I know I said there was one more chapter, but I added this one lol. This is kind of a bonus, because these two have been through hell & my babies deserve their happy moments more than ever.

"Never did I believe that there could be such utter happiness in this world, such a feeling of unity between two mortal beings. I love you—those three words have my life in them." — Alix of Hesse

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Chapter 92
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Maggie

Carefully, I placed the container back into my bag. "Did you enjoy your dinner, Miss Palce?"

Wendy smiled warmly. "It was amazing, honey." She squeezed my hand. "Thank you so much."

My smile matched hers. "It wasn't a problem at all."

"For her, maybe." Luke stretched his legs out, purposefully bumping my knee with his. Humor struck his eyes as he turned them to his mom. "My girl kept me up all night trying to get it right, then all morning making me tell her if it was or not."

I cast a glare his way. "You weren't complaining when you were eating it though, were you?" I had to start swatting his hand away at a certain point to stop him from eating the entire thing.

His grin grew. "Not in your face."

I scowled, hitting his knee with mine. Luke wrapped his hand around it, heating the spot from under his warmth.

I rolled my eyes anyway, the word choked from a second of his touch, "Whatever."

Wendy laughed as she glanced between the both of us. "You two are just perfect mirror images of each other, you know that right?"

A blush crept through my face as I smiled at her. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Mhm." Luke squeezed my knee, admiration blooming in his eyes. "And that's why she's mine."

My heart skipped too many beats to be considered normal. I squeezed the hand he had on my knee, already prepared to respond, before the buzz of his phone interrupted us.

Luke brought his hand to mine, squeezing as he pulled his phone out. "It's probably Ledge." His brown quirked as he read it. "I thought the party was at six."

I tilted my head. "That's because it is."

The group was still planning on throwing a party for Luke's dad's arrest, as well as us getting back together, despite the original being planned weeks ago. They weren't listening to either of our arguments though, so they were coming over in a few hours.

Luke tucked his phone away. "They're in our house, now."

"Tell them to go home and wait for the actual party."

"You two can get going early, if you want," Wendy offered. "All of that good eating's about to knock me out anyway."

"Are you sure?" I asked, and Luke joined it, "Yeah, we can watch another movie or something."

We went to the hospital to have dinner with his mother today. I wanted to make her favorite, but it wasn't in Jax's recipe book. But he came through when I needed him by texting me his own version of the recipe. I'd spent the entire night making it until it came out perfect, and Luke had been my test subject. We'd been hanging out for the past couple of hours, just eating, talking, and watching old movies.

Wendy waved us off, sharing us both in a kind stare. "Of course, sweetheart. I'm about to get the best sleep of my life anyway. Go ahead and get going to your friends."

We continued to argue about it, but like her son, she was more stubborn than me. Him and I finally caved after figuring out it was a losing game.

When we finished packing the rest of the containers, Luke tilted my head up to him. "I don't want you having to walk all the way to the parking lot, so I'll go and get the car, yeah?"

My gaze softened at his sweetness. "You don't have to make the trip twice, if you don't want to." This was probably my millionth time telling him this, "I told you I'm fine."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll make it quick." My argument was cut short as he pressed his lips to mine, the kiss murking my thoughts up with its perfectness. "I love you, Norris."

Despite my attitude, my favorite words spilled out like water against his lips, "I love you." My heart thumped even harder at his smile, luring my own out.

We held eyes for a moment before one of us finally grew the strength to break it. Luke squeezed my knee, a kiss brushing against my forehead before he stood. Our hand hold didn't break until he made it to the side of his mother to say goodbye.

I watched them with a smile, my heart content at the sight. Now that his father was gone, they had more of an opportunity to grow their relationship, which I thought beautiful. My love deserved it more than anyone.

It'd been a total of six weeks since my father's attack, and since I'd been in the hospital. The recovery had been...something, that was for sure.

I had to do a bit of physical therapy, which was fucking torture, but I didn't let it break me, mentally or physically. I pushed myself harder than I should have most days, nearly giving Jax and Luke a heart attack from worry of my pain. But it all worked out since I regained full feeling in my legs a week and a half in, cutting the expected time in half.

