Chapter 8

He settles back into the couch, taking a sip of his wine. "I don't know how to convince her that Middleton is the right place for her."

Her hand interlaces with his at her thigh, and she rests her head on his shoulder. "What was it that convinced you?"

"Besides Martha's Pumpkin Pie?" She laughs. "Besides that."

He presses his lips to the top of her head. "You." It's a minute before her head lifts from his shoulder and her gaze meets his. "You're what convinced me."

"Me?"

"You," he repeats, nodding his head.

...

"I wanted to do something to show you how much that's meant to me." As he holds her gaze, she's certain of the feelings that are settling inside of her. The ones that she's felt for a while now.

His hand slides down to take her own in his. "I appreciate it, I do, but I want you to know that you don't have to thank me, and you don't have to have it all together with me; you can let me carry the load sometimes, Cassie. "

...

Sliding his hand up her back, he settles at the nape of her neck, pressing his lips to the side of her head. "Let me carry this, Cassie," he whispers.

She turns into him and he cradles her in his arms, holding her together as she falls apart.

...

"Cassie...I love you. I'm in love with you and..." he sits on the bed, shaking his head. "...just let me love you," he pleads gently. "Just let me love you."

Tears well in her eyes and he reaches out to catch them with the pad of his thumb. "I love you too," she says softly.

He exhales, smiling. "That's a good thing, huh?"

She laughs a little, scooting across the bed to press her lips to his. "Yeah."

...

Reaching for his tie, she tugs him a little closer. "When I woke up this morning, I was alone and I realized how much I really liked having you next to me."

His hands coast up and down her thighs, as he steps closer. "Yeah?"

She nods. "And I was hoping we could do that again." There's a flicker in his gaze, one she's not sure she's ever seen before.

It causes a warmth to unfurl inside of her.

"Your place or mine?" He questions, hooking his hands under her knees, tugging her to the edge of the exam table. He steps into her and his gaze holds her own as he gauges her reaction.

She can feel the change between them, the one that causes a desire inside of her only he can seem to satisfy.

Hooking her legs around him, she draws him in closer. "You pick."

His eyebrow cocks in that way it does when she's caught him off guard.

"My pick, huh?"

She nods again and his hand is at the nape of her neck pulling her into a kiss much like he did at the lake house. Though this one is different.

She's not going to hold back this time.

She's got his face in her hands and when the smile spreads across his lips, she melts just a little.

"Maybe I'll surprise you," he breathes against her mouth. His hands slide underneath her jacket and her blouse glides against her skin as he explores gently up and down her ribcage.

"I'd like to see you try," she murmurs against his lips. A deep chuckle rumbles in his chest and she can feel in reverberate inside her.

"I won't stop until I do."

She smiles against his lips. "I'm hoping you don't."

...

Dragging his fingers down her chest, he circles her belly button before gliding over the delicate lace at the apex of her thighs. "And here?" Her eyes close and he leans in, his lips close, but never touching. "Do you want my hands here?" He whispers in her ear.

"Yes." She inhales sharply as his hand slides beneath the lace and through her folds.

...

"mmmmmm," she hums against his lips. "You taste like chocolate." "That's a good thing, right?" He questions.

"A very good thing."

...

He's there, under the spray and there's such an ache in her chest that she's sliding back the shower door and into him. She's caught him off guard for a split second, and then he's sliding the door closed around them, tucking her into his chest.

The water seeps into her clothes, into her hair.

The sob travels up her throat and through her lips. It reverberates around them, mingling with the water that hits the titled floor.

She buries her face into his neck, letting herself feel the devastation, the grief she narrowly escaped tonight.

He holds her so tightly next him and yet it's not close enough. She pushes into him and his steps falter a bit, before he catches himself.

"I'm here, Cass," he reassures. "I'm right here." His hand cradles the back of her head while the other slips under her shirt.

It calms the riot of emotions inside of her. "I'm here," he repeats gently.

...

She wakes, grasping at air as if she were resurfacing from an extended period under water. Her heart is racing in her chest, her body yearning and heated. Her mind is racing, images as if on fast forward replaying in her mind.

She remembers. Weld.

Her shop.

Sam.

Sam.

Reaching for the light on her nightstand, she turns it on grabbing her phone. It's two in the morning and if she wasn't witness to his argument with Linda, she'd assume he was asleep.

