Page 120 of Back To Our Beginning

“You’re right, Maddie, I can’t promise that. But I can promise that I will always lay down my life for you. You will always come first in my world.”

“No,” I wailed. “I don’t want anything to ever happen to you! That’s not it. I just want… I want…”

Fuck! What did I want?

His mouth captured mine. It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was commanding. He took total control. In a flash, my desperation was gone as I melted into the man who was my world.

Beau.

Just Beau.

He continued to kiss me like his life depended on it.

His hands were everywhere. Our teeth clashed. Our tongues dueled. He bit my lip, and I bit his. He grasped my chin and kissed me harder.

Then he was trailing kisses down my jaw, licking my neck, going down further until he had my nipple in his mouth. He sucked and licked.

It was sublime.

He shoved a leg between mine, and heat blossomed in my core. I pushed up and started to ride his leg, trying to catch the perfect rhythm. I wanted to come.

He lifted his head. “No. You don’t get to climax until I’m inside you. I know what you need. You need to know we’re together. You need to know that it’ll always be the two of us, no matter what. You need to know that, don’t you, Maddie?”

Did I? Was that it?

I spread my legs and gripped his butt. “Inside me,” I panted. “I need you inside me.”

“I know you do,” he agreed.

I heard the nightstand drawer open, and then he was pushing my legs farther apart. I couldn’t help but smile; despite my desperation, he touched me between my legs to make sure I was aroused enough to take him.

“Now, Beau! No more waiting.”

In one smooth thrust, he was locked deep inside me. I reveled in the connection. He waited, looking into my eyes. He must have seen what he was looking for, because he began to move, slowly at first, but then faster.

He was hitting all the right spots inside me. I wasn’t going to last. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed in and I squeezed him tight. I was getting so close, and I could feel the telltale tremors in his body. We were both so close.

“Now, Maddie,” he shouted.

I went over the edge into a magical universe of light and color that I had only traveled with Beau. Caught in this amazing universe, I felt a level of serenity that I had never achieved before.

“Maddie?”

I smoothed my hand down Beau’s back. “I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m right where I’ve always meant to be.”

And I was. I’d found my anchor. My soul had just found its home.

Chapter Thirty-Three

I was two blocks from Maddie’s house, two hours early for the party at Trenda’s. Maddie and I had agreed that we needed some time alone before facing all our friends and family for my big send-off.

I opened up the pink velvet box once again and ran my thumb over the most important thing I’d ever purchased. It made sense, because it went along with the most important and best decision I was ever going to make.

Sunlight streaked through the open window of the SUV, causing the two rectangle diamonds on either side of the large, light pink sapphire to quietly sparkle. But the diamonds didn’t overshadow the stone in the middle. The sapphire represented everything Maddie was. Honorable. Kind. And the woman with the biggest heart I’d ever known.

I took the ring out of the box and looked at the engraving. We Were Always Meant To Be. It might have taken me years to get there, but it was my truth now.

I put the ring back in the box, then shoved it into my jeans pocket, and drove the rest of the way to Maddie’s house. As soon as I pulled up, Maddie threw open the door. She looked beautiful, and I couldn’t get to her fast enough.