The words were true. He knew it as soon as he spoke them.
“I beg you, kalila. Don’t leave me. Stay with me. Be my wife. Lie in my arms at night, stay by my side during the day. I love you, Megan. I love—”
Megan sobbed his name, brought his face down to hers and gave her husband the answer he sought in her kiss.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MEGAN awoke lying curled against her husband, her head on his chest, her hand spread over his heart.
Doves cooed to each other in the courtyard beneath the bedroom window; she could hear the sea beating gently against the crescent of white sand beach only a short distance away.
Caz, still asleep, lay on his back. With just a little effort, she could look up and see his firm chin, his softly stubbled jaw.
How she loved him! How she loved waking like this each morning, lying close to him, feeling the glorious weight of his arm wrapped around her
Two weeks ago, she’d probably have described the way he h
eld her as possessive. Now, she thought of it as protective.
Amazing, how her perspective had changed in fourteen short days.
Sometimes, lying in his embrace, she wondered if other married people were this happy. It didn’t seem possible. To begin each day with so much joy in your heart and end it thanking whatever gods might be listening for the miracle that had brought such love into your life?
Nobody else could feel this way. Nobody. Not even her brothers. Not even her sister. Keir and Cullen might look at their wives with their hearts shining in their eyes; Fallon’s smile might turn soft and dreamy when Stefano entered the room, but could any of them really know such bliss?
Impossible.
Surely she was the only woman in the world who loved a man so deeply. Absolutely, she was the only one loved so deeply in return. Caz was—he was—
“Beautiful,” Caz murmured in a voice husky with sleep.
Megan smiled as her husband rolled her onto her back. “Good morning,” she said softly.
He smiled, too, and brushed his lips over hers. “Good morning, kalila. When was the last time I told you that I love you?”
“Well, let’s see…” Megan linked her hands behind his neck. “Was it at dinner? Maybe it was when we came to bed. It might have been later than that, when we decided to go down to the beach to try to count the stars.”
“Mmm.” Caz nuzzled a tangle of auburn curls from her shoulder and nipped lightly at the tender flesh he’d exposed. “You forgot early this morning. I woke you at dawn, remember?”
Indeed, he had. Her skin still tingled at the memory. “Did you?” She batted her lashes. “I don’t remember that, my Lord.”
“You don’t, huh?”
“No. You might have to remind—” She caught her breath as he kissed her breast, teased the nipple with tongue and teeth, then sucked it into his mouth. “Yes. Oh, yes, I remember you did that.”
He slid down her body, kissing her belly, nuzzling apart her thighs, burying his face in the heat of her, the scent of her, the essence of this woman who had changed his life.
“Do you remember this, too?” he whispered, slipping his hands beneath her, lifting her to his mouth, opening her to him so he could taste her, feast on her, luxuriate in the soft moans that drove him crazy.
“Caz. Caz…”
“Tell me,” he said thickly. “Say the words, kalila. I need to hear them.”
“I love you,” Megan whispered, “love you, love you, love…”
She cried out and he rose above her, sheathed himself in her, and when she cried out again, he fell with her into that heart-stopping moment in time when they were alone in the endless universe.
“Megan?”