Page 106 of When I Come Home

The smile she gives me then is a gift from the gods. It's breathtaking in its beauty and blinding in its brilliance.

“I love you too.”

Unable to hold out another second, I tilt her chin up to me for another kiss, but she laughs and pushes me away.

“We can't do any more of that here.”

“What?” I blink in confusion, not giving the slightest fuck where we are so long as I can get her mouth on mine again. “Why?”

“Because my daddy is watching,” she whispers and looks in the direction of her father's grave. “And he already thinks I'm a whore.”

I jolt back in shock but relax when I see the humor on her face and the mirthful twitch of her lips. “You became a regular comedian in the time you were away, huh?”

She shrugs. “A little bit.”

“You wanna go someplace else to make out that ain't a field full of dead people?”

Her laugh sprinkles over me like fairy dust. “Where're you taking me?”

“Home, Thea,” I say, slipping my hand into hers. “I’m taking you home.”

The cold surfaceof Cole's kitchen counter burns my bare skin as he throws me down onto it, my skirt flipping up around my hips. My legs wrap around his waist on instinct, tugging his body closer so I can grind against the hardness in his shorts.

His fingers trail the length of my body, gliding from my thighs, over my hips and waist and then up the sides of my breasts, making me thrust my chest out toward him. With a smirk, he continues his ascent until both hands hold the side of my face, his thumbs stroking tiny circles on my cheeks.

“You got any idea how fucking much I've missed you?” he asks on a low grumble, the timbre vibrating through me and making my toes curl.

“Can't have been more than I missed you,” I rasp, already breathless from just being so close to him again.

“A heartbreaker and a liar,” he says, punctuating his sentence with a thrust of his hips. “What am I going to do with you?”

Whimpering, I grip the back of his head and pull him down harshly for a kiss. He resists at first, not wanting to rescind his power for even the briefest of moments, but then he concedes and his lips find mine, and it's like I can finally breathe again.

Cole's kiss is the antidote to my pain, healing the only part of my soul that I couldn't manage on my own, that cavity inside of me that could only ever be mended by him.

“Never let me go again,” I whisper in answer to his question.

“I can do that,” he says into my mouth, “so long as you promise never to break my heart again.”

The air of vulnerability in his voice makes me pause. Stroking my hand along his jaw, I push him ever so slightly away so I can look him in the eye. There's heat in his expression, lust and longing. But there's something else there too.

Something that's wounded, fearful and haunted. Something I put there when I didn't come home. When I boarded a flight to California instead of Oklahoma and left him waiting for me at the airport.

God, I really did fuck up.

“I don't know how I'll ever make up for the pain I've caused you,” I say. “But I'll spend my whole life trying if you'll let me. I'm done doubting you. I'm done thinking you're going to hurt me just because other men did. And I'm done running away. I want to be here, with you, in Tupelo, for as long as you'll have me. This is my home.Youare my home.”

I watch in wholehearted relief as the light in his mahogany eyes flickers back to life. “You really mean it?”

“I really do,” I assure him. “Your heart is safe with me, Cole. I promise.”

He nods, even though I know that I've broken him too many times for him to simply take my word for it. But that's okay. If it takes a lifetime to prove that I'm not going anywhere, then so be it. I'll be giving him all my forevers anyway.

Running my hands from his face down to his chest, I cup the solidness of his pecks and give a gentle push to make enough space between him and the counter to fit my body. Sliding off the hard surface, I fall to my knees in front of him.

“Princess, what are you doing?” His voice is deeper than I've ever heard it.

I blink up at him with faux innocence. “I think it's quite obvious what I'm doing.”

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