But she knows him better than that.

Opening a new message, she sends him a text.

Meet me out front of your house.

...

He had been pouring over legal documents and their custody agreement when his phone chimes from his night stand. The message from Cassie flashes across the top of his iPad.

Meet me out front of your house.

He closes out the app to open his messenger when another text come through.

Right now.

Tossing the iPad on the bed, he scrambles to his feet. He makes his way as quietly as he possibly can downstairs. As he approaches the front door, he flicks on the outside light. He can see her standing there on the other side. He unlocks the door to greet her standing on his doorstep.

"Hey...it's two in the morning...is everything alright?" The night air is cool and forces himself to focus on her eyes, and not the way the breeze catches her nightgown.

"I remember."

It's as if his brain has short circuited. "...What did you just say?"

She smiles, nodding. "I remember, Sam. All of it. Weld, my shop...you. Us."

He deflates with relief and it's so visceral that he can feel his throat tighten, the wetness in his eyes. "Yeah?" He manages to choke out.

Cassie nods, wiping at her eyes and he's hauling her into his arms. She laughs a little in shock and his forehead drops to her shoulder, breathing her in.

Exhaling for what feels like the first time in weeks.

Her fingers sift through the hair at the nape of his neck soothingly before pulling back to meet his gaze.
The recognition is there in her eyes and as her hands frame his face, he latches on to her wrists. "I've missed the hell out of you, Cassie."

"I know," she says softly. "I love you, Sam." She leans in, pressing her lips to his.

His knees nearly give out.

Framing his hands around her face, he mets her kiss just as gently.

He feels like he's going to pass out, his heart is beating so fast. He pulls back, needing to look in her eyes again. "It's really you?"

"Yeah."

The wind picks up and they both shiver, Cassie stepping into him. "Why don't we go inside?"

She laughs, nodding.

He locks the door behind them, following her into the kitchen. She immediately moves about his kitchen, making them a pot of tea and the familiarity of it all causes his chest to tighten.

"How?" He manages question.

She fills the tea pot, setting it on his stove before turning to face him. "I'm not sure...I was a sleep and I guess I was dreaming, or remembering?...all these flashes were coming back."

He moves to get two mugs and the tea, setting them on the counter beside her. "Just like that?" Cassie nods. "Just like that, yeah...my heart was racing and I..."

He watches the flush fill her face, the way she tugs at her lip before turning back to the teapot. "I'm going to go get my bag."

...

Their tea is long forgotten on the coffee table as she sits patiently as Sam checks her vitals. He's got a hold of her wrist, his gaze focused on his watch.

"You're heart rate is a little elevated," he states, pulling his stethoscope from his bag. He cups the diaphragm in his hand, warming it up.

"Is that bad?" She questions.

He bobs his head, plugging the eartips in his ears. "All depends."

She drops her robe from around her shoulders so that he can place the diaphragm on her back. "Deep breath," he instructs.

She inhales deeply, exhaling slowly. He moves the diaphragm across her back before moving it to the front of her chest. As she inhales again, his gaze connects with hers and that yearning she felt when she woke aches inside of her.

When he's finished, he pulls the eartips from his ears, placing his stethoscope back in his bag. "Depends on what?" She questions further.

"Well...judging by the vein in your neck pulsing, the slight flush in your cheeks, your elevated heart rate...It could be one of two things."

His tone is slightly serious, which causes her to worry just a little. "What are they?"

"You could be going into shock, which given what's just happen with your memory, is possible."

She nods. "And the second?"

"You're aroused."

She can feel her face burn, her nipples tighten.

"Judging by these," he lets his fingers skim her breast over her nipple. "I'm going with the latter."

She exhales at his touch, closing her eyes. "...all I can think about is your hands on me, feel where your lips have been," she admits softly. "...the timing, with Linda-"

"-Linda is the furtherest thing on my mind right now."

Opening her eyes, she meets his darkened gaze. "Sam, we can't-"

"-Yes we can," he cuts her off. "Right upstairs or at Grey House, you can decided."

She swallows hard, biting her lip. She's practically squirming on his couch and if she waits any long to give him an answer, she wouldn't put it past him to take her right then and there. "...I don't have guests right now, so-"

"-Perfect." He's grabbing her hand, pulling her off the couch.

