“Nice and easy, sweetheart.” Nate brushed the hair back from her face as he gazed down at her with so much love. “We’ve got all the time in the world. There’s no rush.”

They were just the words she needed to hear as she struggled to take him in, to relax enough to allow this to happen, to not let the demons take over.

He’d been patient with her from the start and was again now, moving slowly and carefully until he’d entered her fully.

By then, she was having one orgasm after another, her body one gigantic nerve ending as he touched and caressed her until she was utterly mindless. It was safe to say that when she thought of sex in the future, it wouldn’t be with horror.

“Brooke.” His lips brushed over hers as he throbbed inside her.

She forced her eyes open and blinked him into focus. “Hmm?”

“I just want you to know…”

“What?”

“I love you. I really and truly love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He gathered her in close to him and began to move, teaching her one stroke at a time what it meant to make love.

At Camp David, the weekend had begun with a huge surprise. Eli had come with Candace and an announcement.

“We got married by a justice of the peace two days ago,” he said, seeming happier than he’d ever been.

“You did what?” Nick asked.

“We want to be together forever, and this way, nothing can stand in our way.”

Nick glanced at Sam, silently asking how they should react to this unexpected news.

“Congratulations.” Sam hugged them. “We hope you’ll be very happy together.”

“Thank you,” Elijah said. “We’re so excited and happy and all the things.”

Thanks to the fortune his father had left behind, Eli could easily afford to get married at twenty, but Sam could only hope they hadn’t been hasty.

Later that night, when she and Nick were in bed, he asked her what she really thought of Eli getting married.

“They’ve been through hell,” Sam said. “If they’ve found peace with each other, then so be it. If it doesn’t work out, they’ll survive, although I have a feeling they’re going to be fine. They’re obviously madly in love.”

“I’m worried he’ll want the twins to live with them now that he and Candace are married.”

The thought of that nearly stopped Sam’s heart. “He’s said he has no plans to uproot them, and we have to believe he meant that.”

“That was before Candace came back on the scene. Now he has a partner who can help him raise them.”