Her words just about undid me, and a needy groan escaped me. Our home. God… I closed my eyes and chewed on my bottom lip as desire and happiness pummeled me. It was so overwhelming, I stopped breathing.

I heard Kiera say, “Kellan? Are…you okay?” I cracked an eye open to look at her.

Grinning, my lip still firmly under my teeth, I nodded. “Yeah, I just needed a minute.” Or a lifetime. Those words were everything to me. She was everything to me.

I got her home in record time. Her mouth was on mine the second we were out of the car. I unlocked the front door and opened it blind. I pulled her inside and stripped off my jacket. I tossed it in the general direction of the coat hooks and heard it hit the floor. Whatever. I didn’t fucking care. I kicked the door closed, then grabbed Kiera’s thighs and lifted her into my arms. As I kissed her neck, I said, “Hmmm, which room should we christen first?”

She giggled at me, and her answer was humorous. “We’ve never done much in the laundry room?”

Fine with me. I instantly started walking us that way and she laughed and squirmed against me. “I was joking! Bed, Kellan…” She paused to cup my cheek before kissing me again. “I want to explore you in a bed.”

Adoration swept through me as I gazed at her. And a little disbelief that she was mine, that I got to keep her, got to live with her, got to have a life with her. It blew my mind. Changing our direction, I carried her upstairs. As I set her down by our bedroom, I noticed something odd—her old bedroom with Denny was wide open. After I’d shut the door to that room, so very long ago, I hadn’t opened it again. I couldn’t. I’d needed those ghosts to be cut off. Seeing it open now was jarring, and a little painful.

Kiera started pulling me toward that room, like she wanted to show it to me. I didn’t want to see it; I’d seen enough of it for a lifetime. But this was clearly important to her, so I let her lead me. Maybe facing this demon head-on was something we both needed. But then I saw the room, saw what she’d done to the room, and once again, I was blown away.