Caught up in arguably the greatest moment of passion in our adult lives, we were a rush of raw, intense emotion. We were desperate to force every need, every craving, everything we'd felt for each other in the last four years apart into one night of unmatched endearment.

Years of pent up misery over our separation and my belief that Dallas had been dead coupled with years of desire to be together again, to love again like we used to, to touch and kiss and make love the way we used to do. We were feverish, primal. We were lost in one another. Every touch, every sound, every kiss brought with it nearly half a decade's worth of pain and heartache and pining away for each other. I could feel how much he'd longed for me and needed me. He could feel how much I'd anguished over him and how much I still loved him. But still, no amount of blissful sighs, or possessive grasps of each other, or breathless repetitions of "I love you's" could accurately showcase our true feelings over finally being together again. It was impossible to put into words, and touch only halfway did our emotions justice.

My lungs felt tight from the lack of air, as we'd been frantically kissing each other like this was the last time we'd ever kiss again. Given the severity of the situation, it very well could be, but I refused to let those menacing thoughts creep back into my mind. For the time being, all I would allow myself to focus on was him. Being with him, getting to touch him again, getting to feel his hands on me again. Tasting him, breathing his air, studying the way his body reacted to the way I moved against him. These were all things I'd taken for granted when we'd been together years ago.

Although our relationship was forbidden and our profession was as dangerous as they come, it had never crossed my mind that what we had could be wiped away in the blink of an eye. Because of that, I'd taken every kiss and hug for granted. I'd taken every movie night for granted. I'd taken every night sneaking out of our bunkhouses to meet up by our tree in the park for granted.

Our tree... I'd walked passed it so many times since the incident. Aside from a maroon sweatshirt and a few knickknacks he'd given me over the years, that tree was the last thing I had to remember Dallas David by. I'd spent hours and hours sitting on the same paint-chipped park bench beside that aspen. I spent the most time there in the fall when I could watch its leaves change to a vibrant yellow. Especially on October ninth – Dallas's birthday. That was my favorite time to go there and reminisce about all the times we'd snuck out and I'd sat on his lap at the base of that tree while we talked about everything we wanted out of life. At the base of that tree on a plaid flannel picnic blanket had been the first time he and I made love.

I wasn't going to take this time for granted. I wasn't going to pretend we had eternity together when everything was so uncertain. This time, I was going to love him like it was the last time. This time, I was going to memorize every aspect of being completely connected with the man I loved, so that if fate was to drive us apart again, neither of us would ever be able to forget the way it felt to be two hearts beating as one together.

As dawn was approaching, the faintest streaks of orange in a dark sky, we were just getting started. Dallas and I were taking our time, not just with undressing each other, but with everything.

The kisses had started out fast and urgent, both of us scrambling to get closer in every way possible. No kiss was deep enough or rough enough. We needed more. So much more. But once our breathing had turned to moans and our touches turned to ripping Dallas's vest from his body, I'd pulled away, telling him that I needed this to be slow. I needed to make slow, incomparable love to him, and I needed to memorize every single detail about it. He'd understood, and I could see in his eyes that he needed the same thing just as much as I did.

"God, I've missed this. I've missed you," Dallas mumbled into our kiss, his hands trailing up and down my body.

He stepped back briefly to pull his shirt off and I was rewarded with a drool-worthy sight. I remembered his muscles and how perfect they had been years back. I remembered the way his biceps flexed when he moved on top of me. It had been a wonderful view back then, but now... It was obvious he'd spent a lot of time at the gym since we'd parted. Every muscle in his body appeared more defined. Especially his arms and upper body. He'd always lifted weights, even before I'd met him, but clearly, he'd spent a lot of quality time with the barbells over the last four years.

And then there was that tattoo. The one that I remembered as having been confined to his shoulder. The last time I'd seen it, it was a large face of a wolf on his right deltoid. Dallas had always told me that a wolf, in his opinion, represented strength and courage, the ability to persevere through the toughest of times and emerge victorious. That's why he'd gotten it. To me, it symbolized everything that Dallas was – strong, courageous, able to overcome the most difficult of life's obstacles. That wolf tattoo was one thing I'd never been able to forget about him, and in memoriam, I'd gotten my own version of it. A small black side view of a wolf sitting and howling at the moon. It was at the top of my left forearm, and it was my favorite of my tattoos.

"You added on to your tattoo," I pointed out while he took his time popping open the buttons of my shirt and placing steaming kisses to my neck.

"I did," he said matter-of-factly and his eyes met mine again, peering in like he was analyzing everything about me. "It became somewhat of a project to me after I lost you. I needed something to focus on, to distract myself, and the fitness center wasn't doing the trick."

I snorted a laugh. "I think your biceps would argue otherwise."

Dallas undid the last button and my blouse fell open between us. His eyes traveled down my torso, lust written all over his face, but he fought the urge to lose control and focused his attention back on my face while he massaged circles into my abdomen with his thumbs.

"Will you tell me about it?" I pressed, studying the designs on his arm. "Tell me what they represent, why you got them?"