Luke had been there every step of the way, encouraging, attending, and helping me at my sessions, as well as everything else during my recovery. I couldn't even count how many times he helped me eat, shower, and even carried me back to my room after my therapy, which was annoyingly adorable. He'd never even told me this part, but Jax hinted that he'd paid for all of my medication, the hospital stay, and the rest of the medical charges too. He never left my side, nor did he lack or complain. He was more relieved to be here with me than anything, as I him.

The first time we went for a small walk for air outside of the hospital though, had been disastrous. Luke had told me about the paparazzi and the news, which I expected because of who I was dating, but I never expected them to be so heartless and relentless for a story.

Everything was fine for a minute, before it all went to shit. Just outside the hospital were hidden photographers, ready to snap whatever picture they could of Luke and I.

It was something that caught me off guard until Luke saw them, then hid me with his body until I was back inside. He went back and broke their cameras, which apparently got the message through because they didn't come back after that. That didn't stop the blogs though, but we didn't read those for our own sanity.

I was discharged from the hospital four days ago, too. There was no other relief like it but what happened afterwards was what almost sent me back.

Before the mayor snatched me from the store, Luke and I had already decided on which apartment we wanted. It was perfect for us, but those plans were obviously cut short when everything else was.

When we were leaving the hospital, I noticed that he wasn't taking the regular route to the house. It wasn't until he placed a new key in my hand that I realized: he'd already gotten the apartment for us.

I had been shocked, more than that really, but definitely heart struck, too. Apparently, he had bought it days before I got out of the coma, so that we would have our home when I woke up.

It blew me away due to the fact that no one actually knew if I were going to wake up, and there was more of a chance than not that I wouldn't. But Luke never gave up hope.

His dad, Beatrice, and Vance were charged and set to be convicted soon, meaning that they would be getting their sentences even sooner. I didn't know the full extent of their crimes but it was enough to ensure their sentences, which we were waiting to hear, now.

Because of Ryan Vaudest's arrest though, his 'legacy', had all gone to Luke business wise. I knew Ryan was probably blowing smoke from his ears at the face that his son was given the things he denied him of for so long.

Luke was managing some of them, but since he had his own business to tend to, he didn't want to be as involved as his dad was. He considered selling them, but then he compromised.

Kade had been given his dad's businesses when he was eighteen and had only grown their wealth and demand over the past two years, while still managing to not be so involved either. Because of that, Luke and him decided to merge some of their stocks and businesses. It was smart on their parts, since the both of them wouldn't have to be as involved as their fathers were, but would still see triple the wealth as if they were.

Luke had placed a percentage of the money into an account for Ledger for the later expenses of his life, too. He'd also drawn up a contract that would halve his dad's businesses with Ledge when he turns twenty-one, but only if he wants them. To see him be so considerate of his little brother was the most sweetest thing honestly.

Speaking of those two, their relationship was only growing. Ledge had started to come around more, which eased Luke's nerves about running him off. His mother was going to rehab next month so during that time, he'd be staying with us. Luke was nervous, but I continued to reassure him that he would be as successful as he already was in their relationship, which helped ease that doubt down.

And finally, everything was good, especially between Luke and I. My recovery was going well, our fathers were finally gone, and we were back.

We'd gotten back to each other as if we never left, because emotionally, we never had. Now that we had been forced to see the crushing of our lives without each other, we only made absolute sure that we would have it even more. We were intertwined, not just physically but emotionally too, and not having that, even for a moment, was hell. Our separation had set off an ache that only intensified the reunion on either side.

We couldn't get enough of one another, not just physically but emotionally too. We'd probably gotten on the nurses and our friends nerves with the amount of times we laid together in my hospital bed, hidden under the blanket, the late hours of the night full with laughter, tearful conversations, and little touches that meant the world to us.

I didn't care though; I wanted every moment with my love, especially the small ones. We were here, and we weren't going anywhere ever again.

While Luke retrieved the car, his mother and I continued to talk. I made sure to turn on an old cartoon for her, just as she liked.

