Broken(64)

But did she dare give in to her secret longings and give their love one more chance? Did she even have the courage to love him as whole-heartedly as she once had? Raising her head to look into the depths of his beautiful blue eyes, the answer to her question was answered and then some.

“There’s more.”

“There is?” She dug into the box and pulled out a velvet burgundy box. With shaking hands she opened it to reveal a platinum ring with a single teardrop diamond in the middle. It was beautiful.

“I bought that when you went away to Dallas. I was hoping to give it to you one day.” He took it out of her hand and placed it back in the box. “But I want you to wear it, only when you’re ready.”

She moistened her parched lips with the tip of her tongue. “Cade, I don’t know what to say.”

Removing the box of keepsakes from her lap and carelessly tossing it aside, he scooted closer to her before capturing her face between his hands. “Say you love me, because I never stopped loving you. If you need more time, I’m okay with that. If we never get past the hand holding and kissing stage, I’m okay with that as well. I just need you in my life. Don’t shut me out again.”

She shut her eyes briefly to savor the wonderful sound of his words. Never in a million years would she have dreamed Cade could love her with the same intensity he once had, but deep down, that part of her which still clung to the memory of her trauma made her hesitate to say the words she knew he wanted to hear, but only briefly. “I do love you, Cade. I always have, but—”

Cutting off her words by covering her mouth with his, he swallowed her words of doubt, easing her fears through the sheer will of his love for her. Finally he lifted his head, leaving her breathlessly panting for more. “No buts. We love each other, the rest we’ll work out as we go along.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“I’ll let you set the pace.”

She licked her lips again and raked her fingers through her hair. “And you’ll go along with anything I want?”

“Anything, sweetheart.”

“And you wouldn’t mind if we didn’t make love for a while?”

“No. Just having you in my life again means more to me than you can know.”

“In that case, I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes?”

“Make love to me. Tonight. Right now.”





Chapter Twelve

Cade shook his head, not quite sure if he’d heard Jocelyn correctly. Did she just whisper the words which had featured prominently in his secret fantasies for longer than he could remember? Shifting on the bed, Cade willed his cock to go back down, because it had jumped to attention upon her declaration.

He took a deep breath to calm the raging hormones swirling within him. He drank in her beauty, unable to reconcile this was actually reality and not a dream. He allowed his gaze to roam every curve and line of her face, which had been etched not only in his memory but in his heart. She was his every fantasy come true. The sudden urge to pinch himself to verify he wasn’t dreaming took over.

More than anything, he wanted to take her in his arms and remind her how beautiful the act of physical love could be between a man and a woman. He wanted to wipe away the pain, the ugliness, the heartache of the trauma inflicted on her.

He wouldn’t dare insult Jocelyn by telling her he understood exactly what she was feeling, what she was going through, but he did want to be there for her. To be that shoulder she could lean on, that ear to listen when she needed to talk. The strong arms that held her up when she could no longer stand, the strength when she was weak and the rock she could always depend on.