I sob desperately a few times, so very thankful to hear he's still soft, still vulnerable, with me. That was my biggest fear, waiting all this time for him and losing him to the dark anyway. But I haven't. I seeMy Maxsitting across from me. Our eyes dive into one another, gazes drawn together like magnets. He shakes his head as if the sight of me is so mystifying, so unfathomable, I can't possibly be real.
The feeling is mutual.
"You're so fucking beautiful, Cassidy," he says, the break in his raspy voice choking my heart with vicarious agony. I glance down to watch his throat roll, then up again to catch a single tear as it drops from his eye. "I'm sorry, little one. I'm so fucking sorry I wasn't here for you."
Max Butcher.
I leap from my position on the tiles and crawl onto his lap, my hands finding his cheeks, my lips finding his lips, my heart pressing against his heart. His big warm palms massage up my back, gripping me with such need, I whimper, overwhelmed, not having had anyone touch me in such a way for over two years. My body responds to him as if we were once one entity now split in two.
My Max.
The one with all the contradictory pieces that match mine, slotting together like a puzzle of souls. My light into his dark. My nervous into his confidence. My softness into his fierce.
With our chests pressed together, our hearts beating at a collective tempo, we say all the things that are held captive in our emotionally overcome bodies.
We say I missed you, it is over now, are you still soft, are you still fierce, are you still mine, you better still be mine! We say we will never be apart again.
We say never again.
We say all of this with our kiss.
With our needy hands.
With our actions.
THE END
"Tu, sì a chiù bedda carusa ca ancuntrài nda me vita."
"You're the most beautiful girl in the world."
Cassidy
He has been homefor five emotional hours. After our very expressive kiss, we stripped off our clothes and made love under a warm spray of water. The first time was desperate and rough, the second was savouring and gentle.
Now, I want nothing more than to laze in bed, feet tangled with my husband, and talk his ear off. I want to detail every significant and insignificant event of the past two years, share my thoughts and feelings, and help him connect with this world again. Then I want to collect up all of our things, wrestle Kelly from the clutches of her uncle, and move into our beautiful new home in Brussman. I want to start our life right now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. I don't want to wait another minute. . . That is what I want to do, but instead, we are walking into Butch's office.
Max squeezes my hand as we enter, refusing to let it go even as three of his brothers jump to their feet to greet him. He uses his free hand to pat each of them on the back, giving Xander a light slap to the cheek.
"Look at this little beefcake. You been working out?" Max laughs.
Xander grins, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "I've been boxing like crazy. Maybe I could kick your arse now."
Max scoffs, sitting down opposite his dad and pulling me onto his lap. "I've been boxing every day for the past ten years. I wouldn't fucking count on it, dickhead."
Konnor straightens from his seat and approaches Max, nodding his head in approval. "Your little girl is the sweetest thing. The coolest kid. So any part of Kelly, I have to like. Even if you are the moodiest son of a bitch I've ever met. So" –he smiles softly– "welcome home."
"The moodiest? Met Butch?" Max asks, trailing his hand up my belly to cup my right breast.
I swipe his hand away. "Stop it, menace."
Konnor closes his eyes, cringing. "You're still a dickhead then?"
Max stares blankly at him. "Why would I change?"
Ignoring them, I turn to look at Bronson and say, "Where is Kelly?"
His eyes widen and my heart leaps, but then he grins mischievously and I want to kill him. "Don't worry, she's with my mum." When I jump up with a start, he chuckles. "Or maybe it was the maid. . . Wait, which of them hasblackhair?"