When goose bumps rose on her skin, excitement surged through his blood. She still wanted him; he just needed to break through the wall of fear and contentment that she’d erected over the months.

“W-what?”

“The question, babe.” His tongue touched her lobe. “If the answer’s your mere existence, what’s the question?” Gently, he bit the sensitive skin and relished the tiny tremor that shook her body.

“Danny, I-I have no idea what you’re doing,” Julie faltered, her lids lowered, and her tongue glided across her bottom lip.

“Yeah, you do. You’ve just forgotten.” As he whispered in her ear, his hand lowered to her denim-clad thigh. “I’m here to remind you, honey. The question—what part of you makes my life complete?”

Her body stilled beneath his touch.

“The answer—your mere existence.”

“Danny…” She sighed, her body all but melting with his touch.

The husband inside him exhaled with relief while his primal side roared with unrestrained triumph. “Let me give you what you need.” He stood, slid his arm under her legs, and effortlessly cradled her as he walked them upstairs. “I’m your husband, babe, your man. I’ll gladly watch game shows with you forever. But right now, only thing I wanna do is strip you naked and lick every inch of your gorgeous fucking body.” He lowered her to her feet, flicked on the bedroom light, and stared at the woman before him. “Been so long since you felt pleasure, too damn long. You need it, and I can’t wait to give it.”

If her pale pink cheeks and glossy eyes weren’t enough of an indicator that she was aroused, then the way her breath hitched with each word he spoke certainly was.

“Oh, God,” Julie panted as her tongue caressed her bottom lip.

“Good place to start, but it’ll be my name you’re screaming when you’re coming on my face.” Danny winked as he popped the button and slid down the zipper on Julie’s jeans.

Her audible swallow had him choking back a chuckle. Fuck me. He subtly adjusted himself. It’s been so long, I might come from my own damn dirty talk. Danny cupped Julie’s cheek, staring into her eyes for a brief second before claiming her mouth. Coming home. That was how it felt to press his lips to hers. Scorching, claiming desire clawed through his body, screaming for release. His hand left her cheek and moved to the back of her neck, fisting the strawberry-blonde locks as his other hand lowered them both to the bed. Without breaking their kiss, he pushed the jeans down her hips and thighs, then used his sock-covered foot to remove them completely.

He ran his palm up the length of her outer thigh. “Your skin, Christ, so soft, so smooth. Missed touching you, honey, being wrapped up in all this silk.”

On his knees, he slid her legs farther apart, anticipation building with his every touch. Her shirt was a long blue number that she changed into when she got home from work. Soft and shapeless, covering her from torso to hips, it left nothing but a blue triangle of cotton panty exposed. Not the lacy thongs she used to wear, but he wasn’t complaining. Innocent…sexy. She could try to hide it, but she’d always be the sexiest woman he’d known. Leaning forward, he touched her over her underwear. His middle finger traced the seam of her pussy, immediately earning him a throaty moan.

“That’s it, honey. I can feel you getting wet for me already. Sweet little spot here on your panties.”

He went to lift her shirt, and her body stiffened. Her breath paused, and her eyes tightened, but not tight enough to hold in the tear that rolled off the side of her face.

“Julie?” His low question was followed by an even lower request. “Open your eyes and talk to me.” But it was more of a demand than a request. They’d come too far. No way would he allow her to bury her head back in the sands of denial.

“I can’t do this.” Julie opened her eyes, stared at her trembling hands, and cried. “All you talk about is giving me what I need. You keep standing by my side, supporting me. I can’t give you what you need. I can’t be what you deserve.” She wiped at her rapidly falling tears. “I’m not the woman you fell in love with anymore, and I never will be again.”

His heart splintered with each word that left her mouth.

“I’m barely a woman at all.” Her half-naked body was racked with sobs as she sat up and pulled into herself—knees up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

“So blind, honey. So goddamn smart, yet still so blind,” Danny muttered as he stood and moved toward their dresser. He grabbed his wallet and the handheld silver mirror that had belonged to her mother and returned to sit at Julie’s feet. “My love, since the day I met you, you were everything I needed and more than I deserved.” He stroked the soft bare skin of Julie’s arm. “What do you see when you look in this?”

He showed her her reflection in the mirror and had to refrain from roaring in frustration when she quickly flinched at her image.

“I see a broken woman.” The tremble in her words increased. “I see ugly, worthless, and unnecessary. I see someone who can never give you the children that we dreamed of, and it kills me.”

Her truth felt like a knife slicing through his soul. But he had asked. He had brought her to the cliff and it was time to put on their parachutes and jump together, or he feared she would fall alone. He wasn’t sure either of them would survive a solo fall.

Danny opened his wallet and pulled out a small photo. It had been taken by Chester the summer they met. “This is what I see when I look at you. The beautiful woman who stole my heart and captured my soul, who completes me in every fucking way. Your mere existence, Julie…your mere fucking existence…” His voice was clogged with emotion. “You’re right, Jules, you aren’t the woman I fell in love with, and guess what?”

Her eyes lifted to his.

“I’m not the same fucking man.” Shoving his fingers back into his wallet, he pulled out the plastic hospital bracelet that Julie had worn four and a half months prior. “See that? This reminds me every fucking day that I nearly lost you. I nearly had my wife, my goddamn lifeline, ripped away from me. Think the punk kid I was when we met would’ve been able to handle that? Because this man”—he pressed his finger to his chest—“would have never gotten over it. I thank God every fucking day they got you to the hospital in time. Yes, honey, we lost our child. We did. And I grieve that loss, but I grieve it with you, for you, for us. Without you, there would be no fucking life, no me. You understand?”

Her eyes stayed focused on the floral comforter, but she nodded.

“Julie?” Danny put his knuckle under her chin and tilted her head back so he could see her eyes. “We got the green light months ago from the doctor”—his eyes raked over her semi-naked body—“but you needed more time and I needed you comfortable. I gave you space, babe, but I see the space was misinterpreted.”

“It wasn’t you, Danny,” Julie protested. “I know you love me…it’s just…” She stretched the long shirt farther over her knees. “I have scars, physical reminders of what I can never do, never give you.”

Her scars had never crossed his mind—maybe because he hadn’t seen them since the hospital, maybe because he wouldn’t find them unattractive. Either way, they weren’t a factor for him. He needed to prove that to her and make her see past her skin and into the woman he saw daily. Moving his hand to her exposed thigh, his thumb drew small circles over the satiny skin before it climbed up her hip, waist, and torso and peeled the shirt from her body. Reaching behind her, he unclasped her simple cotton bra, then sat back on his haunches and stared.

“You’re beautiful. All woman,” he growled, his dick hardening by the second. “Every single inch of you, and lucky son of a bitch that I am, it was all made for me.” She was still tense but no longer crying, and Danny swiped the stray tears from her cheeks and sucked the saltiness off his thumbs. “All you, mine.”