Chapter 12 Knox
Eight years of anger. Eight years of hating him for the choice he'd forced me to make. And here I was, standing in his living room, offering him a clean slate.
For her. Everything I did now was for her.
Cal's grip was firm, his eyes tired but steady. We held the shake for a beat longer than necessary, two men acknowledging the weight of what had passed between us.
"I should get some sleep," Cal said, releasing my hand. "Early shift tomorrow." He looked at Daisy, something soft and sad in his expression. "We'll talk more. When you're ready."
She nodded. "When I'm ready."
He headed upstairs without another word. The cabin settled into silence, just the crackle of the fire and the sound of our breathing.
Daisy turned to me. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks streaked with tears she hadn't bothered to wipe away. She looked exhausted and beautiful and like she'd been through a war.
"Take me somewhere," she said quietly. "Anywhere. I can't stay here tonight."
I didn't hesitate. "Come on."
***
My cabin wasn't much. It was small, simple and built for one person who didn't need much. But it was mine, and tonight, I was bringing her into it for the first time.
She stood in the doorway, looking around at the sparse furniture, the woodstove in the corner, the books stacked on every available surface. I watched her take it in, suddenly self-conscious in a way I hadn't been in years.
"It's not much," I said.
"It's you." She walked to the bookshelf, trailing her fingers along the spines. "I didn't know you read this much."
"Started a few years ago. Figured if I was going to prove I wasn't just some dumb troublemaker, I should probably educate myself."
She pulled out a worn copy of Little Women. "This was my mom's favorite."
"I know." The words were out before I could stop them.
She turned, surprise playing across her face. "How do you know that?"
"You told me. That summer. We were at the lake, and you were talking about her, about how she used to read to you when you were little." I shrugged, trying to play it off. "I bought a copy after you left. Read it cover to cover. Tried to understand why she loved it so much."
Daisy stared at me. Then she set the book down and crossed the room in three quick steps.
She kissed me like she was trying to pour everything she couldn't say into the contact. Gratitude and grief and love so fierce it burned. I caught her, pulled her close, let her take whatever she needed.
"Knox." She pulled back, her hands fisted in my shirt. "I need you. Not just... I need to feel something good. After everything tonight. I need you to make me feel good."
"Daisy." I cupped her face in my hands. "You've been through a lot. We don't have to..."
"I know we don't have to." Her eyes were fierce. "I want to. I want you. I want to feel like I'm finally exactly where I'm supposed to be."
I searched her face for doubt and found none.
I kissed her again, slower this time. Deeper. Letting the heat build between us as she melted into me, her body soft and warm against mine, her fingers working the buttons of my shirt.
I walked her backward toward the bedroom, our mouths never breaking contact. She stumbled slightly at the threshold, and I caught her, lifting her easily as her legs wound around my hips, and carried her the rest of the way.
The bedroom was dark except for moonlight streaming through the window. I laid her on the bed and stood back, drinking in the sight of her. Hair spread across my pillow. Lips swollen from kissing. Eyes dark with want.
"I've been imagining this for eight years. You. In my bed." I pulled my shirt over my head, tossed it aside. "Let me look."
Her breath caught as I climbed onto the bed, settling over her. I kissed her jaw, her neck, the sensitive spot behind her ear that made her shiver.
"Eight years," I murmured against her skin. "Eight years of wanting you in my bed. Dreaming about you. Waking up hard and aching because you weren't there."
She whimpered, arching into me. "Knox."
"I'm going to take my time tonight." I found the hem of her shirt and pulled it up, revealing inch after inch of soft skin. "I'm going to worship every part of you. Make up for every night I should have been doing this and wasn't."
"We don't have to make up for anything." She lifted her hips so I could pull off her jeans. "We're here now. That's what matters."
I kissed the curve of her stomach, the swell of her hip. "I’m still going to take my time this time."
I unhooked her bra and tossed it aside, then lowered my mouth to her breast. She gasped, her hands flying to my hair, holding me against her as I licked and sucked and teased.
"More," she breathed. "Please."
I moved lower. Kissed my way down her stomach. Hooked my fingers in her underwear and dragged them down her legs.
She was bare before me, spread out in the moonlight like an offering. I knelt between her thighs, looking up at her.
"Beautiful," I said. "So goddamn beautiful."
Her voice was desperate. "Stop teasing."
I lowered my mouth to her.
She cried out, her hips bucking, her hands fisting in the sheets. I held her down and took my time, learning her all over again. Every stroke of my tongue, every press of my lips, pulling sounds from her that I wanted to hear for the rest of my life.
"Oh God." She was shaking, her thighs trembling around my head. "Right there. Don't stop. Don't..."
I didn't stop. I pushed two fingers inside her, curling them just right, and felt her shatter. She came with my name on her lips, her body arching off the bed, her hands gripping my hair hard enough to hurt.
I worked her through it, gentling my touch as she came down. When she finally went limp, I kissed my way back up her body and found her mouth again.
Her eyes were glazed as I stood up before her, her breath coming in short gasps.
I reached for my nightstand, grabbing a condom and rolling it on. "I'm not done with you yet. Tonight, we get to play a little longer."
I Kissed her hip, as she welcomed me into the cradle of her legs, as I positioned myself at her entrance and pushed inside slowly, watching her face. Her eyes fluttered closed, her lips parting on a moan.
"Look at me," I said.
Her eyes opened. We stared at each other as I filled her completely, as our bodies joined in a way that felt like coming home.
"I love you." She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper. "I never stopped. Even when I thought I hated you. Even when I tried to forget. It was always you."
I started to move. Long, slow strokes that made us both groan. I wanted to make it last, and wanted to draw out every second, but she felt too good.
"Faster," she gasped. "I need..."
"I know what you need."
I gave it to her. Harder. Deeper. My hips snapping against hers, driving into her with eight years of pent-up desperation. She matched me thrust for thrust, her nails raking down my back, her moans filling the room.
"Knox." She was close again, I could feel it. The way she tightened around me, the way her breath caught.
"Come for me Daisy." I reached between us, found the spot that made her scream. "Let go. I've got you."
She shattered, clenching around me so hard I saw stars. I followed her over the edge, burying myself deep, her name a groan against her throat as I came apart.
We lay tangled together in the aftermath, sweat-slicked and breathing hard. I rolled to the side, pulling her with me, tucking her against my chest where she fit like she'd been made for me.
"Stay," I said. "Tonight. Every night. Stay."
She pressed a kiss to my chest. "I'm not going anywhere."
***
We slept. Woke. Made love again in the darkness, slow and tender this time, learning each other all over again.
When the sun came up, I lay watching her sleep. Her face was relaxed, peaceful in a way I hadn't seen since she'd come back to Hollow Peak. The tension that had lived in her shoulders was gone.
She was here. In my bed. In my life.
After everything, she was finally here.
Her eyes fluttered open. She smiled when she saw me watching her.
"Creepy," she murmured. She stretched, her body pressing against mine in ways that made my blood heat. "What time is it?"
"Early. You don't have to be anywhere."
"I have to be here." She curled closer, her hand resting over my heart. "Right here. With you."
I kissed her forehead. Her nose. The corner of her mouth.
"What happens now?" she asked quietly. "With us. With Cal. With everything."
I pulled back enough to meet her eyes. "I'm done making decisions without you. From now on, we're partners. Whatever comes, we face it together."
She smiled. "I like that."
I rolled her onto her back, settling between her thighs. "I should probably warn you, I'm a lot to handle."
She laughed, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I think I can manage."
I kissed her, deep and slow, and let the morning disappear into something better.
For the first time in eight years, I wasn't waiting for something.
I had everything I wanted.