I turned to face her. "I enjoyed dinner with you today."

"I did, too." Her smile grew. "I always love spending time with you both, but seeing you two together never fails to make me happy."

"Thank you, Miss Palce."

"I should be thanking you," she said, taking my hand, her brown eyes genuine. "You changed my boy's life. There's not enough gratitude in that."

"You gave me him," I returned honestly. "I can't thank you enough for creating someone as great as him." I squeezed her hand. "I can see where he got it from, though."

Her cheekbones raised with her laughter. "I've never seen his cheeks so red, or him so eager to talk until he told me about you. Especially the first time. I understand why now." Just as my cheeks started to match it, she added, "His father was everything I learned to hate and despise. I can only imagine what it was like for Luke having to be with him all those years." I'd never seen her angry before, but that changed now. A glare settled in her eyes, reminding me so much of Luke. "The only good thing he ever gave me was my son. I'll never regret him or what he gave me the first time I held him. Ever."

"You're right. Ryan, that piece of—" I caught myself before the curse followed through. Hell.

Wendy giggled at me, "Piece of shit, you can say it. That's a compliment to the evil son of a bitch, though. I was more than pleased to see the pictures of him after Luke beat his ass." We shared a laugh before she squeezed my hand, again. "Luke, though, there's not enough pride in the world to meet up to what I feel about him, about the man he became, even through it all. I know most of it was survival, but with you, I see that it's finally living, finally loving. I love that for the both of you."

Heat trampled my heart over, causing the strongest thunder in agreement. I didn't even try to hide the softness in my features; it was so easy to find when it came to Luke, even without him in the room.

Her eyes raised to mine, appreciation and love blooming inside. "I'm so glad that he has you, Maggie."

I cupped her hands and voiced the most honest thing I could, "I'm blessed to have him."

***

I reread over the directions on my laptop for the umpteenth time, once I had the information locked in tight, I returned to the dish in front of me.

As Luke said, the group was all waiting inside of our apartment by the time we got home. We all had keys and walked into the others houses now, but it was often used for out of the ordinary things.

The other night in the hospital, Luke and I laughed and watched over the cameras as Levi walked right in, grabbed a box of pop tarts and chips from our kitchen, then left. Kade came by a couple of days later just to take one of our detergents then came right back with Kimberly, who wanted to borrow one of my dishes for a dinner she was making.

And as Luke told me, they all brought a cake with 'the assholes are back' for us. When we saw it, we barely held back our laughs with scowls.

Since Luke had been with me every day at the hospital, he didn't have the time to get a lot of things moved in from the old house. But I understood that he didn't want to go back due to the last memory there, so he went ahead and bought the furniture we talked about all those weeks ago.

Now, the group was bringing the boxes in while I cooked dinner. The stubborn sons of bitches wouldn't let me help, since they claimed that I was still 'injured', which I technically was, but it wasn't enough to cry about. They didn't hear shit I said though, so I was starting on dinner for everyone.

I was doing Luke's separately though, since I was making him pinwheels. I just wanted to see the perfectness of his smile, plus I still hadn't had the chance to make it for him until now.

There was something else I hadn't been able to give him yet either, but I would get to that part later.

"I can't believe you can actually cook, now," Jax teased from my side. "I still remember when we had to evacuate the house that time you forgot to put water in your noodles."

I laughed, slicing the tortilla up. "Shut up." It was true, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Jax bumped into my shoulder. "I'm proud, you know." I knew he meant more than just the food. "Really proud."

I nodded in understanding, meeting his eyes. They were full of the same relief that hadn't left ever since he saw me awake.

"I'm proud of you," I voiced softly, placing my knife down to give him my full attention. "I always have been."

His grin turned into a sincere smile. When I moved forward, Jax placed his spatula to the side and met me in a hug.

I sighed into his chest, embracing the soft comfort. "Thank you for being my brother, Jax. I'm grateful for that and you, more than you'll ever know." I squeezed him extra tighter, feeling my world come to a calming, pleasing halt as I whispered, "I love you, loser."

