Breathless, needy, she skated caresses along his arms and chest until he anchored her thigh against his hip and entered her. The shock of sensation buried deep inside her was both sharp and sweet. She held herself still, waiting, adjusting, her fingers twisted in the duvet cover.

When he began to move again, she knew she wouldn’t last long. Her gaze shifted to his and she found him looking at her intensely, with a tangle of emotions that confused her as much as her own. Closing her eyes again, she refocused on the physical sensations, feelings that made sense to her.

Gage leaned over her, whispering sweet words in her ear before he fastened a kiss on one taut nipple, drawing on the peak. Elena gasped, her hips bucking.

He drove deeper. Faster. And she was lost.

Her release rolled through her, burning away everything but the sweet fulfillment that came with it. She clung to Gage, hands on his shoulders, moving with him until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He came with her, his back arching and his legs tensing. She held him tighter, savoring every moment that was too perfect for words.

When the sensations eased, Gage lay down beside her, wrapping an arm around her and tucking her under the covers. She waited to catch her breath before she moved closer to kiss his shoulder. His chest.

He stroked her hair and she wondered if he was as reluctant as she was to speak. To shatter the bubble of time where they seemed to understand one another. It was an illusion, she knew, a false sensation perpetuated by all the amazing things they could make one another feel.

Wasn’t it?

Not sure she was ready to find out, she tipped her forehead to his chest and felt the beating of his heart instead. Steady. Comforting.

For tonight, she was going to savor that much. The morning was soon enough to wade through the complicated ties that still bound them. She owed him something for turning her life around. It hadn’t happened yet, but she could sense her world shifting, surging with new opportunities that hadn’t been there before, thanks to him introducing her to Chiara.

Tomorrow would be soon enough to come up with a plan. To thank him and leave him to find someone suitable who would make the Striker family proud.

She just wished the thought of walking away didn’t make her chest feel so incredibly hollow inside.

Leaning back into the buttery leather seat of the Learjet, Gage told himself it was a good thing that Elena had agreed to return to Mesa Falls Ranch so readily.

He’d been concerned that she would prefer to stay in Lake Tahoe for the rest of the week, given her new relationship with Chiara Campagna. No doubt Elena would want to explore the business opportunities that the friendship offered, and he certainly couldn’t blame her for investigating those possibilities. Yet she’d complied with his wish to fly to Montana today.