Her hand pressed against my bare chest. “I need you, Hayes.”
No other words could’ve broken my resolve. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. But I need this. You. Us. I need to remember that I’m alive, and I haven’t lost you.”
My hand slipped beneath the borrowed t-shirt she wore, finding only bare skin. “You’ll never lose me.”
She looked up at me, almost pleading. “Then show me.”
My fingers slid up the outside of her leg, between her thighs, searching. Everly’s head tipped back as I stroked and explored. My lips found the column of her neck. I trailed kisses around the light bruises that had begun to form. As if my mouth could erase the marks, the memories, all of it.
I slipped two fingers inside her, stroking. Everly let out a low moan. The sound had me straining against the sweats I wore.
“Need you,” she whispered.
Those words again. My undoing.
“Please.”
My fingers slid out of her. I pulled down my sweats, my erection springing free. My hands went to Everly’s hips, lifting her gently so she straddled my lap. “This is how we’re gonna go. Nice and easy. You control the pace. If anything hurts, we stop.”
The corner of Ev’s mouth kicked up. “You’re going to let me have control?”
I couldn’t help the scowl that came to my lips. “I let you have control.”
“Sure, you do.” Her hands went to my shoulders, and all amusement fled as she sank onto me. Her forehead touched mine. “Needed this. Just you and me. Us.”
She was right. When we came together, something was different. Every feeling and sense seemed heightened. If someone had told me that was possible, I would’ve called them a dirty liar. But it was the truth.
Everly began moving, rocking her hips. It was a slow and glorious torture. My hands slipped under her tee and cupped her breasts. She arched into me, taking me deeper and pressing her flesh into my hands.
I let out a groan as my hips rose to meet her movements. I’d tried to stay still, but with Ev, it was impossible. I always wanted more. To feel every inch of skin. To be planted in her as deeply as possible. To lose myself in the way she always made me feel—alive and at home, all at the same time.
Everly quickened her pace, and we found that rhythm that was ours alone, the energy that lit my blood on fire. My hands dipped to her waist, my lips finding the shell of her ear. “Need more?”
“Just need you.”
My hand dropped lower, my thumb finding that bundle of nerves and circling. The space getting tighter with each pass.
“Hayes,” she breathed as if my name were part prayer, part plea.
My thumb hit the spot where she wanted me most, and I pressed. Everly tightened around me, throwing me over that cliff that was the best high and the sweetest downfall. And not once did she let her eyes close as we fell. Together. I saw love and need and home in those eyes.
Her forehead came down to rest on mine again. “Love you.”
“For the rest of my days.”
Everly’s hand found mine, twining our fingers. “It seems crazy to know this fast. But I feel the same way.”
“Sometimes, the truth is the thing you know the fastest.”
“I guess I can see that.”
“You know that means I’m moving in, right?”
She straightened, scanning my face. “You want to move in with me?”
I cupped her cheek with my hand, stroking her cheek with my thumb. “It’s important to you to make your sanctuary there, in every sense of the word. Of course, I’ll move to be with you. This is just a house. What you’re doing is important.”
Tears filled her eyes, spilling down her face. “I haven’t even been able to make myself walk inside the main house.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
She sniffed. “Thinking that I’m crazy to try to make living there work?”
“No. I think you just haven’t found the right blend of the old and the new.”
“Okay…”
“The main house is in rough shape anyway. I say we tear it down and come up with plans for something new. Something that’s ours. You’re fulfilling your promise to give that land goodness again, but you’re also building something that’s you. Us.”
Everly brushed her mouth against mine. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
I grinned against her lips. “You might’ve said it a time or two today. But I’ll never get tired of hearing it.” Not today or tomorrow. Not when we were fifty or ninety-two. Those were the words I wanted to hear from her every day for the rest of my life.
Epilogue
Everly
ONE MONTH LATER
“They look happy,” Addie said as she guided the rocking chair back and forth on my front porch.
My gaze traveled from her to the paddocks in the distance. Not only were our paint mare, Dolly, and our mini-donkey, Donut, happily settled in their new home, but a pig and two goats had joined the sanctuary. And this weekend, we were getting three miniature horses.
“I think they are.” I took a sip of lemonade. “So, what do you think? Whenever the house is done, you could live here in the cabin. You can stay as long as you want.”
Hayes and I had already had the main house leveled. The day the demolition crew had taken the first swing, I’d wept. I hadn’t realized just how much staring at the building I’d grown up in had been a weight. Just like Shiloh and the shed, I’d needed to start fresh. To tear it down so I could build the right thing in its place.
Hayes and I had met with an architect several times and were now waiting for the final plans to submit to the county. Addie had opted to stay with the Eastons instead of moving into the guest room in the cabin. I’d offered, but I also understood that it might’ve been awkward. The space was tiny, and we would’ve all been sharing a bathroom. But the Eastons had a ton of room.
Addie stared out at the animals. “Actually, Hayes said I could stay at his house in town when I’m ready. I’m not quite there yet. But soon. I want to stand on my own two feet.”
I swallowed down the disappointment. I wished I could have my cousin closer, to look out for her, but maybe that was why she’d refused. And I was touched that Hayes had offered his home to her. He’d already decided that he didn’t want to sell. This was the perfect use for the space.
I looked over at my cousin. She’d gained back a little of the weight she so desperately needed, but dark circles still rimmed her eyes. “It’s an open invitation. If you decide you don’t like living by yourself, this might be a happy medium.”
She reached down and scratched between Koda’s ears. He was fully healed now, and the Forest Service had caught the hunter who’d laid the trap that had broken his leg. The man was serving sixty days in jail. It wasn’t enough, but it was something. Koda leaned into Addie’s touch.
“Thanks, Ev,” she said quietly. “I appreciate it.”
Addie had taken to using Hayes’ nickname for me. I’d visibly winced every time she’d called me Evie. It reminded me too much of Ben. The Ben who was currently in county lockup, awaiting trial. His lawyer was using an insanity defense, and I wasn’t sure he was wrong. Ben was sick. And more than anything, I simply wanted him to get help.