"You love me," Cara whispered. He completely loved her, and had for quite a while. She could see it, feel it-his memories, washed in emotions he'd never showed her. It struck her so hard she felt woozy and had to take a few deep breaths.

"With all my being. I have for years. I searched for you, Cara. I could never let you go. I never stopped looking, because I couldn't let you go."

She sat there staring at the ground, trying to process all of this.

How wrong she'd been.

How utterly foolish she'd been.

Yet seeing it all from his eyes, from his emotions his feelings, she realized how much he held back, and refused to say...

Why?

Why would he do that?

Finally she met his gaze. "Why didn't you say something?"

"You were so young," Duncan said. "It was wrong of me to profess something so serious to someone just beginning their life. I would have hated seeing you change your choices because of me."

She snorted. "I don't have any choices. Not anymore."

He took her hand. "You have a lot of choices. You don't have to stay here, on the island. We can go anywhere you want. See anything. Do anything."

"I can't, Duncan."

"Yes, you can. You can do anything."

Guilt weighed heavily on her. She couldn't begin to articulate what a mess she was in now.

"I'll do anything you want, Cara. Just tell me what you want."

"I want you to be happy, Duncan," she said. "That's all I want." And it was. She wanted him to be happy, to have that love that she saw in his brother and sister-in-law, who were not so subtly watching them.

"You bring me that. You always have. When I was down, or stressed, or anything, you always made me feel better. You're the first person I think of when I wake, and you're the last person I think of when I go to sleep."

"You deserve so much better than me."

"Oh, Cara." He stroked her face. "There's nothing in the world better than you." He pulled her into his arms and held her. The scent of him, mixed with the ocean swirled around her.

For the first time in a very long time, if ever, Cara felt home.

Home with Duncan.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"So you don't think your sister-in-law will care if you ditch the family gathering?" Cara asked as they walked into her little cottage, not far from the beach. As they'd walked back, she'd told him about the things she'd seen-the Great Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, and even a cherry blossom festival in Beijing.

She'd been busy.

But now she was back. And it seemed whatever wanderlust she'd had faded, because she kept talking about how she'd been ready to come home long before she'd actually returned.

She closed the door to her cottage and locked it.

Duncan smiled. "No. Not now." He strolled over to her and stroked her cheek. "Christy's probably happy to see me leaving with you. Though I'm sure later I'll get an earful when next I see her, if only because I never told her about you."

She smirked. "Well, okay then. I don't think she liked me too much."

"Don't really care," he said, still smiling at her, as he gazed into her lovely eyes, marveling at the color, and how he lost himself in them every time he stared at her. Something he hadn't thought he'd ever get to do again.

See her, hear her voice, touch her skin...

Yet here she was. Perfectly fine, and staring back at him.

"What?" she whispered.

"I didn't know if I would ever hear your voice," Duncan said. "It is the most beautiful sound." He slid an arm around her waist.

"It did come back," she smirked. "Really came back..." And burst into giggles.

Duncan laughed too and he rested his forehead against hers. They looked into each other's eyes, and regardless of the initial hurt he'd felt at her gallivanting around the world, he pushed it away.

She was here.

Here, right in front of him, and all was right with the world.

"Cara," he whispered.

She smiled. "Kiss me, Duncan."

He leaned in and their lips pressed together, this time not rushed, not hurried, and not desperate like it had been in the desert. He was going to take his time, truly savor every bit of her, more so than before. This would be something special for them both.

He carefully inched her lips apart, and their tongues tentatively touched and moved around one another. Her hands wrapped around his neck, and he pulled her to him, feeling the way her frame fit his, and the brush of her breasts against his chest.

She sighed as her hips rocked into his.

This felt right. In all the ways it should feel. She was supposed to be his, and they would be together. This was how it was supposed to be.

Him and her.

Together.

Cara broke the kiss and took his hands. "Come with me." An ornery grin spread over her face, and he couldn't exactly make out her thoughts, but he could sense she had something brewing.

Duncan arched his brow. "As you wish."

