Page 89 of Hunted Innocence

And taste her, I do. Sliding my tongue inside of her, I swirl it around hers as Nadine moans, melting toward me—into me.

Heaven.

Home.

Happiness.

Breaking the kiss, I look into Nadine’s eyes, searching them. And I concede to my feelings. I allow myself to accept them. To accept that this isn’t just what I want, what she wants—this is what we both need. We both need each other. And we both need to live our lives together.

Because there simply is no other way.

“I love you, Nadine. I’m not sure if I’ll make a good partner. I don’t know if I can ever be a father, let alone a good one. I don’t know a lot of things, and that’s what makes this so hard. Because I want to control it all. But I can’t control the way I feel about you.”

“Grayson,” she breathes.

My lips twitch into a smirk as I look into her eyes. “Let’s go home, baby.”

“Together?” she asks.

I laugh softly. I know I haven’t made this easy on her, and she’s no doubt questioning everything right now. But there is no other way than together. That realization slammed into me the moment I grasped what it would feel like to have anyone else touch any part of her.

Nadine is mine. She has been mine, and she will always be mine. She is my calm in the midst of chaos. She is my sunshine when the darkness invades. And together, even though we have each been through our own separate hells, we will rise from the ashes that were our past. We will continue to create a future that we can call our own.

“Together.”

Epilogue

NADINE

TWO WEEKS LATER

Reaching across the bed,I am not surprised that the sheets are cold. This is the last day of our amazing trip. Our private island naked-on-the-beach vacation is concluding today. I’ve never really been on a vacation before, and this has been heaven.

I don’t want it to end, and I’m not sure I want to go back to reality.

Sitting up, I pull the white sheet over my bare breasts as I look around the bungalow. Empty. I listen for any signs of life but am left drenched in silence. I throw my legs over the side of the bed, and my feet touch the warm wood floor before I stand.

Dropping the sheet, I pad over to the bathroom. I wash my hands then reach for the floral silk robe hanging from a hook on the wall and slip it on, tying it at the waist before I go in search of food and coffee.

And Grayson.

Before I go in search of Grayson.

I find him before I find the food or the coffee. He is standing with his back to me, facing the ocean. Although we’re on a private island, he could turn in almost any direction and face the ocean if he wanted to.

If he feels my presence, he doesn’t make it known immediately. Slowly, I move toward him, attempting to gently surprise him, but it doesn’t work because he senses me, and he is just letting me draw closer before he makes it known.

Grayson turns slightly, his arm snaking around my waist before he guides me toward his front and presses himself against my back. I feel his lips touch just the crook of my neck before he rests his chin against my shoulder.

“Are you ready to go back to reality?” he asks in a murmur.

Letting out a sigh, I clear my throat before I speak. “Absolutely not, and yes, all at the same time.”

He laughs softly. “We have a lot of moving parts when we get back.”

I know what he’s referring to. My apartment, his condo, his mission for Securus. Which hasn’t ended just because we got together officially. They still want him to find all those men on that thumb drive, and I’m grateful for it. They do need to be brought to justice, even if that means he’ll be away from me for an unspecified amount of time.

“What does that look like?” I ask.

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