.

I groan loudly, very unladylike, “Or we could just stay in bed all day?” I attempt to persuade him with an invitation.

“Not a chance. There’s a dozen places I want to have you here.”

“Have me?” Is he saying what I think he’s saying?

Nico pulls back the sheet, exposing my naked ass, as I still lie face down on the bed. I’ve not yet made any attempt to move. He groans and smacks my ass playfully.

“I’m going to have you on the little island that’s in the center of the lake. I can’t wait to see you spread eagle in the middle of that patch of grass under the tree.” I begin to sit up and I watch as Nico’s light green eyes turn stormy. There’s no hiding when he wants me and I love it. It’s raw and real and he doesn’t try to mask it for something it’s not. Nico drinks me in and then takes a deep breath before his eyes return to mine. “And maybe even bent over the captains chair before we leave the dock if you don’t hurry.”

***

I expected the lake to be pretty, but nothing I could have imagined comes close to what I see when my eyes first take in the stunningly picturesque scenery right before me. Nico brings me a cup of coffee as I stare out the wall of glass where the darkness hindered my vision the night before, and wraps his thick arms around my middle as he stands behind me. “Beautiful right?”

“It’s stunning. It doesn’t even look real. It’s all too perfect.” I truly am in awe. It’s not that I don’t stop to appreciate nature, but the times that I do have become few and far between the last few years as I’ve thrown myself into my work and the city.

“I’m glad you like it.” Nico squeezes me a little closer as he speaks.

“How could anyone not like it?” The trees are in bloom and the entire perimeter of the crystal clear sparkling lake is lined with tall purple and orange wildflowers. I wonder for a moment if they were planted, but then I think better of it and realize that nothing man-made could possibly be that beautiful.

Nico sighs, it’s a sound of contentment. Happiness. I know because I feel the exact same way. “Do you come up here often?”

“I used to.”

“Why did you stop?” Nico doesn’t respond right away and it makes me think there is a story, something difficult that made him stop.

“I started coming here when I was fifteen. Preach used to bring me up to fish the lake. Sometimes my brothers would come, once in a while even my mom when she could get a full day off, which was rare.”

I turn myself in Nico’s arms…sensing the part of the story that made him stop coming was near. I look up at him and he continues with my full attention. “We had a good many parties up here after I won fights.” His face is smiling as he recalls some of the good times. “Preach won’t allow electricity, so my brothers and I used to fill the back of a pickup truck with coolers.” He chuckles at the thought. “We could get a dozen coolers filled with beer in the back of a short cab.”

I smile watching him, he has such nice family memories. Families coming together to celebrate their success around a lake filled with love and laughter. Something I longed for most of my younger years.

“So why did you stop coming?”

Nico’s face drops and I almost wish I didn’t ask, but I want to know everything about this man. What makes him happy or sad, smile or frown…all of it, the good and the bad. It’s all part of what makes the man before me.

“Preach brought me up here after I tore apart my gym last year. After the fight.” He doesn’t need to explain which fight, it’s just the fight. “It was ugly. I couldn’t sleep without nightmares without the meds and I spent days trying to outrun the memories. It sucked. But Preach wouldn’t leave me, no matter how many times I threatened his life and pushed him around.”

I wait for him to continue, but nothing more comes. “And you haven’t been back since?”

Nico shakes his head.

“So what made you bring me up here?”

He looks down at me and smiles. “I love this place. Some of my best memories are here.” He kisses me chastely on the lips before continuing. “I’ve wanted to come back, chase away the haunted memories with new ones. Ones that will make me forget the bad ones.”

God, the man is beautiful. And not just on the outside…on the inside too…and he doesn’t even have to try. It’s just who he is. Underneath 220 pounds of tattooed hard muscle that screams trouble is the most sensitive and beautiful soul I’ve ever met. For the first time since I was eight years old I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.

***

The island in the center of the large lake is small, maybe the size of a house. But it’s beautiful, with pristine sand, a small patch of grass, and a few simple weeping trees that look like they’ve been plucked off of a postcard that reads “Hello from Paradise.” Sitting in the center of the lake emphasizes the enormity of its size... it’s more than one hundred acres in size. Nico tells me that Preach saved for almost twenty years to buy the property and the lake. His father had owned a small piece of land and he’d loved the area since he was a kid. The reasons why are obvious.

“Let’s go for a swim.” Nico suggests.

“I don’t have my bathing suit on.” For a second I answer as if he might not realize I’m not wearing one. But then I see his smile. The dirty one that shows his deep creviced dimples and I’m sure he’s had many women drop their panties without further effort.

“Don’t need one.”

“But what if someone sees.”

“Do you think I’d let anyone get a glimpse of that fantastic ass that belongs to me, Babe?”

He has a good point. He’s possessive and protective and there is no way there’s a chance that anyone might see me naked if he’s suggesting we swim without suits. I’ve spent fifteen years being conservative, it’s time I lived a little. I don’t respond with words. Instead, I stand from the blanket we’re sitting on and take a step back, giving Nico a better view. He leans back, stretching out his long body, his elbows supporting him as he positions himself for my show with a lazy grin on his face. Slowly, I pull my t-shirt over my head, revealing a pink lace bra. Nico doesn’t move, but his eyes rake over me with appreciation I can actually feel on my body. It’s like a blanket of warmth and it covers me and fuels my nerve to keep on going.

I unbutton my shorts, slowly pulling the zipper down, allowing my thumb to reach up and graze the skin underneath the zipper that is still hidden. I’m not touching myself anywhere intimate, but it feels sexy and intimate just the same. With an exaggerated bend, I lean over and shake my hips suggestively, allowing my shorts to skim my legs and fall to the ground.

I stand, clad in only pink, lacy boy shorts and a matching demi cup bra and watch as Nico’s eyes go dark. He begins to push up from his elbows, but I raise my pointer finger and motion no, I want to give him a show.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Nico’s voice is husky, but he stays put as requested, even though I can see he’s working to keep himself seated.

I reach behind me and undo my bra, slipping it off slowly before I speak. “No, I’m trying to give you new memories that will make you forget the bad ones.”

Nico blows out a deep breath loudly and settles back on his elbows again. He’s going to listen to me and let me do this for him. I stand before him in only my lacy panties and I’m not ready to take them off. I want to give him something to remember, something that will really sear into his brain and make him forget the last time he was here.

Reaching up, I slowly trace my breast with one hand, lazily allowing my fingernail to lightly scratch at my skin. I’m nervous, but I want to do this, so I close my eyes and try to surrender to the moment.

With my eyes still closed, I drag my fingernail over my swollen nipple and it swells even more under my touch. Slowly, I raise my finger to my mouth and suck, wetting my fingers before returning to my engorged nipple and coating it with my own silky fluids. It feels good, but I need more. Firmly, I grasp my own nipple between my thumb and forefinger and pinch. I feel it straight down to my toes and the sensitive skin between my legs tingles with anticipation. Another pinch, this time with more pressure and I feel wetness between my legs and I gasp at the sensation it sends through my body in a jolt.