"I love you." With a gentle hand against my hair, he pressed a kiss to my head. "And you better not ever, and I mean ever, forget that you're my sister. My unconditional love and my heart again, got it?"

I laughed at his attempt of a threatening tone, but regardless, I swore, "I got it."

We talked about my father weeks ago, and I laid the entire truth out for him from the very moment of me finding out about our father's release. And once I finished, I thought he was going to tackle me through the hospital walls or at least punch me in the throat. I deserved it, so I waited it out, but instead he grabbed me and hugged me until our arms ached.

I hadn't realized how heavy it all was until how light the relief made me afterwards. Jax, as angry as he was, had taken my many apologies into consideration, and even though he scolded me for at least two hours, he still reassured and reminded me of his love until we ended the night in embraces and tears.

My eyes grew heavy the longer we held one another. Just as we had always done and would only continue to do. My brother, the same one who never gave up on me, who saved my life, and had been willing to give his own for it...

I loved him. I needed him. And I was better with him.

We separated when curses echoed through the room, one's I recognized.

Jax kissed my head another time, his eyes as glossy as mine as we smiled at each other. With one last quick hug, he went in the girls direction to help.

Levi stumbled through the doorway, and once we met eyes, caution crossed his expression.

"Uh..." He gave a nervous laugh, scratching at the back of his neck. "Kade. He dropped and broke your vase. You know how clumsy the fucker is. I tried to—"

"No the fuck I didn't," Kade corrected as soon as he walked inside. Levi scowled back at his backside before passing me an apologetic look. "I'll pay you back, I promise. It slipped."

"It didn't," I heard Luke say, snorting as he placed his boxes down. "Levi pushed Kade. Kade pushed him back, and now we don't have a vase."

I laughed at Levi. "Don't worry." I turned back to the oven. "It was probably the one I hated anyway."

"What?" Luke chimed in. "You didn't like it?"

I shrugged playfully. "I hated it." When he stepped closer, the heat cruised along my skin in a reckless manner. "I can tell who picked it out."

Luke tipped his chin, his mouth twitching. "You giving me attitude, Norris?"

I shrugged up at him. "Only if you're gonna handle it, Palce."

Excitement rippled up my spine as he stepped up to press us together from behind. His warmth influenced mine, a hand gripping my chin to lift it to him so that our eyes were leveled.

Luke had been nothing but gentle these past few weeks. That included not touching me, other than the small things, of course. Even his kisses had been soft and cautious for the first couple of days in the hospital.

As appreciative as I was, I was losing my mind and my patience? Long gone.

I'd told him time and time again that I was fine, because I was. The pain hadn't gone away entirely, but it was enough to drop the cautiousness, now. My body did a majority of the healing while I was asleep, plus the extra time spent in the hospital.

Every time I teased him though, I could see him leaning right off the edge of just saying fuck it and taking me over any surface he could. It hadn't happened yet, but I had a plan to ensure it would tonight.

As I said, a couple of things I had planned on doing before his dad were cut short. One of those was things was making my man weak in the knees with my lingerie.

The new set I ordered arrived this morning, while Luke was asleep. When I saw myself in it, I was nearly drooling at my own sexiness, so I could guess what it'd do to him.

Hopefully, it'd do the trick because I was about one more day from losing my shit without having his hands on me. I needed him in every way I could have him after almost losing the opportunity to.

I shuffled back until we were flush together, my ass pressed against the material of his jeans. When his fingers tightened around my chin, a grin raised my lips into the air.

Luke narrowed his eyes down at me. "Norris." I shifted a bit on him, and it only took a couple of seconds to get my favorite reaction from him. "Mhm?"

He cursed himself, not making a move to step back. "Fucking hell." Frustration merged with the burning want in his eyes, glaring through mine. "I know what you're doing, Maggie."

The hardness against my ass made my bones putty, my hands railing down his forearms. "Do you?"

"Yes, woman," he huffed, shutting his eyes and murmuring something about broccoli and cotton swabs that obviously didn't work, because he thrusted his hips forward a bit before stopping himself. "And there's no way in hell I'm falling for it when you're hurt and I'll be damned if I hurt you even more—"

"Luke, I haven't been hurt for days now. I'm fine, I promise." Just going crazy without feeling him inside of me, again.

