She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, and it didn’t matter. She could do this for Walker for eternity. Stand with him. Let him know she was with him.
Wait.
When he turned again, she went willingly in his arms and held him tightly, hoping he could read everything in her heart. This was the man she loved, and she’d take his past along with everything else he could offer her.
“You must miss your father so much. Did he die in combat?”
Walker stiffened. Let go of her and made as if to step back but in the end stayed where he was.
“Killed himself” was all he said.
Avery absorbed the horror of it like a blow, feeling the bile rise in her throat. Walker had been seven when his father died.
Seven.
Couldn’t his father have found the strength to stay for him?
She held on to him tightly and thought she could sense everything he couldn’t say: that he missed his father, was sorry not to have known Worth and Tricia. Wished Netta was still here, along with his grandfather and her husband. That he’d grown up in a world of ghosts and pain and loss, death taking the people he loved one by one.
Was afraid he’d lose her, too.
“I’m here,” she told him. “I’ll always be here. You’ll never lose me. I promise.”
When he lowered his mouth to hers, she went up to meet him willingly. Now she knew this man. Knew he had always wanted her. He hadn’t held back because he didn’t care; he’d held back because he did. Because he knew if he got too close, he’d lose himself and wouldn’t be able to fulfill the debts handed down to him from his father. He must have thought giving in to his desire—and hers—would only make it worse if they were separated again by those obligations, but to Avery’s way of thinking they’d lost months of precious time. She wanted all of Walker she could get, and damn the consequences.
She didn’t waste another moment trying to put that into words. Instead, she found his mouth. Kissed him, then kissed him again, her hands cupping his jaws, her passion telling him what she couldn’t.
No matter what their circumstances, she wanted him. Always had. Always would.
She would never leave.
Walker pulled back, his dark eyes searching hers. “Avery—”
“Yes. Please, Walker.” She pulled him close again. Pulled him right down to the ground.
To her relief, Walker didn’t argue. He kissed her back with equal hunger, gathering her beneath him, crushing her to him, unleashing the full force of his desire in a way he never had with her before.
Avery trusted him utterly and let herself go, allowing him to take the lead, glorying in the feeling of a man of Walker’s size and strength focusing every ounce of his attention on her. She laughed when he fumbled with his backpack while still kissing her, pulling things out of it and flinging them away until he found what he’d wanted, a picnic blanket. He tossed it out beside them, spreading it as best he could, making clear he wasn’t going to let go of her if he didn’t have to, then rolled her onto it.
When he tugged at the fastenings of her dress, Avery pushed him away, sat up and undid them herself, knowing he was likely to tear the fabric. She made it a game, teasing him as she undressed until he nearly growled.
“I can get that off a lot faster.”
“I don’t doubt it.” But she took pity on him, finished the job, undid her corset and drew her chemise over her head, then faced him on the blanket clad in only her panties. “Your turn.”
Walker was a lot faster as he got to his feet and stripped down, and he tossed away his boxer briefs without a second’s hesitation.
Avery could only stare in admiration. Walker was handsome with his clothes on.
With them off, he was magnificent, a monument of muscle and bronzed skin.
He offered her his hand. She took it, got to her feet and approached him. When he hooked his thumbs in the tiny waistband of her panties, she nodded. He tugged them down to her feet, and she kicked them away.
This must be what Adam and Eve felt like in the garden of Eden, she thought, standing with Walker in the bright sunshine, not a stitch on. A rise of ground hid them thoroughly from the road here, and she doubted anyone else would come this way. Walker’s hands rested on her hips, drawing her inexorably toward him. When their bodies met, she went on tiptoe, needing more of his kisses.
Walker obliged, moving his mouth over hers until she was breathless. His hands explored her body, the swoop of his fingers over her skin leaving her tingling with anticipation.
When he laid her down again, she drew him to her. This was where he was meant to be: between her legs, in her arms.
“I want you,” he whispered, his lips brushing her cheek and then her temple.
“I’ve always wanted you,” she answered. Ever since she’d first laid eyes on him, she’d dreamed about this moment. She shifted her hips, wanting to feel his hardness, at the same time wanting this to go on forever.
Avery shifted again until she found what she wanted. She opened to him, urging him with her hands on his back. “Don’t make me wait,” she told him.
Walker hesitated only a moment, positioned himself—
And pushed inside her.
Now that he’d started, he couldn’t hold back.
As Walker moved inside Avery, every stroke lit him up until his body blazed with heat. As she clung to him, moving with his rhythm, he forgot about his past—and hers. This was all that mattered. This was what love felt like, and nothing else could match it.
He’d wasted so much time trying to protect his honor, and now he wished he could have all of it back. He needed a lifetime with the woman in his arms and swore from now on, she’d
