AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Possessive. She wanted him just like this, taking what he wanted and offering her a sinfully delicious reward.
“Take me, Brody.” She screamed the words over and over as he filled her again and again. Holding her hip with one hand, the other slid around her body, his thumb pressing her there, right where she needed him, and pushing her over the edge.
“You’re mine,” he said as the orgasm took everything she had.
He thrust into her one last time and his hips stilled, holding there, his breath ragged. Slowly, he slid out of her, his hands moving up her body, drawing her back to his front. He wrapped his arms around her, one powerful forearm covering her breasts and the other holding her waist. Warm water washed over her front as his lips brushed her ear.
“You’re mine, Kat,” he murmured. “I need you so damn much.”
I need you too, she thought. She needed the man who understood how much losing a child that had never been hers hurt. The man who would set aside his desire for a lap dance because he had to share his feelings. She needed the man who said the words “you’re mine” but also meant “I’m yours.”
But need didn’t erase the past, offering her a clean slate, even if she wished it would.
“I love you, Kat,” he added.
Turning in his arms, she ran her hands up his chest, her gaze following her touch. She couldn’t say those three little words. But she was starting to wonder if she felt them for this man who’d come after her, determined to fight for a place in her life. And if she did, would love erase her fears?
“I love you, Kat,” he said again, silencing her internal debate. “And I plan to be here next weekend and the one after that, telling you over and over. I want you in my life, Kat. And I’ll say the words over and over until you feel them in your heart.”
Chapter 21
“I CAN’T COME this weekend.”
Brody said the words and Kat’s emotions went into a tailspin. After five weekends together—three spent in Manhattan, one in Nebraska where she’d met with a patient, and another in Portland—time had run out.
Dammit, she’d known this would happen. One day he’d wake up and realize he didn’t want her anymore. The distance was too much. His family needed him. There would be a logical list of reasons to set aside the words that came so easily to him.
She closed her eyes, shutting out the view of Central Park beyond her bedroom window. “I understand, Brody,” she said into her c
ell. “It’s a long trip and we’ve only known each other—”
“I’m coming back, you know that, right?” he said. “You’re not worried . . . Kat, I’m not giving up on you. My sister decided to get married on Saturday. I need to be here to walk her down the aisle. You’re welcome to fly out. I want you here, Kat. And so does my sister. But I know you’ve been busy at work. And hell, this is last minute.”
The relief left her dizzy and she sank to the floor, her hand on the window “You’re asking me to crash another wedding?”
“Not crash, Kat. This one is friends and family only. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re family.”
A door slammed in the background and three people—Katie, Josh, and Chad—all started speaking at once.
“Look Kat, I can’t talk now. Just because Katie decided on a last minute wedding under her trees doesn’t mean it is going to be a simple affair.”
Kat suspected those last words were only partially for her.
“But if you can make the trip let me know,” Brody continued. “And I’ll find a way to pick you up at the airport. If not, I’ll see you the following weekend in New York. I’ll be there. You have my word.”
And Brody kept his promises—in bed and out.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said as his sister’s voice rose in the background. “Good luck Brody.”
And I love you.
She dropped the phone before the words escaped. But she knew what was in her heart. She’d moved past crush to head-over-heels in love with Brody Summers. She’d known for a while, she’d simply been too scared to accept the truth. She’d feared the end would sneak up on her the moment she said those words. Opening her heart, offering him the power to break it to pieces if he walked away, it terrified her.
But Brody Summers kept coming back. For six weeks he’d traveled to be with her. And he would keep flying back and forth across the country, or meeting her in the middle of Nowhere USA if she asked. This man loved her. And he would always return to her.
Brody had labeled her family. In his world, that word was entrenched in commitment. And she was finally willing to open herself up to the possibility that maybe love and family would last this time. They’d hit the 457 day mark and just keep going.
Tears flowed and joy mixed with relief. The love of her life wanted her, today, tomorrow, and the day after. She stared out at Central Park’s manicured trees. New York had given her so much, but her heart was in the wild woods of Independence Falls.