My scowl shifted into a mocking grin, "Besides. Weren't you the one who said I was in trouble?" He bit back a cursed grunt as I lifted up on my tiptoes to reach his height, my kiss grazing the ink on his neck long enough to make his head tilt to the side for more of it. "Then do something about it, Luke."

My ass would have me regretting my cockiness in the morning, but my want for him wasn't listening to shit right now. I was probably digging my own bed, but us being in it together would make it worth it.

We's talked more about his father in the hospital, too. It was something we headed straight for, rather than just holding an inevitable conversation off. And after my apologies going through one ear, I knew he already had his own form of apology in mind.

Luke swore to act on it once I was fully healed, and I'd been trying to hide my growing anticipation. I'd practically counted down the days ever since, but fuck, I needed him now.

His chuckle against the side of my neck made my skin tingle, "Maggie, baby, if I handle it, I promise you..." His dark eyes gave the warning before he did, "You won't be walking straight for the rest of the week. Trust me on that."

My heart jumped with excitement. "I was never a fan of that anyway."

A challenge mingled with desire marked his expression up. His hand curled around my throat, yanking me back to him, but he stopped himself. His grip loosened, instead just settling under my chin so that he could tip my head back to him.

"We'll see about it when you're feeling better." He pecked my lips, his tongue tracing the shape of my bottom one and making my head spin, before he pulled back.

Goddamn it.

His next kiss went to the top of my head before he murmured, "I'll make sure to fuck every bit of this attitude out of you too baby, so keep it up all you want, yeah?"

Stars flashed past my eyes, and I stumbled a bit as he pulled back, my breath hitching, "Luke."

"That's it, Norris," he teased, only deepening my scowl when he shrugged, a big grin in tow. "Start practicing the shit, because that's all you'll be screaming soon."

My blush flourished past normalcy, as well as my glare. I mumbled my curse, jerking around to the oven again.

Next plan then.

The group continued on with the boxes while I cooked. Theirs would take a big longer since it was more food, so I finished Luke's quickly and was able to put the platters inside the fridge.

Right now, he was in the shower. It'd been a while, so hopefully he was finishing up, which was a path to my next plan.

As soon as I had my phone out, I walked through the full house to get to Luke and I's bedroom. I passed Fang on the way there, who stopped for some pets before he continued on to the girls for more.

I stopped by Luke and I's bedroom, pressing send on my phone simultaneously while rapping my knuckles along the door. "Luke."

He was still in the shower, from what I heard. "Yeah, beautiful?"

I grinned to myself, "Check your phone when you get out." I didn't wait for his response, instead going to one of our guest rooms to get ready.

I was quick. After finishing my shower, I started to rub on Luke's favorite lotion, perfume, then my lip gloss. I'd just finished putting the last of the lingerie on when I heard him.

"Everyone get the fuck out!" His shout boomed through the house. "Now. Go."

My confusion turned as I shut my lotion top, heading for the door. I opened it just enough to see what was going on, but not enough to reveal myself.

All I could see were my friends' backsides, but I still had sight of Luke, who was painfully red in the face. He saw the picture I sent him.

"What? Why?" Levi groaned, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "Maggie made us food—"

Luke jerked around to the kitchen table, where his wallet was. Muttering a string of curses, he nearly ripped the material as he pulled a stack of bills out.

With his glare in place, he shoved the money into their hands. "There. Go and get whatever the fuck you want. Eat what you want. Do what you want. I don't give a shit, just go."

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter. He was such a cute jerk.

Our friends, still baffled at the shift, shrugged it off since they were about to get a free meal, now. Jax and Tony had left a minute ago, so it would only be them.

Just as I went to shut the door to the guest bedroom, I heard Luke again shout out, "Maggie Norris, you bring your beautiful ass out here, right now!"

Amused, I started to open the door all of the way, but it was yanked open from the other side. Luke's tall frame came right through, his frustration in tow.

The glare in his eyes made me grin. I went to poke at it with another tease, but before I could, the situation was turning, and so was I.

