"i know," she said, cutting through his words. and she did.

but noah shook his head. "i've screwed up a lot with you. made mistakes. blundered my way around, and that's not my way. i can usually charm women, but when i'm with you, i feel like i can barely speak sometimes."

that didn't sound like noah. "you seem so confident to me."

"it's a lie. most days with you, i'm just trying to figure out what i can do to keep you close." he exhaled slowly. "after we met in chicago, i...wanted to see you again. but you vanished after sara's funeral. you just disappeared. i figured that was a sign you weren't interested in me, and that i should just forget about you." he paused. "but you're not easy to forget."

"neither are you." she'd tried to forget him after chicago, but he'd started to slip into her dreams. he'd made her feel, made her fantasize, and that had terrified her. so she'd run. tried to start a new life-only that hadn't worked.

"when you walked into my hotel in new york, i knew the instant i saw you that i wasn't going to be able to let you go. i was going to do anything necessary in order to get you to stay in my bed and in my life."

claire lifted her hand. pressed it to his chest. she was still wearing the bracelets he'd given her, and the diamonds gleamed. "you're talking about sex."

"with you, i'm talking about forever."

now it was hard for her to breathe. "you...you heard me when i said that i loved you." that was why he was doing this. he felt like he'd put her in danger with the engagement, and he was trying to make up-

"hell, yes, i heard you. those were the most important words of my life. do you really think i wouldn't hear them?" then he dropped before her, sliding down on one knee.

it wasn't hard to breathe. it was impossible. claire had just stopped breathing entirely.

"i want to marry you, claire kramer. this isn't some bullshit fake engagement. it's real. it's forever."

"noah..." claire felt her heart thundering in her chest. "the press. you know what they'll say about me-"

"screw them. i don't give a damn about them or what they have to say." his fingers slid over the bracelet on her left wrist. "i care about you. i love you. enough to kill for you. enough to die for you. and, baby, enough to live for you, too. that's what i want to do. i want us to live together and make love and be happy for the next fifty years."

it sounded so good. so perfect. "everyone i love...they all die."

"not me, claire. i'm not going anywhere. i'll be right by your side, from here on out."

her eyes burned, and claire had to blink away tears. "i don't want to lose you." her fear. her weakness-him. she loved him so much. and it was love, not obsession. loving him...she wanted to put him first. wanted him to be happy. safe.

loving him gave her hope. without noah, claire didn't know what would happen to her.

"say you'll marry me." then he reached into the pocket of his coat. pulled out a small, black box. when he opened that box, claire saw a huge, blue diamond ring nestled inside. a ring to match her bracelets. to match... "just like your eyes," noah told her.

he was on his knees. offering her everything that she had ever wanted.

and fear was there. surrounding claire. choking her.

i lose everyone.

she stared into his eyes, and in that moment, claire was finally able to read the emotion there. it was the emotion that had always been in his gaze, but she'd been too scared to see it for what it was.

love.

noah loved her.

and she loved him. "yes," claire whispered, and she threw herself against him. noah fell back. they both hit the floor, but claire didn't care. her mouth was on his, and claire was kissing noah with all of the love and passion that she had.

this was her chance. their chance. they could be happy. they could have everything that they wanted.

noah was laughing and kissing her, too. they stripped in a tangle of limbs. he put the ring on her finger. sealed it with a kiss. then he was thrusting into her. claiming her with a fast and hot lust that stilled the laughter.

the sex was intense. hard. consuming. their fingers linked. their eyes held.

there was no fear. it was gone.

there was only pleasure. love.

it wasn't about control or power.

just pleasure.

claire called his name when she came.

and when he came, noah kissed her. there was lust in that kiss. raw need.

so much love.

she wrapped her arms around him. held him as tightly as she could.

this was an ending she'd never seen coming. wrapped in a lover's arms. dreaming of a future.

life.

hope.

claire slipped from noah's bed. he felt the mattress shift as she rose, and noah opened his eyes. he enjoyed the view of her back and her perfect heart-shaped ass before claire slipped on her clothes.

frowning, he sat up. he didn't care that he was stark naked. he'd rather hoped claire would join him for an early morning round of mind-blowing sex.

he'd never get enough of her.

"where are you going?"

claire tensed and glanced back at him. then the tension drained away, and she smiled. "just for a walk. the sun's coming up, and i thought that i'd watch it. seems like a good way to start a new life."

he rose from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and snagged a sweatshirt. "i'll come with you." because it did seem like a damn good way to start their life together.

and i want to be with you, claire.

their fingers twined together as they headed out of the house. they walked down the steps. their toes sank into the sand. claire laughed a little then, and she flashed him the smile that had first stolen his heart.

the smile that started with the little curve of her bottom lip. the smile that made her dimples wink. the smile that ended when it reached her eyes and made them shine.

he pulled her close. the wind was chilly against them, and he wanted to warm her. noah sank his hands into the thickness of her hair and kissed her. noah took his time with that kiss, savoring claire. she'd always be the sweetest thing that he'd ever tasted.

when he pulled away, noah knew there was one more thing he needed to share with his claire. she'd proven just how much she loved him.

it was noah's turn to prove his love to her.

"i want to take you out today," he told her as he kept her close. "on the boat."

claire searched his eyes. "are you sure?"

