“I think so too.”

“We can make an appointment before I take you home but now I think you should get some rest,” he whispered as he ran his fingers softly through my hair.

“Okay,” I murmured as I felt myself slide into a deep slumber.

The day dragged on and soon night fell as I dozed on and off. Ky stayed with me at all time. When the nurse came in for her afternoon and nightly rounds I woke. Ky still sat in the chair beside my bed. He was frowning in his sleep, arms folded on his chest with a small pout on his lips.

“Your guy has been here since you came in,” the nurse whispered as she checked the dressing on my forehead wound. “He is a modern day knight in shining armor. I’ve never seen someone as distressed as he was when he carried you in here.”

“He is definitely my knight in shining armor.” I smiled at the nurse and turned back to watch Ky.

I could and would watch him for the rest of my life.

 

The moment I brought Eden home, I felt a shift between us. Our relationship was lighter, it was free, and it was unbinding. We spent our days on the couch watching movies, in the kitchen cooking, or playing endless games of Monopoly. We had locked ourselves away from the world, and it was everything we needed. We spent our time healing, loving, talking, and sleeping. After being stuck in the dark, my light was finally back, and she was shining like a diamond.

Eden continued to amaze me. For someone who had been to hell not once but twice, she was living life with a new vigor. For the first time she was making plans—she spoke of her dreams, her desires, and her needs.

While she was healing, I felt myself slipping.

Eden was the second chance at a life I had always wanted with her. She was my girl from the coffee house, my girl in the red jacket. She made me a better person; she gave me something to live for, to work for, and to love for.

She was my future.

It was as simple as that.

Yet I feel like I have failed her.

I couldn’t protect her.

“We really need to stop falling asleep on the couch,” Eden groaned beside me. “I am aching everywhere.”

I watched as she yawned and rubbed her eyes to life. She was adorable in the moments when she first woke up. My eyes traveled to the windows lining the far wall of the living room. It was sometime in the afternoon, and the sun was starting to fade. I hadn’t looked at a clock since we got home because time didn’t matter to us anymore.

“We have dinner with the parents tonight. I have to start sharing you with the world again.” I kissed her neck softly, her arm falling over my stomach lightly.

“I’ve loved that it’s just been us.” She rolled as best she could to face me. “I loved my Ky time.”

Eden’s bruises had started to fade and her rib was slowly healing, but when she would move too quickly or twist the wrong way, her face would grimace as pain hit her. I hated that I couldn’t do anything about it. It made me feel weak.

“I’ll go and run you a bath.” I suggested and shifted my body off the couch carefully as to not touch her.

When I reached the hall I turned back to look at her like I did every time I was away from her. It was instinct. I needed to make sure she was always in my sight; my need to make sure she was safe was sky high. Eden pulled herself off the couch and was now in the kitchen tidying up from lunch. She looked perfect in my kitchen. She looked perfect in my bedroom. She looked perfect in my apartment.

Her soft hums filled the quiet space as she finished fiddling around the kitchen. I could watch her forever. The moment she turned toward the living room, her eyes met mine. The sweetest of smiles hit her lips, and she chucked the dishtowel on the counter and made her way toward me. I watched her every step, taking in every sway of her hips. When she reached me, she grabbed my hands and brought them to her lips, placing delicate kisses on my knuckles.

The twinkle in her eyes danced, and she pulled me close so our bodies collided.

“Will you make love to me?” she whispered. “I miss my boyfriend making love to me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I admitted my deepest fears. The thought of hurting her, of causing her pain, was unimaginable and something that I didn’t want to risk.

Eden pulled on our joined hands, and we made our way down the hall toward our bedroom. The moment we got home from the hospital, I had unpacked her things and they now blended with mine in the drawers and her suitcase was packed away. My bedroom was now hers.

“You would never hurt me Ky.” She lifted the shirt she was wearing from her body and slid her panties down over her hips until she stood before me like a naked goddess. My eyes drank in her curves, the curves that had destroyed me so many times. My fists clenched at my sides as I took in her flawless skin that was still peppered with the bruises caused by Jeremy. My eyes slammed shut at the thought of him like they did every time I would get a flashback of what I saw. I felt like a weak prick. She was healing and dealing with everything, and if anything she had come out stronger than I could have ever imagined and I was the one that was struggling with it. I lowered myself onto the edge of the bed and my head fell into my hands in defeat.

“Ky look at me,” Eden begged, her voice sounding from in front of me.

My eyes moved up her body until I met her desperate gaze. The light flooding the room illuminated her body, allowing her skin to glow like the moon dancing on the ocean in the dead of the night.

“I am yours Ky. I’ve been yours since you screamed in my face at Delights and then bought me the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten.” Her lips curled into a smile.

“I was half expecting you to tell me to fuck off and call me a caveman.”

Eden’s hands cupped my face and her thumb ran over my lips. “You saved me that night Ky, and from that moment on, I needed you, and I will always need you.”

Eden pulled me up from the bed until I was standing before her. With confident hands she slid her palms under my shirt, pulled it over my head, and threw it to land with her discarded shirt.

“I am beyond in love with you Ky Crawford,” she murmured as her lips fell to my chest, littering the space over my heart with sweet kisses. “I am completely yours. I need you to have me. I need your hands on me. I want your lips on me. I need you to erase everything. Will you do that for me? Will you do that for us?”

“I love you too baby. I fell in love with you the moment those blue eyes met mine, from the moment when you grabbed onto me in Delights, and when you gave yourself completely to me. I knew then that my life would revolve around you and you only. I don’t feel like I’m breathing without you beside me.”

I crawled up the bed and collapsed against the cast-iron headboard, awaiting Eden’s next move. Her eyes roamed over my bare chest before slowly and carefully following my lead and moving onto the bed. She straddled my hips and sat before me, every inhibition she’d ever shown previously had now extinguished. Her fingernails ran over my stomach causing my muscles to clench and my eyes fluttered shut under the sensation. Confident hands fell to my jeans, and she undid my buttons and slid my jeans over my thighs.

“I’m not Eden without Ky,” she whispered into the air heavy with desire. “It’s as simple as that. I don’t just love you Ky, it's beyond that. It’s unexplainable. You’ve saved me. You’ve risked everything for me. You stopped living for me, and I am ready to live. I'm ready to give everything and more to you. You wanted me to learn to say no, but when it’s you, every time it will be yes.”

The moment she lowered herself onto me, I finally felt free. Her head tilted back at the sensation of us connecting in a way that I’ve never imagined. This was freedom; this was pure and utter contentment. This was a new beginning.