When I opened my eyes, I saw him lying with his head on the pillow next to me, one of his legs still thrown over mine, his hands cupped along the bottom of my breasts. He watched me with such intensity that I turned in bed and looked into his eyes, seeing the swirls of golden brown, a bit of jade, and the blacks that were only beginning to recede.

"I love you," he said simply.

I knew he loved me, but my heart…it caught in my chest. The way he looked at me, the way he ...