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“You’re welcome, and the offer stands if this guy pisses you off.” He jerked a thumb at Carter and grinned. “Working with him isn’t easy.”
“I’m sure it’s not.”
Carter flipped us both off, then focused on me. “I want to make one thing very clear. You are not, under any circumstances, going to start any kind of work until your doctor says you’re ready. And once she has given the all clear, we’re going to take some time away first, just the two of us, before we dive into this project. We don’t have to rush. I have enough money to support us indefinitely.”
“I’m so glad you’re finally using it.”
“I can’t change the past, but I can make the future better.”
“Yes, you can.”
Miles stayed for a few more minutes. After he left, Carter sat down on the side of my bed. “I’m so ready to take you home.”
“Remember, I’m not supposed to do anything the doctor hasn’t cleared.”
He smiled. “We’ll take it slow, but if you think I’m going to go weeks longer without touching you, you’re fucking crazy.”
“You’ve already been touching me.” We’d shared a few awkward hand jobs in the hospital bed.
“Not enough, and not with you naked and relaxed.”
“Oh, baby, you’re suck a fucking slut.”
“And I’m not going to change.”
“Good.”
“I love you.” I reached up and cupped his face. The movement wasn’t comfortable yet, but I could handle the pain, and I was no longer at risk of hurting myself as long as I moved slowly.
“I love you too.”
“This is forever, right?”
“There’s no one else, not for you, not for me, and I’ll end anyone who tries to come between us.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
35
EPILOGUE
FOUR MONTHS LATER
CARTER
Icouldn’t believe X was allowing us to use his private island, but when I’d told him about our plans to get away, he’d insisted we go there to have some time to ourselves. I still wasn’t convinced Matteo was ready to travel, but he was going to lose his mind if I didn’t take him somewhere. He’d been cooped up in the house way too long. At least we’d be together all the time, and I could probably convince him to take it easy, sit by the pool, walk on the beach…chase me down and fuck me until I couldn’t stand.
I didn’t actually think he was ready for that, but it was getting harder and harder to keep things tame between us. I didn’t want to hurt him. I loved him so much and I felt like it was a miracle he’d survived. The thought of hurting him again made my stomach flip, but he insisted he was fine, ready for anything.
The night before, he’d pinned me down and driven into me harder than I thought he should. I initially tried to stop him, but I hadn’t really wanted to. I missed the insanely wild, rough sex we’d had before he was shot.
Matteo was currently snoozing beside me in a seat on X’s private plane. It has been a few weeks since he had needed a nap every afternoon, but we’d both been conditioned to sleep during plane rides. In the SEALs that might be the only sleep you got for days.
I studied Matteo, the hard line of his jaw, the muscles revealed by his tight T-shirt, the scar that peaked up over the shirt’s neckline. The scar was beautiful to me. It reminded me that I’d almost lost him but had been given a miracle. As the weeks had passed after he was shot, I hadn’t truly believed he was going to survive, even though his doctor and everyone else assured me he would recover fully a few days after his surgery. He was strong and stubborn and so determined to be back to the same shape he had been in before, but that didn’t stop me from worrying about him.
My gaze wandered farther down his body, and I had to resist the urge to kneel between his legs, undo his pants, and take his cock into my mouth. He’d love that, but I wanted him to have as much rest as he could before we arrived. I knew he’d want to explore, but we didn’t have to rush. We had two whole weeks to enjoy the island all by ourselves, with the exception of X’s housekeeper, Henrietta, and a few other staff members who kept things running.
When the plane landed, we were picked up and driven to X’s amazing house. We both couldn’t take out eyes off the beautiful blue water and the white sand beaches. His housekeeper gave us a tour of the house and the immediate grounds, and X had sent us a detailed map of the island.
