“Ella,” he said on a groan, raising his hand, cupping the back of her neck tighter, their lips inches apart.
“I just needed to grow up and put the past behind me,” she whispered.
“We both needed to do that.”
“I’m sorry I left you,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips, too briefly because they weren’t finished talking.
“I’m not. You did what you needed to in order to come back to me whole. But you went to the prison by yourself.” He disentangled her arms, holding on to her wrists in front of her as he spoke. You visited your father by yourself.” He shook his head. “What did I tell you when we returned from St. Lucia?”
She slicked her tongue over her lips, letting him know she’d caught his deliberate stony tone of voice and was nervous.
“Well?” he asked.
“You told me that I don’t have to be alone anymore.”
“Right. I said you don’t have to be alone anymore,” he repeated, and they each grinned.
But he sobered faster. “You had to know that no matter what happened between us, I’d have gone with you.” He’d do anything for her, and he needed her not just to know but to believe.
She blinked rapidly. “But I needed—”
“To do it alone,” he said, his jaw tight at those damned words. “Now let’s get something straight. That is the last time I want to hear you say that. Do you love me?”
The question shocked him when it came out of his mouth. But hell, she’d said he was the other half of her heart. What else could she have meant? Still, he needed to hear those words in order to make his point.
She stared at him through widened hazel eyes, drew a deep breath, and nodded. “I do. I love you.”
“And you know I love you. Now we go forward together. Agreed?” he asked.
She smiled, for the first time since her return, the happy emotion reaching her eyes. “Agreed.”
“Good.” He rose and pulled her to her feet.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Without answering, he lifted her up and into his arms, and she squealed, a move and a sound that were coming to be among his favorites.
She slid her arms around his neck, her fingers gliding into his hair. The simple touch sent his senses reeling, his cock hardening, his arousal intense. And probably permanent whenever she was around.
“From now on, you’re going to
let me take care of you the way I want to.”
“We’ll see,” she taunted him, treating him to a teasing grin.
He laughed. “You’re bad,” he said as he deposited her onto the bed.
“No.” She became much more serious. “I’m yours.”
He came down over her, sealing his mouth over hers and sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips. She moaned and opened for him, tangling her tongue with his. The kiss went on and on. And knowing he had her not just in his arms but in his life forever, Tyler was content to kiss her forever.
Epilogue
To celebrate the marriage of Emma St. Claire and Michael Brooks, the Dare siblings gathered at a ballroom, far from Robert Dare’s hotels, in a beautiful room decorated in white and gold and an outdoor terrace large enough to hold the entire extended family and friends.
Ian Dare stood alone by the table set aside for immediate family, looking over his siblings and his mother with pride.
Riley, the love of Ian’s life, had held his three-year-old daughter’s hand as she’d walked down the aisle. His wife was a vision in a gold gown, his adorable little girl a pouf of white dress as she’d giggled her way to dropping flower petals down the aisle. He’d watched, his heart full to bursting, the same way it was now, as his entire family laughed and smiled.