"it's time to put the past to rest. for both of us." and he wanted to show claire that he'd share all of his life with her. the good and the bad.

they walked toward the boat. it gleamed, already set in the water. the day was clear and bright. the waves were easy. it was the perfect weather for a trip out.

"we don't have to do this," claire said, stopping him on the dock. "you don't have to-"

"you'll be the first woman i've taken out with me, and you'll be the woman who stands by my side for the rest of my life." this mattered to him. she mattered.

claire smiled again. damn but he loved her smile.

they climbed on board. noah untied the vessel. he started the engine. the boat roared to life, and soon, they were pulling away from the dock and heading out toward that rising sun.

claire slipped below the deck. noah's hands tightened on the wheel as the salty scent of the water filled his nose. he'd expected to feel the pain from his past as soon as he got on the water. he usually did. but he didn't feel those old ghosts this time. because she was with him? "claire?" noah called.

she didn't answer.

the boat was forty feet long, so claire could still be exploring below deck. he waited a few more moments.

but claire didn't come back up.

a tendril of unease snaked through noah. he killed the engine. left the boat drifting a bit. "claire, is everything okay?"

then he saw the top of her blonde head as she climbed back up. her face became visible, and his heart stopped when he saw the fear heavy in her expression.

not just fear-terror.

then noah saw the gun barrel pressed under claire's chin. she kept rising, climbing up from below deck, and soon the man who held her was visible, too.

blond hair. green eyes. a smile that was smug and evil.

"i told you she was my one and only," ethan harrison said. "you should've believed me."

every muscle in noah's body locked down. "i thought you were still in the city."

"wh-what?" claire gasped. the gun barrel shoved harder against her skin.

noah glanced at her face. the desperation in her eyes undid him. "you said that you saw him," noah said simply. "i believed you."

"th-that's why you wanted me out of new york so badly?"

noah nodded. yes. it hadn't been about the reporters. the escape to the hamptons had been about protecting claire. trace and his men were tearing apart the city. noah had thought claire would be safe at his beach house.

he'd been wrong. noah focused on ethan once more. the man's gaze was wild, too bright with intensity, and his fingers trembled around the weapon. "you need to move that gun. i know you don't want to hurt claire."

"no." ethan lifted the weapon, just an inch. "i love claire, and she loves me." he kept a tight grip on her. "but claire has to be punished. she let you touch her. i saw..."

claire shook her head. "ethan, no."

"i'm going to kill him," ethan told her. he pressed a kiss to claire's temple. "then we'll be together. we'll sail away, and no one will ever bother us again."

that wouldn't happen. noah would not let that bastard take claire. "sloan hall. you found out about this place through him, didn't you, harrison?"

ethan smiled. "you know my brother killed him? right before i could." he laughed. "and austin always pretended to be so perfect!"

"how'd you get away?" claire whispered. she pressed back against ethan, and the man's gaze jumped to her.

"i had to get away. i had to come for you." the gun pushed back against her skin once more. "york visited me in that damn prison. talked as if you were his. i knew i had to find a way to you then..."

fuck. he'd caused ethan to escape?

"you faked that car bomb." claire's voice was so calm it surprised noah. her eyes were lit with terror, but her voice was flat.

"i didn't fake it. it was a very, very real bomb. just ask those dumb cops who were there...oh, wait, nothing's left of them now." he laughed again.

the boat kept drifting in the water.

"i called in my favors," ethan said, his lips curving. "warden quill still owed my family, so he set things up for me."

the warden?

"quill made sure the back doors of that patrol car were...a little broken. i could get out, easy. and i did. right before the dumb prick turned the key in the ignition, i jumped out and slipped into the woods."

noah realized that ethan was damn proud of himself. the guy was talking and talking...and not even realizing that noah was reaching for the knife he kept stashed near the wheel. the knife had been used the few times he'd fished, and he always kept it close at hand when he was on deck.

it was the only weapon he had available, but noah was good with a knife. very, very good.

"i slipped through the woods." ethan just sounded boastful now. "you remember those woods, don't you, claire? they led to the little bayou. we made love there. our first time." he inhaled deeply, as if drinking in her scent. "i missed you so much." he pulled her even closer, but kept the gun against her. "did you miss me?"

claire was staring right at noah as she said, "yes."

noah tensed.

"i missed you so much," claire repeated to ethan, her voice wooden. then she lowered her lashes. cleared her throat, and said again, "i missed you." but emotion was in those words, shaking them.

satisfaction flashed across ethan's face. "i told you. claire's mine. she'll always be mine." then he lifted the gun and pointed it at noah. "and you're dead-"

"no!" ethan's grip on her had loosened and claire whirled in his arms. she put her hands on ethan's chest. "he doesn't matter. you and i...we matter."

noah took a slow, gliding step forward.

ethan had lowered the gun to claire's side.

"let's just leave him," claire said, her words flying out quickly. "make him jump off the boat. you and i-we can keep going on this ride, and no one will stop us. no one will ever find us."

ethan's blond eyebrows lowered. "but i want to kill him. he touched you. he thought he'd take you from me."

noah took another step forward. claire stood between him and his target.

"no one will do that," claire said. her hands were curving around ethan's shoulders. "you're my-my one and only. we'll be together always." she glanced back over her shoulder. her gaze held noah's for just a moment. "he doesn't matter." then she looked back at ethan. "please, just let him go."