“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked in a deep, throaty voice.

He quickly stripped out of the rest of his clothes and positioned himself between her legs, easing into her in one slow move.

She moaned out as he flexed back and forth slowly, making sure her body was re-acclimated to him before he picked up his pace.

“I love you so much, Olivia.” He kissed her as he moved inside of her.

“I love you, too, Alexander.” She felt so full and overwhelmed at that moment. She thought the first time that they made love was special, but that moment, right then, was even more so.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, not wanting to feel any space between them as she pulled his mouth back to hers, kissing him again. She caressed his back, running her fingers up and down his body.

“Fuck, Olivia,” he exhaled. “I love being inside you. There’s nothing like it.” He kissed her passionately, moaning into her mouth. “I just knew you were still alive. I never gave up hope that I would find you, Olibia.”

A tear fell down her face at the mention of his childhood nickname for her. “Oh, Alex,” she exhaled, bucking him with her hips. “I love you. I’m so sorry. I never should have left you.”

He leaned down, gently nibbling on her neck, tracing his tongue across her soft flesh. “I’ve never stopped loving you. You’re the only one for me.”

Olivia threw her head back, reveling in the feeling of Alexander’s mouth on her body as he moved delicately inside her. It was all becoming so overwhelming. She thought she loved him with all her heart before, but this was so much more. The simple act of him moving inside her was so much bigger than anything she had ever experienced before. She was climbing higher and higher, the love she felt for Alexander making her tears flow even harder.

“Don’t cry, Olibia. I’ll always be here for you.”

Tears continued to stream down her face as she processed everything that she had been through over the past several months.

Alexander slowed his rhythm, looking down at the beautiful woman beneath him. “Please don’t cry, angel. I need to know you’re alright. I need to know I’m not hurting you.” He brought his hand to Olivia’s face, gently wiping her tear-stained cheeks. He planted soft kisses all over her face where her tears once were. Pulling back, he beamed his brilliant smile at her. “That’s my girl.”

Olivia grinned in response, giggling through her tears, moving beneath Alexander once again. He met her rhythm, burying his face against her neck.

“Faster, Alex,” Olivia breathed out, starting to feel that familiar clenching feeling.

“Are you going to go again?” he asked, pulling back to stare into her eyes.

“I think so.”

He began to move at a quicker pace on top of her.

“Alex, wait. I haven’t taken my birth control pills lately. I forgot them when I went to Vegas and never started a new pack.”

He continued moving quickly, his own orgasm imminent. “What do you want me to do, Olivia? I’m about to come. I can’t stop now. Are you worried about getting pregnant? If it happens, I’m okay with it.”

Olivia stared deep into Alexander’s eyes, unable to focus as she took in those green eyes and felt her body begin to tremble.

“Olivia, answer me. What do you want me to do?”

“Fuck, Alex. Don’t pull out!” she cried out as her orgasm took over her body.

He pumped faster, leaning down and gently tugging on her nipple with his teeth as he found his own release, muttering her name against her skin before collapsing on top of her.

“That was pretty fucking intense,” she commented while they both attempted to get their breathing under control.

Alexander rolled over, pulling her body against his, wrapping his arms and legs around her as he gently caressed her skin for several long moments. “Olivia, darling, do you want to talk about what happened to Kiera?” he asked sweetly.

She sighed. She didn’t even want to think about it, but she knew she couldn’t avoid it forever. Turning to face him, she ran her fingers through his messy hair, his green eyes intense and desperate for information.

“I called her earlier this morning,” she started. “I wanted to tell her about my father.”

Alexander scowled.

“Hey. You never said I had to keep it quiet.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Continue.”

“She didn’t sound too good. She said something about a fight with Mo, so I told her I’d be over there soon. I grabbed my car and drove over.”

“Wait a second. Where the fuck was your protection detail?” His eyes grew wild with anger.

She glared at him.

“Okay, okay. I’ll worry about that later. Go on.”

She continued to run Alexander through the events of that morning, leaving out the part about running into Simon. She knew he would overreact to that piece of information so it would be best to just keep that from him.

“Back up a second, Olivia. You said the guy looked familiar?”

“He did, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen him before.”

“What did he look like?”

His face was now ingrained in her brain. “He was big. Tall and built. He had evil eyes and his breath stunk. His voice…” She trailed off, her mind racing.

“What is it? Do you remember something?”

“It was the guy from that day in the snow…” Olivia shot up, covering her chest with the blanket. “I knew he looked familiar.”

Alexander had a feeling that there was more going on than she probably knew. His heart sank as he came to the realization that the attack wasn’t about hurting Kiera. It was about hurting Olivia. “Listen to me, Olivia. This is not your fault.” He pulled her back down next to him, staring into her eyes. “Nothing you could have done would have stopped it. We don’t even know who that guy is or what he wants. It could all just be a coincidence that he attacked Kiera.”

Olivia buried her face in Alexander’s chest, relishing in the warmth of his body, not wanting to tell him about the letter Carol showed her. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Alex. I’m exhausted. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Kiera’s blood-covered body, and I just want to forget it, even if just for a minute.”

“Okay, but we need to talk about it at some point, about what it all means.” He gently kissed the top of her head.

“We will, but right now, I need you to help me forget.” She pushed him on his back and crawled on top of him, desperate to feel him inside her again.