Page 104 of Edge of Heaven

“I’m going to kiss every one of your boo boo’s and make them better.”

“Okay.” Her eyes are closed but there’s a faint smile on her face.

And that’s what I do.

From the marks on her face to the deep purple bruise along her ribcage to her swollen ankle. I kiss and touch and run my fingers over her entire body, as if I’m rubbing some sort of magical potion into her skin. Something with the kind of magic that can begin to erase the memories of every time Callum hurt her.

By the time I’m done, she’s naked, sprawled on the bed, her beautiful body on display for me.

And I’m hard as fucking granite.

I know we can’t do anything but?—

“Are you going to sit there drooling or are you going to make love to me?” she asks in a throaty voice.

“Baby, I can’t… I mean, you can’t…” I shake my head. “How can we possibly do this without your ribs screaming in agony?”

Her eyes flutter open and she meets my gaze. “I lay on my back, you kneel in front of me.”

Obviously, the logistics can work, and we’ve waited so long…

“Are you sure you want to do it now?” I ask softly. “While you’re still hurting?”

“I can’t think of a better time—or better way—to make the hurt go away. I need you inside me, Michael. To remind me what we are together.”

“You’re positive?”

“I’ve never been more positive of anything. Ever.”

I make short work of getting undressed and take a moment to lock the door. Then I stare at the woman on the bed, the one I’ve been waiting for, for so long.

“What?” she asks.

“Just thinking about how long it’s been. How long it took us to find our way back to each other.”

“Are you nervous?”

“A little. Not about the sex but about hurting you.”

“You won’t.” She holds out her hands, and the fact that she trusts me so completely, now that she’s so vulnerable, means everything to me.

I walk over to the bed and lie beside her, careful to keep my weight off of her. This is going to be tricky but I feel like I’m up to the task. There’s no universe where I turn her down when she asks me to make love to her.

She lifts a hand, cupping the side of my face, then tugs my head down to hers.

“Kiss me,” she whispers against my mouth.

“That’s going to hurt,” I protest.

“I don’t care.” Then she presses her lips to mine, her tongue seeking out mine almost desperately.

I understand her urgency because I feel it too.

We’ve waited so damn long.

But that ends now.

I deepen the kiss, taking deep, erotic pulls of her tongue, hoping to show her everything I feel. Everything I’ve waited so long to give her. But first I have to make sure she feels safe.

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