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"Don't you dare tell me you're too injured."

"I was going to say I love you."

I paused. For the first time, I was speechless.

"Oh."

"But I am also injured."

"We'll work around it."

We did.

I didn't let him take over, not that he tried to—not really—but I made sure of it anyway. My hands found the edge of his shirt first, and I pulled him closer instead of waiting to be pulled. I let him tell me exactly where it hurt to the touch and exactly where it didn't.

Every bit of that moment was mine to choose, the same as it had been in the back of the laundromat and in the Between.

And I chose him.

I chose his mouth against my throat. I chose his careful hands mapping every inch of me like he was making sure I was real. I most assuredly chose the low sound he made when I finally got that ruined shirt off him and pressed my palm flat against warm, solid skin that hadn't disappeared into the Between after all.

We moved slow, careful of bruises and stitches and one very unhappy ankle. We laughed more than once as we adjusted for all the aches and pains.

Then, somewhere in the middle of all that careful, tender chaos, slow gave way to something hungrier. Something that had been building since long before tonight... Something that had been there since the swamp, since a tomb, for four months of watching each other and not quite getting to just be together.

I knew the moment Kai tried to roll us onto our sides that (A) I was really glad the salesman had convinced me to get the extra-deep seats on my massive, overstuffed couch, and (B) my sexy-as-all-get-out Mate was about to throw all caution, along with Maeve's threat of bodily harm if he ripped his stitches, to the wind and crawl on top of me so we could make love.

But I had another plan, and he was just in enough pain that I was sure I could pull it off.

Rolling him onto his back even as he grumbled into our kiss, I quickly, but gently, climbed onto his body and straddled his thighs. Grinning from ear to ear when I pulled away from our kiss, I let him get as far as, "Martha," before I Magicked away the last of our clothes and lifted my bottom from his thighs.

Carefully taking his extremely hard cock into my hands, I positioned it perfectly and slid down on it. Kai and I blissfully sighed in unison. Our eyes met. We didn't have to speak. Our hearts and our bodies knew what to do.

I lifted my butt high enough that only the tip of him remained inside me. Kai groaned, and his hands tightened on my hips.

I smiled, winked, and said, "You just lay there, my amazing Fairy King. Let me show you how much I love you."

"And I love you, Martha Dellencourt."

No sooner had he spoken the words than I slid back down until our bodies met and immediately lifted again. Over and over, I moved up and down, creating a rhythm that he met thrust for thrust.

I thought about slowing down. I didn't want to hurt him. But Kai was having none of it.

Holding my hips even tighter, his gorgeous blue eyes sparkled with equal parts love and mischief a split second before he panted, "D-Don't you d-dare. If-If you stop... I-I will spon-spontaneously combust."

"We can't have that," was all I could say before passion took over.

I upped our tempo. Kai's eyes nearly rolled back in his head. Then I leaned back and rolled my hips slightly. The change in position was all we both needed.

With the next thrust, we came together, shouting, "I love you," as one.

Floating back to Earth after a mind-blowing climax, I slid off Kai's lap, put my head on his chest, and looked up at the man the Universe had made for me. After a few minutes, I grabbed the quilt off the back of the couch and wrapped it around myself as I got up and climbed over the back of the couch.

Coming around to the front, I made absolutely sure Kai wasn't lying on his sprained ankle, or his bruised ribs, or his burnt hand, which took some maneuvering given how much of him there generally was. When I was sure he was okay, I climbed back to my spot between Kai and the couch and cuddled with my man.

With my head on his chest, I listened to his heartbeat slow back down to something ordinary. It was strong, just like my Mate.

For four months, I'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Some new disaster, some new whisper in Barney's journal, some new reason everybody had to look at me like the sky was about to fall.