Slowly, provocatively, never taking his eyes from hers, he prowled up the short length of her and took her mouth. She tasted her own saltiness on his tongue, inhaled her musty aroma along his bristled jaw.

Rising up, he gently probed her, and she wound herself more tightly around him. When he plunged deep, she sighed with the satisfaction of having him fill her once again, completely, absolutely. He didn’t look away. She couldn’t. She wanted to memorize every expression that crossed his features. He pounded into her with vigor and purpose.

She met him thrust for thrust, loving the way their bodies moved in tandem, in awe of the deeply binding intimacy. At that moment, he was hers, and she was his. Nothing would ever sever this bond, nothing would ever diminish it. She was capturing this moment in time so nothing and no one could ever take it from her.

Never again would she experience this closeness. Never again would she revel in such familiarity. Her heart was swelling to such an extent she thought it might burst through her chest. She loved this man, with all that she was, with all that she would ever be.

Tears welled in her eyes.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked, through clenched teeth, his breathing harsh and tortured.

“No. Never.” I love you. I love you. I love you. I always will.

Within her, sensations once again began to mount—

Then she was soaring into the heavens.

With a grunt, he thrust twice more, before collapsing on top of her, his arms closing around her as he pressed a kiss to the curve of her neck.

She’d never known such bliss for having had this . . . or such sorrow at knowing she’d never have him again.

He should have withdrawn, should have spilled his seed elsewhere. If he’d gotten her with child, he would know no regrets because tonight she had become his fully and completely and he’d become hers. She’d brought him to his knees. Even though he hadn’t been standing, she’d managed it all the same.

With her nestled against his side, his finger slowly drawing circles along her spine, he needed to tell her who he was, but not now. Not while she lay replete in his arms. He wanted to find a romantic way to break the news to her. Perhaps he’d take her for a ride in a hot air balloon. Up in the heavens, with the world at her feet, he would reveal the truth and promise her that even when she was on solid ground, he would lay the world at her feet. Anything at all that she wanted would be hers for the taking.