Zach rubs his face before looking at the sky. “Do you know how many times I wanted to find you?”

I shake my head.

“I went to your father once. I begged him to tell me where you were, but he said I’d had my shot and blew it. That you were engaged, happy, and over me.”

My jaw drops at his admission. I never knew that. In all these years, my father never mentioned that. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been over you. I loved Todd. I loved our life. I loved how happy he made me. But you’ve found a way to become a part of who I am. Does that make sense?”

He strides closer. “I loved after I lost you, too. But it was never close to what I felt for you.”

When two people loved each other without inhibitions, the way we have, there is no chance of ever being the same again. The connection we share isn’t something that can be severed. I learned to love differently, and in this instant, my soul has found its way back to him.

“Kiss me,” I say in a hushed voice.

His arm snakes around my back as he draws me near. My breathing gets shallow as I realize what is going to happen. I’m going to let him kiss me. I’m going to kiss him because that’s all I can think about. We’ve shared two very different moments, now I want this. Zach’s eyes melt into pools of indigo. The pinks, oranges, and reds filter around him as the sun sets behind him. Everything is warm and beautiful around us.

“Are you sure, darlin’?”

“I’ve loved you since I was twelve years old, Zachary Hennington. You were my first kiss, my first love, the first man to touch me. I want you to kiss me, and I need to kiss you.”

As I look into his eyes, I remember everything over the last few months. Him giving the boys their horses, finding Cayden, the way he cared for me at the bar, the way he was always watching me, and then he left Felicia to give us a chance. No guarantees that we could ever find our way back to each other, but I was worth the risk.

His hand tightens around my hip as his other holds the side of my face. He slowly pulls me in and my eyes close. As soon as our lips touch, my heart explodes. Everything inside of me tenses, and I grab the back of his neck. I feel so much all at once. I’m scared, happy, sad, desperate, and hopeful. It’s as though I’ve found my place again. Zach is home. Zach is the place that I’ve always known and wanted.

We hold each other as our mouths move in harmony. His tongue slides against mine, and I moan. He yanks me even tighter against his body as he kisses me relentlessly. My arms encircle his neck, keeping him where I need him. He leads, then I lead, each giving and taking.

I don’t remember the last time I was kissed with so much force.

His lips leave mine and trail down my neck. He holds my head back as his tongue tastes my skin. “Zachary.” I groan as he finds his way back to my mouth.

Our arms hold each other so close it feels as if we’re one person. I can’t feel anything except him. He’s a part of me, and I’m a part of him.

Each second that I’m in his clutch I don’t think. My mind floats on a cloud as he holds me secure. I’m safe and there’s no pain. He robs me of the thoughts that have haunted me and replaces them with the sun. All I feel is warmth. All I see is light. All I feel is joy.

He breaks the kiss and we both struggle for breath. “Holy shit,” he pants.

“Yeah.” I try to slow my heart. “Holy shit.”

“Pres,” he says with tenderness. I look up and his thumb brushes against my lip. “Are you—” He stops before starting again. “Was that okay?”

Another part of my heart becomes Zach’s. “Yeah.” I smile up at him. “That was okay.”

There are no guarantees that this will work, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life wondering. And if we still can kiss like that . . .

“Good.”

“Zach?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s a lot of things that we need to talk about. I’ve only been a widow for a small period of time. The boys aren’t ready to see me with another man,” I explain. I have to do what’s right for them. “I’m not saying we have to hide, but while we’re figuring things out, I don’t want to rub anything in their faces.”

He nods. “I’ll let you lead the pace on this, but I’m going to be around a lot. I’ve spent half my life without you, and I’m not letting more time get away from us.”

“Okay,” I acquiesce. “I can handle time around you, I guess.”

His eyes shift from hard to soft. “You guess, huh?”

“It’ll be painful, but I’ll suffer.”

Zach’s hand grips the back of my neck, threading his fingers in my hair. “Suffer?”

The pace of my pulse accelerates. My bones liquefy as he tugs gently, causing my scalp to tingle.

Slowly his mouth closes in, but he lands against the top of my neck. The warmth of his breath mixed with the cold trail from his tongue causes my stomach to clench.

“I don’t think you know suffering with me.” His low voice is seductive. “I was a boy then. I can promise you that I’ve grown a lot.”

“Mmmm,” I moan as he nips at the the bottom of my ear.

“There won’t be suffering. Just a lot of pleasure.”

Oh. My. God.

“Promises, promises, Zachary.”

“Oh, darlin’.” He pulls my head back, forcing me to look into his denim blue eyes. “I promise that and a whole lot more.”

Slow is going to be really difficult when he’s saying things like this.

I may cave a hell of a lot sooner than I ever thought. Because if I couldn’t resist a fumbling teenage Zach, I’m sure as hell not going to be able to keep away from the confident, sinful, and hot as hell man before me.

Zachary

H OW THE HELL DID I get so lucky? What did I do to deserve this chance? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing. I never thought I’d see her again. It seemed the world had decided that long ago, yet I’m holding her in my arms.

I kiss her lips once more. Since I’m waiting for her to realize she shouldn’t do this, I to take every chance she gives me to touch her.

“Let’s head back.” I stare into her green eyes and see the fear. “Pres?”

She looks away and twists her bracelet, “I just don’t know where or how we’re going to sleep.”

I want to laugh at how damn cute she is. She’s got nothing to worry about. Other than me sporting wood all night at the thought of her so close, I won’t push anything. I promised her time, despite the fact that Presley has always been my demise. She’s the one thing in this world I’ve always known was right.

“Relax,” I say, trying to calm her nerves. “You’ll get the tent and we’ll all be out by the fire.” I have no idea if that is Wyatt’s plan, but that’s what’s happening. There’s no way she’s going in that tent with Vance or my brother, who can’t seem to keep his hands to himself.

She lets out a huge sigh. “Okay. Sorry, I’m being ridiculous.”

“Come on.” I begrudgingly let go of her. We make our way to where the guys are, and I try to figure out a plan.