...

She's straddling his lap and hell if he isn't hard as rock at this point. She all but dragged him back to Grey House and the minute she closed her bedroom door behind them, she was all over him.

"Cassie," he murmurs between kisses. "Hmm?"

Her tongue strokes with his own and he squeezes her waist. Her nightgown glides across her skin where it's gathered around her hips.

They've got entirely too many clothes on.

It takes everything in him to pull back and she protests, catching his mouth with her own again. Her hands reach for his, sliding them up her body until they're on her breasts. She encourages him to massage and tease them and he obliges, tugging at her nipples that have hardened beneath her nightgown.

"Yes," she hisses into his mouth.

His cock twitches underneath her. "Cassie," he grates, sliding his hands up to her face, pulling her back.

"No, don't stop," she pleads.

"Cassie."

She's breathing heavily, her lips swollen and her gaze full of lust. "What?" She questions impatiently.

"Take off your clothes."

There's a flicker in her eyes before she slowly smiles. Sliding off of his lap, she gathers the nightgown pooled around her waist, pulling it over her head. Tossing it on the floor, she reaches for the waistband of his pyjamas. He raises his hips and his cock bobs under the weight of his

arousal. She shimmies his pants down his legs, freeing one foot. Her hands run up his thighs slowly. "Is this better?"

He's near ready to explode and if she teases him any longer, he just might. "Much better." Her hands continue to slide up his thighs, around his hips, deliberately caressing everything but his cock. "How long are you going to tease me?"

She smiles, settling between his legs. "Tell me what you need, Sam."

"I need to bury my cock in your mouth...Put me in your mouth, Cassie."

Wrapping her hand around him, Cassie takes his head into her mouth. "All of you?" She questions.

"To the back of your throat," he grates. Her mouth slides down over him and he groans audibly. "Fuck...that's it, Cassie..." He slides his hands up and down her arms, over her shoulders. "... drain me..."

Her mouth is all heat and warmth and he swears she knows every inch of his cock just as well as she knows everything else about him. Her tongue follows every sensitive vein and teases his tip knowingly. Her one hand is rhythmic over his shaft while the other massages his sack.

His orgasm is clawing at him and he sifts his fingers through her hair gently. "Cassie," he sighs.

Her lips slide off of him and she moves to straddle him again. "You're close," she says softly.

Lifting her hips, she slides down on to him and it's enough to pull another litany of explicatives from his lips. She braces her hands around his neck, her fingers sifting through his hair. Leaning in, she gently brushes her lips back and forth against his own.

The minute she rocks her hips, he can feel his muscles tighten. "Cassie..."

"Let go," she breathes against his mouth.

The pressure explodes inside of him and his head falls back, his eyes close. All he can feel is the heat of her body, the warmth that's spreading up his limbs. His muscles contract several times before finally relaxing.

Her lips brush against his again, and he manages to catch them in a kiss. She peppers him with gentle kisses before she pulls back, brushing her nose against his. It's such an intimate gesture that it sends a shiver down his back. He brushes the hair from her eyes, meeting her gaze. "I love you," he says softly.

"I love you too, Sam."

...

"Do you remember anything from that night?"

Her body is sated and her eyes are heavy and as much as wants to fall asleep in his arms, she knows he won't be staying. There time together hangs uncertainly between them and all she wants to focus on is right now. "...Weld cornered me at the museum. He said if I didn't go with him, he'd hurt Grace."

He curses under his breath, scooting closer to her in the bed. "I'm sorry...we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

She takes a minute to just let her own words settle. To remember. "...the minute I climbed down into the tunnel, I couldn't breathe...he asked me about a key repeatedly...I said the only thing I could think of and that was the key in my jewelry box."

"Where'd the key come from?" He questions.

She shrugs. "I don't know. I found it while renovating Grey House."

He reaches out, rubbing her arm gently. "Do you think it might actually be the key he was looking for?"

The thought had never crossed her mind that the key she had found so long ago could actually mean anything. "I don't know." He presses a kiss to her forehead and she moves into his arms, resting her head on his chest. His arm comes around her shoulder, pulling her closer. "Thank you."

His lips brush against her forehead. "For what?" He asks quietly. "For saving my life that night."

"No thanks required."

Tbc