Kendra had understood the demons that had made him leave Fernandina Beach that morning after the incident, but what she could not understand, nor accept, was that he hadn"t tried contacting her.
"Why didn"t you try contacting me over the years, Slate? If only to let me know you were all right. Didn"t you think I deserved that much?" she asked softly, remembering all the emotions she had endured during that time.
He ran a finger along her eyelids and saw the tears lodged there. His throat tightened. "I literally lost my mind after that, Kendra. I didn"t go back to school that year. Guilt consumed me, and I was eaten up with it. I finally pulled myself together to finish my last year of college but things didn"t get better. Every night when I went to bed I saw Susan"s face and how it had looked that day. I saw the look in her eyes, her hope that I would save her. I began drinking heavily and one night was involved in a car accident. Luckily, no one was hurt. Since I didn"t have a prior record, the judge sentenced me to a full year of community service at a hospital. That"s when I started getting my life back. I met people who had endured more than I had and were fighting not only to get their lives back but to retain what life they had.
I made up my mind to get myself together and that"s when I sought counseling and underwent therapy for two solid years before I felt worthy enough of peaceful sleep. I also started my company but soon discovered I still wasn"t happy; there was something missing from my life. It was something I desired more than life itself, something that I had tried to give up. You. That"s when I decided to come here and explain why I didn"t stay in touch and to tell you how guilt had made me feel unworthy of your love."
Kendra sighed. She had never imagined that Slate had been that consumed by guilt. Over the past seven years she had been hurting, but he had been hurting even more.
Reaching out she pulled him into her arms. "Let"s go to the beach house, Slate," she whispered softly. She intended to prove to him that he was worthy of everything, especially of her.
Chapter Twenty.
After taking a shower together to wash the beach sand from their bodies, Slate and Kendra got into bed and made love again. This time she showed him just what he meant to her and just how lonely her life had been without him those seven years.
Slate leaned over in bed and tenderly cupped Kendra"s cheek in his hand. "There wasn"t a day that went by that I didn"t think about you, even those days when I didn"t feel I was worthy enough. I couldn"t stop loving you because you were such a part of me, a part I knew that I"d have with me no matter what. For the past couple of years, I poured everything into my work and tried to get my life back right so when I did return I could have something to offer you."
A smile touched the corners of Kendra"s lips. "And what do you have to offer me, Slate?" she asked teasingly, although the look in his eyes was serious.
"I want to offer you my love. I want you to be my wife, my best friend, and my lover. I won"t ask you to leave here since I know how much this town means to you. In my line of business I can set up shop anywhere. I want to recapture that dream we first had of being together forever." He pulled her closer into his arms. "I love you. Say you"ll marry me, Kendra. Please say it."
A sense of overwhelming happiness brought tears to Kendra"s eyes. She loved him, too, and had never stopped loving him even when she thought he no longer loved her. "Yes, Slate, I"ll marry you. I never stopped loving you and now that you"re back, we have a lot of catching up to do. Seven years" worth." She reached up and caught the back of his head in her hand and pulled his mouth down to meet hers.
He groaned when their mouths made contact, and his arms automatically closed around her. Heat poured through every part of him as he gladly took what she offered.
Moments later, he drew back and broke off the kiss, dragging in a deep breath. He felt his erection get heavy and the need to be inside of her. "Look at me," he whispered huskily. "I want you to see just how you make me feel when I"m making love to you."
She gazed up at him when he placed his body over hers. His features revealed the intensity of how he felt when he was inside of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.
"There"s nothing like a lover"s touch," she said breathlessly, when he began moving inside of her, setting a rhythm and igniting their pa.s.sion once again.
And as he made love to her, he knew that her love and her touch were all he would ever need.
The End