The weight of what he wasn’t quite saying, couldn’t quite say yet, hung between us. But I understood. In the way his hand spread protectively over my stomach, in the wonder in his eyes, I understood perfectly.
He was opening the door to possibility between us. The possibility of kids.
Tears pricked my eyes. Happy tears that I didn’t try to stop.
“Come here,” he murmured, pulling me toward the bed. But not with the desperate hunger from before. This was something else entirely. Something that made my heart feel too big for my chest.
He sat on the edge of the bed, pulling me to stand between his knees.
“I want to memorize you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Every inch. Every freckle. Every place that makes you sigh.”
He pressed his lips to my stomach. Soft. Barely there. A whisper of a kiss that somehow felt more intimate than everything we’d already done.
“So beautiful,” he murmured against my skin.
His hands skimmed down my sides. No grabbing or claiming this time. Just gentle exploration, like he had all the time in the world. Like nothing existed outside this room, this moment, this slow unraveling of our souls.
“Lie down for me, Sunshine.”
I crawled onto his bed, the sheets cool and soft against my skin. Smelling like his cologne. Like safety. Like home. The moonlight caught the edges of his tattoos, turning them into shadows and silver.
“You’re staring,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“You’re worth staring at.”
He joined me on the bed. But instead of covering me with his body, he lay beside me. Propped on one elbow. Looking down at me like I was some kind of miracle.
“What?” I whispered.
“Just thinking about how I almost lost this.” His fingers traced my collarbone. Light as butterfly wings. “Almost let you walk away because I was too stubborn to admit what you meant to me.”
“I’m here now.”
“You are.” He leaned down, pressing his lips to my shoulder. Then my collarbone. The hollow of my throat. Each kiss deliberate and tender. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you know exactly how precious you are to me.”
His mouth traveled lower. Not rushed or demanding. He kissed the swell of my breast, The valley between them, and then my ribs, one by one, like he was counting them. Treasuring them.
When his lips found my nipple, it wasn’t the urgent sucking from before. He laved it gently with his tongue, worshipped it with soft pulls that sent lazy heat spiraling through me. Building slowly. Like honey warming in the sun.
“Axel …” His name came out as a sigh.
He switched to the other breast, giving it the same patient attention while his hand stroked my side. My hip. The curve of my waist. Learning me. Mapping me. Claiming me in an entirely different way than before.
He pressed his lips to my belly button. To the curve of my hip. He kissed my thighs. My knees. Even my ankles received his careful attention.
“Turn over,” he said softly.
I rolled onto my stomach, and he started again. Kissing up the backs of my legs. The sensitive spot behind my knees that made me shiver. My thighs. Higher.
When he kissed the small of my back, I felt tears slip down my cheeks. No one had ever touched me like this. Like I was precious. Sacred. Worth worshipping.
“Why are you crying, Sunshine?” He turned me gently onto my back again, concern etched across his features.
“Because you see me,” I whispered. “Really see me. And you still think I’m worth all this tenderness.”
“Oh, Sunshine.” He kissed my tears away. First one cheek, then the other. “You’re worth so much more than you know.”
He settled between my thighs, but didn’t push inside. Instead he kissed me deeply. Slowly. Our tongues dancing together in a rhythm that had nothing to do with urgency and everything to do with connection. I could taste myself on his lips from earlier. Could taste our combined desire and something sweeter. Something that tasted like forever.