She dragged him through the little house toward the back, toward a small doorway. Her bedroom. Inside everything was all dainty, flowers and girly. Very Cara. He'd never been inside this room. He had wanted to see where she slept, but he never ventured back this way. He hadn't felt it was right to follow her in, and couldn't help the feeling now-old habits and all that.

He paused in the entry, released her hands and stared at her in her home. This was where she belonged. And he wondered if he would fit in her world of pretty, flowery, and delicate. He wasn't delicate in any way.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "What is the matter?"

"I..." How could he articulate it? How did he explain the bundle of nerves? This wasn't just about the two of them having some intimate fun-this was more. He felt it deep in his chest. Their connection, coming to a strong fruition.

He was entering her world, in a very bold way. It wasn't as though he was afraid of committing to her. He was more worried-their feelings were out in the open now. They'd told each other how they felt.

Yet it didn't seem enough. It was too perfect.

He was almost afraid it was a dream-that he was back in the Fairy Realm, dreaming all this, and he was going to wake up, and she would still be gone, and he'd be alone.

She studied him. "You're nervous?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "It is so surreal, the idea of being with you. Something I wanted for so long, but now that it's here, I'm terrified. Like it'll be taken away from me."

"What's the difference between now and in the desert?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle, reassuring him that he could say what he thought.

"There, I... We weren't supposed to make it out of the desert. There wasn't supposed to be a Happily Ever After for us. That was it. Now, here we are, and we both made it. I-it doesn't seem real. Like I'm going to wake up, and you're still going to be gone."

"I'm right here. I'm not leaving ever again." She took his hand and squeezed his fingers.

"This is too perfect."

"Nothing is perfect." She pulled him into the room. "But we can build with what we have, right now."

"And that is?"

"Each other."

As if to prove her point, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him so passionately he stumbled and fell onto her bed.

They both laughed as she straddled his lap. "You're kinda clumsy for a rescue fairy," Cara said as she adjusted her dress.

He smirked. "Well, we all can't be grace and dainty." He stroked her small arm and kissed her shoulder.

"Good, because I have enough dainty, delicate, sweet stuff in my life, Duncan Molar. I need something gruff and grumbly."

"You sure about that?"

"Oh yes," she said, rocking her hips into his. She leaned in and kissed his throat, tugging at his T-shirt. "And right now, I think I need to see a grumbly guy naked."

"Oh you do?"

She grinned. "Oh yes. Without sand, thanks."

He winced, the cuts on his chest pulling as she jerked off his shirt and tossed it across her room.

Cara froze when she saw his chest. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "It was nothing I couldn't handle." He took her hands and kissed them.

"But this looks bad, Duncan. Have you seen a healer?"

"It's fine, I promise. Just had some cooperation issues." He didn't want to tell her where they'd come from or who had caused them, because he didn't want to kill the moment. Or upset her or worse. "They'll be gone soon."

"Have you had some Fairy Tea?"

"I'll get some." He stroked her chin. "Don't worry about it."

She nodded. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she held her hands out to touch him, but hesitated mid-air.

"They'll heal," Duncan said.

"This... These are because of me, aren't they?"

"Don't worry about it."

She shook her head. "You shouldn't have had to go through this for me." She followed a particularly nasty laceration along his side as tears welled up in her eyes.

"They aren't your fault," he said.

She paused and glanced at him. "Are you sure about that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." He put her hand on his chest, guiding her over his skin. Tentatively, she started exploring again. Duncan remained still, not wanting her to think her touch hurt him.

With every stroke, her confidence returned, and it revved his own desires.

She pushed him backwards on the bed and straddled his stomach. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Oh yes."

She grinned as she slid down his body, peppering kisses all over his chest. She stroked the wounds gingerly, but it didn't stop.

Hell, her touch was like magic, making each wound feel better. Her kisses like soothing ointment, taking away all the pain, both physical and emotional from the last two weeks.

Duncan groaned with every taste she took, and as her tongue slipped along his stomach, he felt what little control he had start to waver.

Her fingers slid along the waistband of his swim shorts. "Huh, I never took you for a plaid guy," she said, stroking the white and blue pattern on the fabric.