Page 306 of By His Vow

We both laugh when we attempt to start talking at the same time. His body moves and I gasp as his growing cock moves inside me.

“Sorry,” I say. “You go,” I whisper as my nerves return.

“Tatum,” he says softly, his eyes searching mine. “Finding you gone was one of the worst moments of my life.” My breath catches at the honesty in his tone. “Thinking you ran because of something I did...fuck, Tate, it fucking killed me.

“The apartment wasn’t a home without you. Walking into the Warner Group offices knowing that you weren’t there was just wrong.

“I missed you so fucking much. I had no idea what to do with myself. Where to put myself. I couldn’t focus on work, and I hated being at home. Fuck, I even missed Griz, baby. That’s how fucking bad it got.”

A loud, ugly sob erupts from my throat.

He called her Griz.

“I need you, baby,” he whispers, his fingers slipping into my hair at the nape of my neck and pulling me closer. “I…I love you.”

All the air rushes from my lungs as his confession lingers in the air between us.

“I know I wasn’t meant to. I know this is a business deal. I know all of that shit, Tate. But I couldn’t stop it. Fuck. I love you. I fucking love you,” he says looking borderline manic as he confesses it over and over as if he can’t believe he’s even saying the words.

“You want me to come back?” I ask, my mouth running away with itself.

He sobers, his expression turning serious.

“More than anything. I need you in my life, baby. It doesn’t make sense without it.”

“That’s crazy. It’s only been a few weeks,” I say as if I don’t understand what he’s saying.

The truth is, I do. I more than understand, because I feel the exact same way.

The second I saw those flowers sitting outside waiting for me, everything that had been wrong with me since leaving Chicago fell back into place. My world felt right again. And all because of him.

His hand moves, the warmth of his palm burning my cheek before his thumb slides over my bottom lip.

“Yeah,” he muses. “Crazy. That’s exactly how I fucking feel.”

Before I get a chance to come up with a response, his thumb is gone and it’s been replaced with his lips.

His kiss is slow, gentle, and full of passion and emotion.

Full of…love.

My heart swells as I think about the fact that this incredibly beautiful, powerful man has just confessed all those things to me.

I didn’t think he cared, and yet...

“Why did you wait so long?” I whisper into our kiss, unable to hold back the question.

He swallows, thinking for a moment as his warm breath rushes over my skin.

“Before you left, I had a conversation with Miles. He was frustrated because he wanted you to have an office on the top floor with us.”

“King, no. You know?—”

He silences me by pressing two fingers against my lips.

“I told him that you weren’t ready.” His eyes urge me to stay silent, not to argue with that statement. Instead, I settle for simply shaking my head. “I told him you needed time, that he needed to let you go to give you a chance to realize what you wanted.”

“T-that’s what you were doing? Giving me time to figure out what I wanted?”

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