Epilogue

Ivy listened to the sounds of male laughter outside the bedroom, unable to stop the smile that stretched on her lips. She could hear Cade’s friends moving to and fro, and she could hear … Cade. His growling laugh. His happiness.

A sigh worked its way up her chest, and she swung her legs up behind her on the bed and adjusted her laptop screen, typing some last-minute changes to a new design.

She’d moved in with Cade this past month, and she’d also started a Web site design business that would enable her to put in a lot of hours at the foundation, while at the same time, allow her do what she loved and work from home. The steady donations coming in from Cade’s billion-dollar consumer financing business were more than keeping the foundation alive and thriving, and Ivy had always had an eye for design.

Outside the door, Genghis scraped his nails on the wood, and Ivy rose to let him in. He brought a rolled-up message in his mouth, and dropped it immediately at her feet. It said, in Cade’s messy handwriting, One more hour and I’m yours.

Her insides warmed in anticipation, and before she thought better of it, she took off her panties and gave them to Genghis. “To Cade. Only to Cade, all right?”

She scratched him behind the ears before she opened the door and Genghis raced outside, then she closed the door and covered her mouth, her pulse jumping. Oh, dear God, what had she become?

The noises outside continued for another hour, well past midnight. By the time they receded, Ivy had closed her laptop, removed Cade’s T-shirt, and slid naked into bed. They’d been sleeping naked, and now it felt strange to have anything against her other than Cade’s skin.

She dozed off to sleep, then heard the door open and Genghis plop down with a big sigh by the window. Ivy was groggy, but Cade’s autumn scent seeped into her lungs, and she waited eagerly for him to slide under the sheets with her.

Cool air stole under the covers as he did. “Come here, baby,” he rasped, the bedsprings screeching as he got settled.

She slid over his outstretched arm until his heat scorched her skin and her pussy watered and her breasts ached and her breathing went haywire and her heart melted because its owner lay right here, right here, with her.

He kissed her lips in the dark and stroked his hand over the new soft hairs at her scalp. “How’s the Web site, did you finish?”

“I just … tweaked it. It looks good.” Her voice was craggy. “Did you win?”

He skimmed one large, warm palm up her side. “Yeah. A pair of women’s panties. Would you like them?”

Delayed embarrassment made her cheeks heat. He chuckled softly, and his shoulders bunched as he bent to nip and tug her lower lip. When it stung between his teeth and she moaned softly, he eased his damp tongue over it, his voice thick with arousal. “Danny busted us all tonight. But then he’s probably spending it on that wedding of the century he and Monica are planning…”

Their mouths fused, their tongues tangled, and when he pressed his full weight into her, she could feel his throbbing length pulsing with wet heat against her abdomen.

Relaxed with sleep, she let him immediately splay her legs wide open beneath him. Since she’d teased him with her panties and he was hard and pulsing hot already, she sighed when he filled her up with a powerful thrust.

“Yes,” she gasped, the heat of his penetration shooting arrows of pleasure through her bloodstream.

“Christ.”

With a harsh growl, he propped himself up on his arms, and suddenly his every effort seemed concentrated on his hips and the powerful slide of his cock into her snug grip.

Ivy was awash with pleasure, her every cell attuned to him and only him. Nothing else existed. He was powerful, rippling with tension, and fucking her so slowly it drove her mad.

“Cade, oh, God, yes.”

He lifted himself up higher, angling his hips so he’d graze her clit as he stroked and she shuddered, the stimulation delicious, poising her orgasm at the very top of that pearly nub.

She rolled her head and gasped. “I’m there already, God, I’m there.”

“Jesus, I love you, Ivy. I love you so much.” He started pumping harder, gaining momentum, then suddenly he rolled over, bringing her with him. And she was straddling him. So ready to come. Quivering down to her bones.

She bit her lip, unable to keep her eyes open, and her head fell back, her throat too weak to hold it upright. She rocked her hips on top of him in violent little circles, moving fast, searching for her release, that instant of pure, white pleasure.

His hands fluttered up her stomach and grabbed the small cones of her little breasts. “Beautiful.”

She cried when he pinched her nipples, then rolled them between his thumb and forefinger, having never felt so beautiful.

He sat up and gently licked the scars beneath, growling proprietarily. “Mine.” He licked the other. “Mine.” He rolled her down beneath him again, pinning her arms up. “All. Mine.”

He laced their hands together, palm to palm, where they each wore two tattooed bands around both their wrists. They had gotten them a week ago, and Ivy had Cade’s name written in hers, while he had her name written in his—forever, and ever, they were bound to each other.