Branches snapped.
Her heartbeat picked up.
Then Nick burst into the small meadow. He stopped, eyes glowing, fists clenched around the clothing she’d discarded.
Moonlight bathed him, dancing across the muscles his T-shirt exposed.
Damn, he was hot.
“Look at you,” he murmured, his voice so thick with desire it was almost a growl.
Kayla fought down a blush. Never in her life had she stood outside completely naked. But Nick made her want to do things like that. He made her want it all.
Her clothing dropped to the grass as he stalked toward her with panther-like grace. “You’re so damn beautiful.” He tugged his shirt over his head. Discarded his boots. His pants. Everything.
She swallowed hard, so ready for him, so eager for his touch that she could barely stand still.
“You make me burn, Kayla.” He stopped a hair’s breadth away, his hard cock brushing her stomach. “You make me want it all.”
His words so closely echoed her own that she couldn’t wait any longer. “Then take it all.” Curling her arms around his neck, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his hips. “Take me.” She was so ready for him.
He lowered his head and crushed her lips beneath his. Kayla buried her fingers in his hair as his tongue stroked hers. At the same time, he found her slick entrance with his cock and drove deep.
Both moaned.
“You feel so good,” she breathed. Nick was big all over. She loved to feel him inside her, stretching her.
“You’re so tight and warm.”
She flexed her inner muscles, squeezing him tighter.
He groaned. “Immortal sex is the best sex ever.”
She laughed, the sound dissolving into a moan as he began to move. Her senses were so heightened now that she never lasted long. She tried to hold out, tried to make it last. But when he didn’t hold back, when he took her—deep and hard—without having to worry about accidentally hurting her…
Well. In only minutes she was crying out as an orgasm swept through her.
Nick rode the pleasure with her, growling her name as he filled her with his heat.
His knees buckled, then hit the grass. There he knelt, still buried deep inside her, her legs wrapped around his waist as she straddled his lap.
Their breath came quickly.
Their hearts pounded in tandem.
His glowing amber eyes met hers. “You’re mine.”
Smiling, she stroked his stubbled cheek. “And you’re mine. Now and always.”
He kissed her, slow and thorough, then sent her a grin. “How soon will you marry me? I can’t wait to call you wife.”
She laughed as happiness spiraled through her. “As soon as I can control my eyes enough to keep them from glowing around Becca. I want her to be there.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I do, too.”
“I don’t suppose you could find a way to temporarily be less sexy, could you? I feel like my eyes glow all the time now that your scent is always teasing me and I can feel even the most casual of your touches so much more.”
He smiled. “Now you know how I’ve felt for the past six years. I had a hell of a time keeping my eyes from glowing around you.”
Six years. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve loved me that long. I was always so attracted to you but couldn’t bring myself to believe you’d ever be interested in a frumpy single mother like me, especially after Eliana started coming around.”
He raked a gaze over her that felt more like a caress. “There’s nothing frumpy about you, Kayla. You always make me burn.”
She stared at him.
He smiled. “Get dressed. I want to show you something.”
Ten minutes later, they stood in Nick’s living room back in Houston.
Aidan released Nick’s shoulder. “Let me know when you’re ready to return.”
Nick nodded. “Thank you.”
Aidan teleported away.
Kayla arched a brow. “What did you want to show me?”
Taking her hand, he led her upstairs, down the hallway, past his bedroom to the door he always kept closed.
She watched him curiously. His shoulders seemed a little tighter than they had been before, his smile a little more forced.
“I have three art studios,” he said. “One in the garage, one across the hall, and this one.” Grasping the knob, he turned it and pushed the door open.
Kayla stepped inside, eager to examine his work. She loved his paintings downstairs and—
She halted. Her eyes widened. Turning, she stared up at him.
Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the doorframe. He hadn’t looked this uncertain since he had explained to her that he was different after her accident.
She returned her gaze to the art that filled the room. Countless canvases, drawing tablets, and papers leaned against every wall and rested on tables. She took another step inside. Then another. There were oil paintings. Acrylic paintings. Watercolors. Pastels. Charcoal drawings. Sketches. Colored-pencil drawings.
And she was present in almost all of them.
Some portrayed only her, capturing a wide range of expressions. Others showed her playing with Becca, or homeschooling her on the back patio, or the two of them working in the garden.
Even the styles varied, some reminding her of the Pre-Raphaelites, others speaking of neoclassicism or the Renaissance, while yet more reflected postmodernism.
She stood before one that he must have painted during the first year she’d lived next door to him. Becca appeared to be only twelve years old or thereabouts. The two of them were planting the first flowers Kayla had bought for their new home. Kayla was smiling down at Becca while Becca handed her a plant bearing bright purple pansies she had just removed from its plastic container. The detail was incredible, from the freckles on their faces to the wrinkles in their clothing to the mud stains that never quite washed out of their cotton gloves.
Kayla moved around the room, noticed the easel he’d set up next to the window that overlooked her backyard. Picking up a sketchbook, she flipped through it. Setting it down, she carefully shifted paintings forward to look at those behind them.
Finally, she turned to face Nick. “They’re beautiful.” So beautiful tears welled in her eyes. Since her divorce, most of the photos she’d snapped with her phone or her iPad featured only Becca. Those that included them both more often than not merely showed them posing and smiling for the camera. But these…
Nick had captured so much more than their faces. He’d captured many of the wonderful, everyday moments they’d shared together as mother and daughter that she had been unable to catch with a camera.
And those paintings and sketches that focused solely on Kayla…
Those had captured the love he felt for her.
He cleared his throat. “Oliver thought you might freak out when you saw them. He was afraid you’d think I’m a stalker or something.” Nick’s unease indicated he feared the same.
She tried to hide her amusement. “Is that why you always kept this door closed?”
He nodded. “I may not be able to stand out in the sun anymore, feel its warmth on my skin without burning, but I can still look out the window and enjoy it.” He ventured a step inside. “This was already my studio before you moved in next door. But once you did…” He took another step toward her. “You drew me even more than the sun I’ve so long been denied.”