One second, I was about to mouth him, then the next, I was hanging upside down. Holding me to his shoulders, he grabbed a blanket from the bed, throwing threw it over my body to cover me.

In a fit of laughter, I tried to say, "Luke, wait—" My giggles were shut down as Luke delivered a sharp slap to my ass, my skin covered with the best kind of goosebumps. 

He stalked through the house with the speed of an unnatural creature. The group was leaving, but still technically inside, but he paid them no mind, the burn of my skin building at their snorts and laughs.

The door to our room slammed shut behind us. I started to wiggle around on his shoulder, but then I was landing on a soft surface that I soon recognized to be our bed. Luke's figure loomed over me and kept me there, covering me entirely.

I forced out through my laughter, "Luke, your food—"

A scowl cruised over his face as he glared down at me. "I don't give two shits about food, right now," he snapped. "Not when you send me that picture of you in your lingerie, right after I get out of the shower and nearly give me a fucking heart attack—"

"I wanted to surprise you." The struggle in his eyes build as he tried his hardest not to lower them. "Since I never got to show you before, though..." I grabbed his wrist, laying a kiss to the scars over his knuckles before lowering his hand to the lining of my panties. "I thought that this would be the perfect time."

I got it in his favorite color, which was easy because it was black. It was lace as well, since I may have had the intention of him ripping it off. It defined my curves perfectly, while providing the most perfect tease.

I definitely achieved that and more, from the looks and the feel of it. His cock was digging against my thigh, even through his jeans.

His brows furrowed in frustration, but the hand above my panties started to move, a finger trailing over the top of the lace now. Butterflies roared in my tummy at our matching sharp intakes when we met eyes.

Satisfaction spread in my chest as the lust flustered out his face. "Fuck, Maggie." His glare drilled right into mine, his sigh heavy, "You're so stubborn, you know that?"

I wrapped my legs around his waist to draw him down to me, the warmth of our bodies like a flame. "Mhm." My lips traced the lining of his tattoo until his shudder sprung through my chest. "That's why we work so well, don't you think?" I kept my lips to his neck while I said, "I love you. You love me. You always want me, and I'll always want you." My hand raised to the back of his hair, tugging through the strands. "You give me attitude. I give you attitude. We fuck it out of each other. Every time. That's how we work."

His eyes were shut by the time I finished my hickey, his fingers leaving imprints into the side of my thighs. Stained desire was all his expression allowed in, and I knew I had him.

When he opened his eyes, the fire behind them was more familiar with the intensity. And at the same time, his hands fell from my thighs, going to the side of my head and trapping me.

"You know what?" he mumbled out, dropping a kiss to the corner of my lips. I smiled on instinct, furthering his. "You're right. That is what we do, isn't it?"

My grin started to build at my victory, but before the smugness was added to it, that, as well as me was flipped over.

I landed on my stomach, right into the fluffy sheets. Luke's figure blanketed mine in all of the ways that made my heart pump in a dangerous pattern.

"You know to tell me, even for a second, if you're uncomfortable or anything else, without having to feel an ounce of regret about it with me, right?" His voice was soft and mine and my favorite.

I nodded immediately, smiling into the sheets at his reassurance. "Of course."

He leaned down until he was to the side of me, "And you promise that you're not hurting? That you're okay?"

Another nod to stop myself from pulling my hair out in frustration. Come on already.

At it, he pecked my lips, then leaned back to say, "Now, you know that you're my girl, my fucking world, and that I love you more than anything and anyone, right?"

Our regular look was swapped out with a tension spilled space the longer we held each other in it. "As long as you know that I do you." So fucking much.

Luke's expression softened just for a moment before he leaned back with a murmured, "Good." One hand wrapped my hair into a fist, while the other went around my waist to rearrange me. "Because I'm about to fuck you like I hate you, Norris."

Anticipation zapped my system until I was shaking from under hill. How badly I wanted him to do that too was making the ache in between my legs torturous.

"Before anything else, though..." He lifted my chin so that he had my face, which I knew was flustered and only crafted around my excitement. "Let me see those eyes, Norris."

