I laughed, pulling out the containers Mona had packed. “Now who’s the princess?” I teased.

Kade grinned at my joke, the genuine smile wiping away the hard edge in his eyes. I quickly glanced away, my heart hurting because he looked like that so rarely.

“So let’s see,” I said, removing lids. “Fried chicken, grapes, cheese, strawberries, and brownies. Yum.” I reached farther into the basket and pulled out a cold bottle of white wine. “It seems she remembered everything,” I said, my eyebrows climbing. Surely, Mona wasn’t playing matchmaker?

“Except silverware,” Kade said, peering into the basket.

“You don’t need silverware with fried chicken,” I said, rolling my eyes.

I handed Kade a corkscrew from the basket and he opened the wine. We ate, passing the wine back and forth like teenagers sneaking a bottle of booze. I teased him about his reluctance to get his fingers greasy with the chicken.

“You are such a baby,” I said, grinning. I clambered over to him and held up a chicken leg. “Some things are meant to be a little messy.”

His grin turned wicked. “I don’t mind messy. In fact, I have a whole list of activities that are meant to be messy. Coincidentally, they all involve you. Clothing optional.”

My pulse quickened and my smile faded.

I was really going to miss him.

Kade’s grin melted away, too, as we stared into each other’s eyes. I dropped the chicken leg, leaned forward, and kissed him.

I could taste the wine on his tongue and I buried my fingers in his silky hair. My body pressed against his and his arms crept around my waist to pull me closer.

When he lifted his head, we were both breathing hard. My hands moved to cup his face. The soft shadow on his jaw was a gentle abrasion against my lips as I pressed my mouth to his cheek. I brushed kisses along his jaw and down his neck, my fingers moving to the buttons of his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“You have to ask?” I murmured against his skin, freeing more buttons.

His hands grabbed mine, stilling them.

“I heard you and Blane arguing,” he said. “Is this about getting back at him?”

I couldn’t blame him for asking. The way the three of us were tied so closely together, it was an obvious question.

“This has nothing to do with him,” I said, looking into his eyes. “It’s about us. You and me.”

I reached behind me and slid down the zipper of my dress. Standing, I dragged it over my head and tossed it aside. The look on Kade’s face made me glad I’d worn a lace bra and panty set that was the palest ivory, nearly matching my skin.

I straddled his legs and settled myself on his lap. His hands automatically moved to my back. I pressed my mouth to his once, twice, then looked into the ocean-blue of his eyes.

“Are you going to make me ask?”

My question seemed to break through Kade’s stunned immobility, his mouth taking mine with a fevered desperation.

It was an easy decision, wanting Kade to make love to me. I loved him, though I couldn’t tell him that. Blane and I were over, and there was no future for Kade and me. I had a brief moment of regret. That day I’d first seen him in the courthouse… Maybe if I’d said something then—

But what was past was past and I couldn’t change it. What I could do was make a memory.

Sunlight filtered through the trees as the last of the clouds drifted away, bathing us in a warm glow. Kade’s hair shone like a raven’s wing in the light. His hand brushed my hair as he kissed me. I pushed his shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. His hands left me briefly while he shrugged off the garment, then were back and sliding up my back to unhook my bra.

I broke off our kiss, smiling softly at him as I tossed aside the scrap of lace. Our bodies pressed together and my breath caught at the feel of his skin against mine. Hearing Kade’s groan, I guessed he felt the same.

He touched me so carefully, so reverently, as if I weren’t real, that I might disappear at any moment. His head bent to my breast, the heat of his mouth closing over my nipple. The gentle suction of his mouth sent a direct current along the nerve tracing between my legs and I moaned.

Kade licked and stroked and caressed me as though we had an eternity together, until I felt as though my skin was on fire from the inside out. My panties were long gone, removed at some point by Kade, and now I lay on my back, his hand between my legs.

I clutched at his shoulders as he kissed me, the strokes of his fingers making my thighs tremble. His mouth moved to my breast again, his tongue doing things that made me whimper. His hand moved faster between my parted thighs, my knees bent and open shamelessly wide.

Kade’s head lifted and I felt his eyes on me, but I couldn’t stop the wave of intense pleasure that crashed over me and I cried out with the force of it.

