Chloe realized it was just as well that she was naked with Chase on the bed as she confessed her innermost thoughts, her final secrets. She was done hiding anything from him. From here until forever, she’d willingly give him her body. Her heart.

And her soul.

“All along I think I knew our connection went way beyond physical. All along I think I knew nothing would be able to stop me from falling in love with you. No matter how many times I tried to tell myself that I was going to leave, that I needed to leave, that striking out on my own was the only option, another piece of my heart broke just trying to imagine leaving you. I thought being strong meant going solo, meant standing on my own two feet without needing anything or anyone to lean on, but then I heard you talk about your family, I watched you with Marcus and I saw the way you work as a team with your crew. You showed me that the real strength comes from learning how to trust again. You make me want to be brave enough to love again.”

Chloe moved closer to Chase, the sheet falling completely off her lap as she went to her knees in front of him on the bed, his hands held tightly up against her heart.

“I still want to be stronger, I still want to be a better person...but when I’m with you, I’m already the strongest, the best I’ve ever been. Your love makes me feel like I just might find the woman I’ve been searching for inside myself all these years.” Her tears were falling now, one after the other, as she professed the truth of her feelings. “I know we need to leave this fantasy world soon, but I don’t want to leave you. Not now. Not ever.”

Her heart pounded hard, so ridiculously hard, as she waited for him to respond to her heart laid out bare before him, practically raw and beating on the soft white sheets.

But he didn’t say anything at all, this incredible man she loved so much. He simply lifted her on to his lap and held her.

As all of her dreams finally came true, Chloe wanted to laugh with the joy of it all. She wanted to cry tears of appreciation for the little girl inside who had never been able to give up the dream of warmth.

And she wanted to love the man who held her heart with his.

Making her choice, she nipped at his lips with her teeth, once, then twice, then a third time. With each love-bite she could feel him growing bigger, thicker, against her groin.

She didn’t think, didn’t have to worry about hiding any of her desires anymore, as she lifted herself up just enough to come over his erection, then lowered herself down over his thick shaft. He was big, but she was already more than ready for him, had been from the moment “Good morning” had left his lips.

And still, even as she could feel how hard it was for Chase to hold onto his control, he let her lead their lovemaking. But, oh, how she’d loved making him lose control. And how desperately she wanted him to lose hold of that control again and again until there was no more thinking, no more chances for either of them to stop and think and worry.

“Last night,” she said as she lifted nearly all the way off of his rock-hard shaft, “do you remember when I had you in my mouth?”

She slid back down on to him and he pulsed hard within her, nearly setting off her own answering explosion.

“You were so gorgeous like that, Chloe.”

Each word sounded pained, she thought, as she slowly lowered herself back down onto him. “Which part did you like best?” she asked in her most innocent voice. “Having me on my knees in front of you?” She blinked at him, eyes wide. “Or was it watching yourself slide in and out of my mouth, watching my lips stretch wide to take all of you in?”

She felt it then, the vibration of a growl that started in the bottom of his lungs before erupting against her mouth as he covered her lips with his and kissed her hard.

Another second found her on her back, her arms pulled over her head and held in place by one of his hands at her wrists. Again and again he drove into her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist to take him deeper, then deeper still.

She wasn’t even the slightest bit afraid of the way he was holding her, but before she could tell him just how good it was, how close she was to coming apart, he stilled inside of her.

“I don’t ever want to take anything you don’t want to give. But I want you too bad, need you too much, not to lose control one day.”

She loved that he was so careful with her heart even when their bodies were on the verge of going completely out of control. And yet, she knew better now than to need these pauses. She didn’t need him to reassure her anymore that she was safe with him.

“I love it when you lose control. I love knowing I can do that to you. I love knowing that I can share all of my fantasies with you, that sometimes you’ll tie me up and other times you’ll be the one bound and waiting for me to lick every inch of your body.”

“I’ll never forgive myself if I step over the line, Chloe.”

“No lines, Chase. No boundaries. We don’t need them, I know that now, not when love is what’s behind every kiss—” She pressed her lips to his. “—not when love is what prompts every bite—” She nipped at his shoulder, then laved the small hurt with her tongue. “—not when love is what has me begging you to take me harder. Faster.” She clenched her inner muscles on him to reinforce her point.

She looked into the beautiful green eyes that had always looked at her with wonder, with laughter...and with love.

“I’m putty in your hands. And I love it. Take me, Chase. Turn me inside out.” She licked across his lips before adding, “Cross a line. I dare you.”

As soon as her challenge sounded in the room, everything became a blur as he spun her on the bed so that her hands and knees were under her.

Oh God, she thought as he came into her from behind. She tightened her fist into the sheets and held on for dear life as he pounded her again and again, his hands moving from her hips to her br**sts and then back down between her legs in a perfect path of pleasure. How she loved it when he sprinted right over the lines and reduced her boundaries to smithereens.

Chloe no longer had any fears of being controlled and Chase no longer held back to make sure he didn’t push her too far. All that remained was the sweet ecstasy of trust.

And pure love.

* * *

After a shower so long and wonderful that the water had turned cold by the time Chase finally washed the shampoo out of Chloe’s hair, she told him, “I’m going to call the police and file a report. I’m also going to get a restraining order. I know I should have called right away. It wasn’t that I was ashamed to tell the police what happened to me. I know that I have nothing to be ashamed of.” Her eyes darkened as she said, “I just kept thinking I should have been smart enough to see it coming, that if I’d only realized how unhinged, how angry he was about me leaving him, then surely I could have made sure he couldn’t hurt me.”