Uncertainty flashed in his eyes and he shook the thought away. "We can talk about that after. Right now, I just want to love you, Tali."

I dared not protest, overcome with the desire to be closer, to feel more of him.

Dallas slipped my shirt from my shoulders, taking extra care as he pulled the garment down my injured arm. I looked at the bandage he'd wrapped around the wound and there was just the slightest hint of a blood stain seeping through. He'd done a good job of playing doctor.

"You know what I missed most about this?" he whispered into my ear as he pressed sweet, tender kisses to my blushing skin. "I missed the way you looked at me, like all you could see was me, like I was all you'd ever need. I missed being entwined with you, feeling like we were invincible together, like we could stay that way forever."

His words were like music to my ears and I shuddered at the feeling of his breath on my neck.

"I want to give you everything, Tali. The world." He continued, his lips moving to my chest. "I want to erase all the bad memories, take away all the pain. I want to make you happy again. Being with you... It makes me feel whole again. I can't remember the last time I felt this way."

I couldn't either. In fact, I didn't think I'd ever felt anything like this. Being in Dallas's arms was a rush. It felt as if the energy of a hurricane mixed with a rollercoaster ride and completed with the furious winds of a tornado was crashing into my heart, igniting every nerve and sweeping through every vein in my body. No man had ever or could ever make me feel the things Dallas made me feel, and I fucking loved that.

I dragged my fingers through his hair as he nipped at my collarbone, a fire of pleasure blazing at every inch of skin his lips touched.

He was still the same man I'd loved before, but being with him felt so much more intense now. I'd never felt such an indescribable need to be one with another human being.

"I love you," he whispered, pulling back to look at me again. "I never stopped."

All at once, I could see both my future and my past in his eyes, and that equally excited and terrified me. I didn't know where we would go from here, but I knew one thing was for certain. I refused to believe we couldn't make this work. I refused to lose him again.

"I love you, Dallas," I muttered, mesmerized by the pastel colors of the sunrise shining in through the window and reflecting in his eyes.

He slipped his hands behind my back and a funny look came to his face.

"How the hell do you women get these sports bras off in a hurry?" he frowned and gave an awkward laugh.

I rolled my eyes and lifted the garment up, pulling it over my head and down my arms. There was a twinge of pain in my right arm, but I ignored it and tossed my bra aside.

"Like that," I giggled and then it was his turn to roll his eyes.

But then he quickly pulled me in for another steamy kiss, his tongue swiping along my lower lip and expertly slipping into my mouth. Meanwhile, our hands went to work unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning my jeans.

Dallas paused for a moment to remove his gun holster and set it on the nightstand beside mine. I'd never even noticed he'd taken mine off. He must've done that when he'd been bandaging my arm.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he told me while he unzipped my pants.

He sank to his knees in front of me and slipped my shoes and socks off, all the while keeping eye contact with me. I peered down at him and for a moment, I felt like Cinderella when the prince slid the glass slipper onto her foot.

Dallas smiled up at me and hooked his fingers inside the waistband of my jeans, slowly inching both my jeans and my underwear down my thighs. Still, his eyes didn't drift from mine until my clothes were in a pile at my feet. I stepped out of them and shoved them to the right where our shoes lay.

"So. Fucking. Beautiful." Dallas said between kisses.

I tossed my head back and grasped the counter behind me for support while he kissed his way up my thighs, his lips lingering the closer he got to the apex. He was sweet and gentle with just the right amount of greedy. His breath was hot on my skin, goosebumps rising with every press of his lips. And then he kissed me there. It was long and slow, like he was savoring the moment, and the brief flick of his tongue sent a shockwave of pleasure to my core.

I wanted him to stay there, to make love to me with his mouth, but I couldn't suppress the overwhelming need to have him on top of me, inside me, reminding me what it felt like to be loved by him.

Dallas rose to his feet again and hoisted me up into his arms. He devoured my lips with his own while he moved us to the bed, gently laying me down. I watched him, noting every little detail about him as he removed his pants. The way his hair moved when he leaned down. The way the muscles in his arms flexed when he shoved his pants down his legs. I wanted to make sure I would remember everything about this night.

He tossed the remainder of his clothing into the pile a few feet away and then climbed into bed with me, propping himself up with his forearms on either side of me.

"I've dreamed about this moment with you for four years," Dallas said softly and kissed my forehead, then my cheeks, then my mouth. "I thought I knew what to expect, how I'd feel, what I'd say. I had a million things listed in my head that I would say to you, but none of them are good enough. No poem of big, fancy words can accurately describe the way I feel right now with you, Tali."

"I won't complain if you suddenly break out into 'A Moment Like This'," I said with a soft laugh, running my fingertips along the curves of his upper arm.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips and he looked down at me lovingly. "You know I was never a good singer."

"That's not entirely true." I raised a finger. "You may not have had the greatest voice, but you were definitely great entertainment."

He groaned and shut me up with a rough, needy kiss that quickly shifted the mood to something heavier and more intimate. The air surrounding us became so thick, you could've cut it with a knife.

