Free Saving Forever (The Ever Trilogy: Book 3) by Jasinda Wilder

their drama on screen, I found myself boiling over. Silently seething. I couldn’t take it anymore.
    I grabbed the remote from Cade’s lap and clicked the TV off.  
    “Hey!” Cade protested, turning to face me.  
    “I can’t take this anymore, Cade.” I tossed the remote aside, pivoting on the couch so one leg was dangling to the floor and the other was curled beneath my butt. “I’m going crazy.”
    “What are you talking about, Ev?” He frowned at me in confusion, but I could see fear beneath that.
    “Us. You. I’m alone, Cade. I’m lonely.”
    “I’m here, Ev. I’m with you.”
    “NO! You’re not! ” I yelled. “Your body is here. You’re going through the motions of being with me, but you’re…who you are, who you were…it’s gone. You’re…cold. Closed off.”
    Cade tipped his head back and groaned, wiping his face with both hands. “God, Ever. I’m trying, okay? But what if…what if that guy you knew is just gone?”
    “That’s bullshit, Cade. You claim you love me. You claim you’ve never stopped loving me. But you haven’t touched me since I woke up.”
    “You’re still healing, Ev—” Cade started.
    “I’m well enough to make love, Cade,” I interrupted. “I need you. I need that. I need you to touch me like you want me. Do you? Do you want me?”
    His answer was automatic, immediate. “Yes!”
    “Then prove it.” I stood up in front of him, clutched the hem of the T-shirt where it hung to mid-thigh.  
    “Ever, babe—” He shifted, and his knees fell open. His eyes flitted from mine down to my chest, to my legs, and back up.  
    “I never thought I’d have to beg you, Cade. But I am.” I lifted the T-shirt up, up.  
    My crossed arms lifted my boobs, and then the shirt was free and my boobs bounced back down. I’d put on ten pounds or so, and I was nearly back to my pre-coma weight, a healthy one-twenty. I had my curves back, and I knew Cade had once loved my body. Once, he’d not been able to get enough of me. Now, his eyes roved over me. Starting at my face, searching my tumultuous gaze, then sliding down to my breasts. He licked his lips as he looked at me, and I watched his body shift. Watched his zipper tighten. His gaze went down to my legs, to the juncture of my thighs. I’d taken a bath earlier in the evening, and I’d taken extra care to shave myself for him. He liked me clean-shaven. Or he had, once. Now, I didn’t know what he liked anymore.  
    I stepped forward, between his knees. His thighs brushed my hips, and my tits hung at eye-level. “Touch me, Cade. I’m yours. Take me. Show me I’m still what you want. Please. Please , Cade.”  
    “Jesus, Ever.” His face tipped forward and his mouth touched my belly, his lips grazing my ribs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish I could explain what’s in my head, in my heart. But I just can’t. You’re so beautiful, Ev. So gorgeous. So strong, so brave.”
    I feathered my fingers into his long, black shaggy hair. He’d let it grow since the accident, and it was now curling around his neck and shoulders. He shaved, but didn’t let his facial hair grow into a beard, so he was always scruffy and stubbled with several days’ worth of growth. I liked the look, but I wanted my Cade back, the clean jawline and the messy but clean-cut hair.  
    “I don’t need you to explain, Cade. Not now, at least. Yeah, I’ve got a million questions, and I just don’t understand what’s happened to you, but none of that matters. I know you need something I can’t give or don’t have, and I’m sorry. But right now, all I can think of is how badly I need this. I’m standing naked in front of you, Caden Connor Monroe, and I need you to make me feel something. You’re my husband. Please, please, please …be my husband. Be my lover.”
    His hands ascended from his knees to my hips, and his fingers dug into the flesh just beneath my hipbones. His face tipped up, and he looked at me from between my