When I opened my eyes, Kade was watching. Embarrassment struck and heat flooded my cheeks.

“You look like a goddess,” he said roughly. “The sunlight on your skin, your breasts. Your hair like a river of gold against the grass. This”—his hand moved, a long finger still inside me—“hot and wet for me, like liquid silk.”

I found his belt and loosened it, undoing the button and sliding the zipper down. Kade helped me get rid of his pants and my mouth ran dry at the sight of him, fully naked in the warm sunshine.

The breeze rustled the trees, cooling my overheated skin. I went willingly into Kade’s arms, our mouths melding in mutual need.

He lay down on his back, pulling me astride him. “It’s only fair my skin take the brunt of this, princess,” he said. “My hide’s thicker than yours.”

He was hard and heavy in my hand, his eyes drifting closed at my touch, his brow creasing as though he struggled for control. I lifted myself up and sank down onto him, going slowly when I felt a twinge inside, letting my body relax to accommodate his length.

I memorized how Kade looked lying on the summer grass. His chest was carved muscle, the faint scars that marked his past nearly invisible in the sunshine. His eyes were so blue, they seemed to reflect the sky overhead, the look in them as he watched me something I knew I’d never forget.

Kade’s hands settled on my hips, keeping me steady and I rose and fell on him. Sweat broke out on his forehead as I rose until he was nearly outside my body, then slowly sank back down. A groan left his lips and I smiled.

“I take that back,” he said. “You’re not a princess but an evil witch, bent on torturing me.”

I repeated the move, my body molded to his size now so it wasn’t uncomfortable. His fingers dug into my hips so hard, I knew I’d have marks later, not that I cared.

“I wouldn’t want you to, you know”—I bent down to whisper in his ear—“forget.” I was teasing but the look on Kade’s face was serious when he replied.

“As if I could ever forget you.”

I sat back up, pushing him in deeper. My hands splayed across his chest as I moved faster on him.

“That’s right,” he encouraged. “Don’t stop, baby.” His grip tightened, his hips thrusting up hard into me.

Something close to a scream ripped from my throat as my body convulsed around his. Kade thrust again, and again, then he shouted his climax even as mine kept going, spurred on by the spasms of his cock inside me.

Afterward, I was boneless, falling forward to rest on his chest, my head tucked into his neck. Both our bodies were slick with sweat and I was glad of the breeze. Kade’s hand brushed my hair back from my face, his fingers trailing through the long strands to draw lazy patterns on my back.

“I told you I don’t mind certain messes,” Kade said.

I smiled. “So you did.”

We lay like that for a while, our bodies still joined, our hearts beating in unison. If I could have, I’d have taken the moment and pressed it between the pages of my mind, to keep it with me, this fresh and pure, always. I committed to memory the smell of the balmy breeze as it drifted across us, the feel of Kade’s body, warm and strong underneath mine, the sound of his heartbeat, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

Finally, I rose, pressing a kiss to Kade’s lips before I got to my feet. I dragged my dress over my head while Kade pulled on his pants. I held my hair out of the way while he slid the zipper up the back of my dress. He kissed my neck, his arms crossing over my stomach as he held me.

“I need to get to work,” I said.

“Which reminds me, I have something for you.”

I turned around and he handed me a key.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“Your apartment is done. That’s a key to the new lock.”

My stomach seemed to drop. I hadn’t been prepared for this, though I should have been. Of course it was time to go home now. Time to remove myself from Blane’s and Kade’s lives. My hand fisted around the key, its edges biting into my palm.

“Thank you,” I said, avoiding his eyes and hurriedly blinking back the tears in mine.

“You okay?” Kade asked.

“Fine,” I said, grabbing my bra and shoes. I didn’t see my panties anywhere. “Just need to get going. Tell Mona thanks for the picnic.”

Kade grabbed me around the waist and kissed me until I was breathless. “I’ll come by later,” he murmured against my lips. “After I take care of James.”

“Don’t kill him,” I said. “Promise me.”

“I don’t like making promises,” he said.

“Promise me this,” I persisted, looking into his eyes.

Kade’s lips pressed in a thin line and he didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded. I smiled softly and gave him one last tight squeeze.