Dallas was careful not to brush against my injured arm as we made out like it was the last time we'd ever get to kiss each other. I snaked my legs around his waist when I felt him position himself between my thighs. I remembered what that felt like, but no memory felt as good as this.

"I feel like I can finally breathe again," I gasped against his lips when I felt him start to enter me. "Being without you was suffocating."

I gripped his shoulders and he started to gently move inside me, gradually thrusting faster.

Everything was a thousand times better than I remembered it. It was a whirlwind of pleasure, yet at the same time, we were moving in slow motion. We were moving together, as one. Our hearts were beating in unison for each other. Every single element to our lovemaking was different from what I remembered. Better. Though, better wasn't the right word. No one word could do it justice. Being connected with Dallas was exemplary in the most raw, beautiful way. Nothing compared. Nothing ever would. And I knew right then that if this was, in fact, the last time I was to share a moment like this with Dallas, this would be the single greatest and happiest moment of my life, and nothing else would ever come close.

We reached pure bliss together, calling out each other's names in between a chorus of "I love you's," and in that moment, I felt safer than I ever had. But more importantly, I felt more loved than ever before. I felt complete.

"I'm madly in love with you," Dallas whispered into my ear, breathlessly kissing across my shoulder while we came down from our shared high.

Tears started to develop, clouding my vision, and I wrapped my arms as tightly as I could around him, hugging his body to mine. I didn't care that it hurt to compress my wound. I needed to be as close to him as possible for as long as possible. This couldn't be the end already. I wasn't ready to face reality.

"Stay with me," I begged, choking back tears.

"Hey. Hey," he said softly, quieting my cries. "I'm not going anywhere."

He shifted his hips to slide out of me and I suddenly felt empty. I latched onto him tighter, fearing that he was going to get up, but he simply laid down on his side next to me and pulled a blanket over us, tucking me in.

"I promise, Tali," he said sincerely. "I'm not leaving you."

He slung an arm over my midsection and I scooted closer, snuggling up as close to him as I could.

"What's this?" Dallas asked, tracing over the tattoo on my forearm with his thumb. "I don't remember this one."

"It's for you."

His brows drew inward and he studied the image, realization coming to his eyes within seconds.

"That's beautiful," he whispered, his voice rich with emotion, and he raised my arm to kiss my tattoo.

"What about yours?" I started to study his ink again. "Now will you tell me what they symbolize?"

Dallas smiled and moved his arm where both of us had a good view of all of his tattoos. He explained to me that the little squiggly shape in line art was the outline of Bulgaria coupled with the outline of Israel, our home countries side by side. There were two tiny, almost unnoticeable stars inside both outlines that pinpointed the capital cities.

Next was an exquisite design of a skyline.

"That's Atlanta." He pointed to it. "Where we first met."

Below the skyline tattoo were the words "I will prevail" written in Hebrew. There was an evergreen tree in a deep, almost black shade of green beside mountains, showcasing his love for nature. He also had a few lines of various song lyrics that meant a lot to him.

"What's that one mean?" I asked about a beautiful cursive tattoo in another language.

Dallas traced over the single word with his fingers. "It's your name in French."

The last curl of the word curved upward and tied in with a small Eiffel Tower, and I remembered that the last location we'd been together abroad was Paris. He'd shown me his favorite spot on the roof of a hotel where there was a first class view of the Eiffel Tower. We'd sat up there nearly all night watching the stunning structure dazzle in the moonlight. It was one of my favorite memories with him.

Dallas had several other tattoos that all found some way to meld together. He told me about the rest of them while he pulled his jeans back on and I threw on his T-shirt. He made us morning coffee, though we hadn't really slept at all – I didn't count my unconscious episode, and he told me he hadn't slept a wink, intent on taking care of me all night.

"So do you still feel the same way?" I forced myself to ask when he sat back down beside me, coffee in hand. "About us having to go our separate ways..."

A somber look came to his face and he was quiet for a while, probably trying to figure out how to answer me. I was fully prepared to fight for him if he still had the same opinion. I understood why he felt the way he did, but I wasn't about to give him up again. I was determined to make us work.

"Alana didn't tell me everything... Tell me why you're in Berlin, Tali," Dallas said instead.

I furrowed my brows at his dodge, but answered him anyway, explaining the situation surrounding Agent Lindsey and my mission to find the truth. I ended up rambling on for a while, telling him everything from how strange Mr. Lancaster had acted to the threatening phone call I'd received at the hotel in London.

Once I was finished word-vomiting, I waited for his response. He was looking at me with that same pointed stare that I remembered so well. It was the expression that always cloaked his face when he was overthinking, overanalyzing, mentally tearing apart every little detail of the subject at hand. He looked frustrated, kind of pissed off. But I could practically read his mind, still able to dissect his facial expressions perfectly. I knew what he was thinking.

"Care for a partner on this mission?" Dallas cocked a brow and that panty-melting smirk rose to his lips.

"Well, I know how much you love a challenge."

He nodded with a grin. "That I do."