I did, but I was already seeing stars.

I managed to pick up the image of him in between it. The smirk on his face would have made me mock him in another situation, but I was too out of it to collect myself right now.

The longer I stared at him though, the more my heart threatened to burst with so much love and content. Even through it all, I couldn't stop myself from melting at him and how anxious and lucky I was to wake up to my sweet love every morning.

Leaning forward to kiss his cheek, honesty slipped away in a soft tone, "I love you."

His original mission slipped, instead showcasing the softness in his eyes as they traced mine by memory. His thumb squeezed my chin before he leaned forward to kiss it, my nose, then me. "I love you, angel."

My reality blurred, again. And just like that, my world was only bliss. That same oath never broke between us, because we'd created it from scratch.

It was ours. It was beautiful, and so were we. We made each other beautiful.

Our kiss lingered on for a moment. Intensity pinched through our lips, making them burn, but I didn't move back, because if I did, I might faint. Luke deepened the kiss when he felt the connection too, his fingers lacing through mine.

When we leaned back, we both wore matching, full smiles.

Mine fell when he, who had gotten me distracted slipped a hand down my stomach and into my panties. His finger brushed over my clit, drawing me back into the world of desire, and how he crafted the very meaning of that word for me. I didn't think it existed for me if it wasn't coming from him.

"It's gonna be my cock you come all over, Norris," his voice was strained with his attempt at holding back, but the words, the strength and the possessiveness behind them reached me through clear ears. "It's my name you scream while you come, and it's my bed that you're going to scream it in. You're mine, and I'm yours. No one elses." His finger applied the perfect pressure to my clit. "I don't give two shits about anything or anyone else." His squeeze to my tits made me squirm even further into his palm. "You. Me. Us. We don't and we won't go anywhere. Never again, you hear me?"

The words echoed inside of my soul and heart alike. "We don't go anywhere." Even through the dragging pleasure, my reply was clear, "I promise you. And I love you."

His heartbeat was felt through my back, or maybe it was mine. It didn't really matter; they were never separate in the first place.

"One last thing, Norris. Just in case." His hips thrusted into my ass as a teasing act, reminding me of what was to come. At my moan, he nodded, pleased eyes sweeping me over. "Tell me whose cock you're already dripping for, and I'll fuck you so good that you won't ever forget it."

My first instinct was to give the most sarcastic answer like 'The Candyman'' or some shit, but I couldn't muster it up.

"You," I moaned out as he looped his fingers in the band of my panties, positioning them so that the friction was driving my clit electric. Fucking... "Only you."

Lips that I knew were about to be puffy stretched far at me. My heart treaded through a dangerous hole of satisfaction at the sight of him.

Before we got started, I kissed the tattoo on his throat. It was my favorite spot, so I made it a mission to kiss it every single day.

Luke leaned up, and the pang of not having him so close made my chest burn, earning his chuckle. "You know how I feel about frowns on this pretty face of yours, Norris." But he leaned back down to place a kiss to my lips anyway. I was indulged the second it started, and the more it continued on, the deeper I drowned.

I didn't think it was possible get the biggest gulps of air under heavy lungs until now. I hadn't thought it possible to even breathe before Luke took that exact belief from me when he came into my life, as breathtaking as ever, in every single way.

I didn't know, nor believe or trust in a lot of things before.

Now, I knew it wasn't possible to deny, forget, nor ignore the most beautiful blessing in the world. It helped save me from the hell I'd been burning in all of my life. It, he, saw me burning, watched me go to ashes, and still made me feel as if I'd never been touched by the fire in the first place.

And before I knew it, he had lit his own match inside of me. It gave me light when I hadn't thought it possible, in so many ways and through so many times.

The torch I carried for Luke Vaudest wouldn't ever leave me. It would never burn out, and that was the biggest gift in the world to me, right beside him.

Luke's lips pressed against mine in a kiss that mirrored my thoughts without him even hearing them, "And I love you, too, angel." The emotion behind his words made my throat thicken before he kissed the side of my head. "I love you, Maggie. Us. Forever."