"You don’t have to thank me," he assured me. "You deserve it, baby. You deserve the whole damn world."

We sipped our wine and continued to talk about the possibilities of my new career choice – he was still focused on the Dogs, of course, rebuilding in the wake of everything they had been through, and I was willing to do whatever I could to help with that. But, with their main enemy wiped off the map, it wasn’t as though they were going to have much in the way of competition now.

"Do you think it’s going to change things?" I asked him curiously, and he glanced over at me, a slight frown on his face.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, now that Lombardi’s gone," I explained. "Now that you’ve seen all the shit he was involved in...do you think it’s going to make a difference?"

"I don’t know," he admitted. "Chuck was pretty shaken by it, by the extent of it. And he’s getting older now, settling down himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to take a different approach."

"Right," I agreed with a nod. I was kind of excited, I had to admit, at all the opportunity for growth that this had laid out in front of us – not just for me, but for the Dogs, too. They weren’t going to be fighting just to keep Lombardi at bay, and maybe they could focus on doing some more good around the city, too.

We finished our wine, and I headed upstairs to take a shower; we had a little ensuite in our bedroom, a luxury I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to. I tipped my head back and let the warm water cascade over my face; God, it was such a difference from the shitty shower pressure I had been dealing with back in my apartment.

After a few minutes, I heard the door open, and I grinned as I waited for Lee to join me. He slipped into the shower stall behind me, planting a kiss on my bare shoulder, as the water rushed over us.

"We should christen this place," he murmured to me, and I grinned as he traced his hand down my waist, caressing my side playfully. Every touch sent a helpless rush of tingles through my entire body, unable to resist responding to him.

"You think?" I replied, playing innocent. He moved a hand into my hair, tugging gently so that he could kiss my neck.

"Oh, I know," he replied. I could already feel his cock hardening against the small of my back, and I wiggled my butt against him playfully, letting him know how much I wanted him.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He lifted my leg slightly, balancing it on the edge of the shower so that I was exposed to him – taking his time, he stroked his cock a couple of times to get himself good and hard and then planted himself at my entrance.

I moaned, the sound echoing around the small space, as he eased himself inside of me. From this angle, he felt so big, my pussy so full with his cock. He moved a hand to my belly, pulling me against him hungrily, brushing his lips up the back of my neck as he began to move inside of me.

I planted my hands against the wall in front of me so I could push myself back against him, needing to feel more of him – needing as much of him as I could get. We soon found a pace, falling into a delicious rhythm, and I could feel his breath on the back of my neck – the warmth of it, the need of it as it tore out of his throat like he couldn’t contain himself like he couldn’t even imagine containing himself.

"You have no fucking idea how good you feel right now," he breathed in my ear. I moaned again, and he slipped his hand down between my legs so he could play with my clit as he fucked me. My eyes rolled back, the pleasure shuddering up from between my thighs to consume my whole body. Oh, fuck, I was already close, the mess of sensations starting to build and push to that point of no return inside me.

"I want to feel you come on my cock," he murmured to me, and he caught my earlobe between his teeth, tugging on it gently. A shockwave of pleasure shivered through me, every nerve-ending stimulated by a mix of him and the rushing water consuming me. I could feel his slick body as it moved against mine, the muscles shifting beneath his skin, his strength as he took me like I belonged to him – like I had always belonged to him, and always would.

And it was that thought that took me over the edge and into my release, the knowledge that I was his completely – sharing this home with him, building a life together, it was everything I had ever wanted, everything I had ever craved. I cried out, the sound contained to the small space around us, as his fingers moved against my clit as his cock thrust deep inside of me. He held himself there as I went over the edge, felt me squeezing around him as the helpless spasms of my orgasm rocked up to take control of my entire body. My hands clawed at the walls, searching for purchase, something to hold on to, when it felt as though I might shatter into pieces at any moment.

He drove himself deep into me one last time, and, at last, I felt him flood me with his seed – there was nothing more intimate than feeling that, feeling him finish inside of me, the warmth of it, the closeness it allowed me. I pressed my thighs together, holding him in place until I was certain I had milked every last drop out of him, and, slowly, he pulled himself back.

He turned me around to face him, and I slumped into his arms, grinning as I gazed into his eyes. But there was something in the way he was looking at me, something that I hadn’t seen before – he parted his lips, and I knew what he was going to say before the words escaped his mouth.

"I love you, Liana."

The rush of the water dulled around me, and the only thing I could pay attention to was the three words he just said and the way they made me feel, finally hearing him say it. I knew he loved me; he had shown me in all the ways that mattered already, but hearing it? That was something special.

I leaned against him, not taking my gaze from his. He already knew what my response was going to be, but I just wanted to revel in the sweetness of those words for a hot minute.

"I love you too," I replied finally, brushing my lips against his. He grinned, moving into another kiss, his tongue tracing along my bottom lip as though he was carving out the shape of those words again, and again, and again.

When he pulled back, he chuckled.

"I’m pretty sure we’re meant to use this thing to wash up," he remarked, gesturing around. I giggled.

"Hey, you’re the one who interrupted me when I was just trying to have an innocent shower," I protested, shaking my head. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, like you didn’t know I would join you..."

"Well, the least you can do is help me wash my hair," I replied, turning my back to him again and handing him the shampoo. "Here you go. Get to work!”

He laughed, but a few moments later, I felt his fingertips massaging the product against my scalp, and I closed my eyes and let myself drift off into the blissful comfort of his presence. It was amazing to me that I could feel so safe with a man who had done certain things in his life – but I knew he would only ever do them to protect me and Kara and to protect this life we were making together.