He slides down my body and hooks my legs over his shoulders. My head falls back as he swipes his tongue up and down. I can’t breathe as he starts to work me over. I grip his hair with my fingers as I shudder and squirm beneath him. It’s too much. His tongue circles, and when he presses against my clit, I’m gone.

I writhe beneath him as he refuses to yield, driving my orgasm on and on. When he’s content that I can’t take anymore, he climbs back up so we’re face to face. “Look at me,” he requests.

My eyes open, and I see it all reflected in his gaze. The love he has for me. The promises he intends to keep. The pain he endured from losing me. And the determination rolls off him in waves.

“I love you,” he says as he lines himself against my entrance. “I want you to keep your eyes here, understand?”

“Yes,” I say on a moan as he pushes into me slowly.

Trent has always felt good, but here . . . right now . . . he’s giving me more. He’s giving me the piece of himself I’ve been missing, and it’s overwhelming. I want to close my eyes and bask in it. The need to imprint the feeling to a permanent place inside me flutters my eyelids, but I hold them open, trying to focus on his face. Watching the way his jaw tightens as he pushes deeper inside me. I relish in the fact that his control slips with every inch and how he’s the first to break eye contact when he’s fully seated.

“Trent,” I whisper. “Love me.”

“I’m going to, hold on, sweetheart.”

And he does.

He loves me with everything inside himself. He loves me enough for the two of us. He loves me like he’s never done before.

After my second orgasm, I think I’m going to pass out, but he keeps me going. We make love for a long time, both of us are sweaty and out of breath but completely sated when we finally collapse. We lie here with our legs intertwined, and my head on his chest as I listen to the sound of his heart.

Neither of us speak for some time. I’m in my own head thinking about how different that was for me. We’ve made love countless times, but this was like coming home. It was the same, yet it wasn’t.

Trent’s hand plays with my hair, and I gaze at him. “That was . . .”

He grins with self-satisfaction. “Yeah it was.”

“Who knew that all we needed was a break.”

Trent pulls me on top of him and kisses me before sighing. “I don’t think we should try it again.”

“You missed me that much?” I say playfully. His look doesn’t have any humor, though. He looks sad and forlorn. “Honey?”

“I don’t know how I lived through these last few weeks.” His eyes harden. “Seein’ you with him, it killed me, Gracie. You have no idea what it did to me.”

I roll off him and turn so we’re face to face. “It wasn’t easy for me, either. I was wrestling with tryin’ to move on while still lovin’ you. I don’t want you to think it was a cake walk for me.”

Trent shifts a little and runs his fingers against my lips. “I don’t think that. I just don’t think you can imagine what it would be like if I were datin’ Charlotte or anyone else. You want to beat the shit out of anyone who talks to you. You want to beat the shit out of yourself. It’s not easy, and it sure as hell isn’t fun.”

“Why didn’t you ever try to give me more?”

He rests his hand on my hip and gazes into my eyes. “Because I believed you’d always be there. I never thought you’d leave me. I was wrong and took you for granted. When I realized you weren’t mine anymore, that you’d given up on us and it was my fault, I woke up. I knew I had to find a way to prove what you’ve always meant to me.”

My fingers make patterns on his chest. “I hadn’t given up, I had to move on. I thought if I could date someone else, I could finally be happy. But it was you I wanted. I wanted this,” my hand presses against his heart. “I want your heart. I want you to trust me.”

His hand covers mine. “I’ll do everything I can to prove it.”

“Just don’t pull away. Don’t go back to shutting me out.”

While Trent has never been this open before, he was somewhat like this when Scarlett was killed. He was sweet, unguarded, and took care of me. I thought that was the turning point for us, but after a few weeks, he was back to not returning calls and disappearing. I don’t want that to happen this time.

“If I start to drift, pull me back.”

“I will.”

His eyes drop as he starts to succumb to the exhaustion. I tuck myself against his body, and he cocoons me with his limbs. My heart feels light as I start to fall asleep in his arms.

“Don’t let me fail you, Gracie,” he mutters against my hair. I turn back, but he looks completely out. I’m not sure if he said it or I imagined it so I turn back and try to calm my beating heart.

I really hope he doesn’t this time.

* * *

“I ’m fine , Macie.” Rhett swats at her as she fixes his pillow again and fusses over him.

“I want you to be comfortable. Your first round of chemo is in the mornin’.”

Rhett looks at his wife with an adoring smile. “Okay, darlin’, if you need to make me comfortable, go right ahead.”

Trent smiles and grabs my hand. “How are you feelin’, Dad?”

“According to your mother, I’m uncomfortable.”

“You hush,” she scolds him.

We’ve stopped by the hospital the last two days to spend some time with his parents. The boys have devised a schedule that works for everyone so they can always have someone around just in case.

The doctor was very honest and told us chemo is a long shot, but it would hopefully give him more time. The fact that we don’t know how much, is making everyone tense. It doesn’t help that Rhett is having problems with his red blood cells and had to have another transfusion before he was cleared for his first chemo treatment.

Wyatt will relieve us tonight and take the next two days. With Angie finally feeling better, he’s able to be here more often. I think all the boys are trying to find their way of handling this, some better than others.

Zach is still struggling. He and Trent were fighting on the phone last night, and he had to walk out of the house to get a grip.