We sit there on the couch, wrapped around each other, and for the first time in years, I feel like I can breathe. Really breathe.
The ghost of Cara Leigh will always be there. But she's not standing between us anymore.
And that makes all the difference.
Twenty-Five
Paisley
He kisses me like a man who's been drowning and I'm air.
We barely make it to the bedroom, shedding clothes as we go. His hands are everywhere, touching, caressing, like he's trying to memorize every inch of me. And I'm doing the same, mapping the planes of his chest, the muscles of his back, the rough stubble on his jaw.
"Paisley," he breathes against my neck, and I shiver.
"I'm here," I whine against his body.
"I need you," his voice is full of gravel and need.
"You have me." I promise him with everything that I have.
We fall onto the bed together, a tangle of limbs and desperate kisses. Everything that's been building between us, all the tension and stress. Everything we've wanted to say to each other, it all comes pouring out now.
He takes his time with me, his touches adoring, his kisses slow and deep. It's different than before. There's no hesitation now, no holding back. He's giving me all of him, and I'm giving him all of me in return.
"I love you," he murmurs against my skin.
"I love you too."
We move together, finding a rhythm that pushes up both over the edge before we can stop it. His eyes never leave mine, and in them I see everything he couldn't say before. The fear and the hope and the desperate wish that this, that we, will work.
When we finish, we're both shaking. He pulls me close, tucking me against his chest, and I can feel his heart thundering against my cheek.
"You okay?" he asks after a while.
"More than okay." I tilt my head up to look at him. "That was..."
"Yeah." He grins. "It really was."
We lie there in comfortable silence, his fingers trailing up and down my spine. Outside, I can hear the wind picking up, another storm rolling in. But I'm not scared. Not anymore.
"Chase?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For showing me what home feels like." My voice cracks. "For showing me what family is supposed to be."
He tightens his arms around me. "You've shown me the same thing. You've reminded me that it's okay to let people in. That loving someone doesn't have to end in loss."
"We're quite a pair, aren't we?" I laugh softly. "Two broken people trying to put each other back together."
"Maybe that's what makes it work. We understand each other's scars."
I press a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. "I'm glad you found me that day. In the field."
