Page 139 of Outcast’s Return

“It must be so hard,” I tell my man. “But you have me, Fabien. We’re here. We’re safe. We’re together.”

With my words, Fabien takes a deep breath.

He’s been fighting for so very long, ever since the day I sent him that email, and, like I’ve told him, he’s finally letting go.

His eyes don’t leave mine.

“Thank you, Jolie.”

“To us,” I say, raising my glass.

Fabien raises his, and we toast each other.

“To us. To my woman. To our future.”

I look deep into his eyes and know that this man, who has planned this vacation and who trusts me with his soul, is the man I will spend forever with.

56

JOLIE

Fabien kisses me when we close the door to our suite. One hand passes through my hair as he leans me back against the wall, his other hand pressing against the wall above my head. The movement is so gently possessive that I melt into his control.

It’s everything he’s tried to express in words.

What unfolds is a stripping of my clothes, even as he continues to kiss me. It’s like a confession, and I’m hit with the realization...

I’m kissing a man who simply can’t get enough of me.

Oh.

And then my own hands are traveling, starting to desperately strip him in return. I feel those muscles, honed from years of conditioning. Of fighting. Of struggling for his place in the world. Touching his skin and his taut figure makes him even more real. Solid, even with the wound and the physical pain and the knife he took for our family.

We’re skin against skin. Heat against heat. Despite his strength, there is a tender fragility under it all. As with me. He trusts me with his vulnerability. We’ve gone through hell together, and now we’re reclaiming ourselves with each other.

Before I totally lose myself in his masculine rawness, Fabien breaks away from the kiss and cups my chin between his fingers. His thumb traces along the edge of my jaw. I’ve never felt more seen or more desired.

Or chosen.

Relief floods me. Relief that he is here, alive. Relief that we are together again. Relief that so much pain has been eased and healed.

The air crackles.

And then...

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Angel.”

His deep, resonant whisper, coming from the depths of his very soul, reverberates within mine.

I can’t help but notice there’s a slight scent of jasmine in the air and the calming sound of water running over stone coming from the river outside. The serenity of the sacred city.

It’s calm out there, but it’s a thunderstorm in here, and that contrast is so damn sexy.

And what happens next is even sexier. Fabien takes me by the hand to our bedroom.

And then we make love.

* * *