“I need you,” I whispered against his mouth.
“You have me.” He positioned himself at my entrance. “You’ve had me since the day you walked into my life and turned everything upside down.”
He pushed inside slowly, letting me feel every inch. Letting our bodies adjust to each other. When he was fully inside, he stopped and pressed his forehead to mine. We breathed together, hearts beating in sync.
“I love you,” he said, the words falling between us like a vow.
“I love you too.”
He began to move. Slow, deep strokes that built a different kind of fire. Not the inferno from before. This was molten gold. Thick and sweet and all-consuming in a way that went beyond physical.
Our bodies moved together like we’d found our rhythm not just in bed, but in life, and as his hands linked with mine, pressing them into the mattress beside my head, I couldn’t help but think how this position left me completely open to him. Vulnerable. Safe.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
I opened my eyes, finding his gaze in the darkness. I’d never seen him look so open. So completely unguarded.
“You’re mine,” he said, but it wasn’t a command this time. It was a promise. “And I’m yours. Completely. Whatever that means. Whatever you need.”
The wave built slowly this time. Starting in my toes and traveling up my body in increments. Axel must have felt it in the way my breathing changed, the way my body began to tighten around him.
“That’s it, Sunshine. Let go for me. Let me see you.”
He kept the same steady rhythm. The same deep strokes that hit every perfect spot. The same locked gaze that made me feel seen down to my soul. The wave crested gently. Powerfully. Rolling through me in pulses that seemed to go on forever.
“Axel!”
He followed me over the edge, groaning my name as he buried his face in my neck. His body shuddered against mine, and we stayed locked together, breathing hard, hearts gradually slowing.
“Don’t leave,” I whispered, not sure if I meantdon’t pull outordon’t leave meordon’t leave this bedor maybe all of it at once.
“Never,” he promised, understanding perfectly. “I’m never leaving you, Sunshine. You’re stuck with me.”
He rolled off onto his back, and I shifted to my side, resting my head on his damp chest. His arm wrapped around me like armor against the world.
Listening to his heartbeat, feeling his arms around me, I thought about how, sometimes, love doesn’t arrive gently. Sometimes, it crashes into your life, disguised as conflict. Sometimes, it looks like a fake engagement that becomes the most real thing you’ve ever known.
“I love you,” I whispered into the darkness.
His arms tightened around me, and even in sleep, he murmured back, “Love you too, Sunshine. I love every version of you. Every version that you want to be. The polished one in designer dresses. The messy one in sweatpants. The fierce one who stands up for what’s right. The girl bent over my desk while I fuck her from behind.” He kissed the top of my head. “Every beautiful, complicated piece of you, Sunshine. All of it. Always.”
Tonight, in his bed, in his arms, with our bodies still connected and our hearts finally aligned, everything was perfect.
I was home.
50
2 FOLDERS + 1 CRYPTIC COMMENT = LEAST EXPECTED MOMENT IN HISTORY. #UNEXPECTED
DAKOTA
“What the hell, Dakota?!” Our publicist slapped two folders down onto the dining room table, the sharp sound echoing through the otherwise silent room. Her perfectly manicured fingernails drummed against the manila surfaces. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I flinched, unable to meet her laser-focused glare. After the emotional purge of yesterday’s live stream, I felt hollow, scraped raw, and completely unprepared for this confrontation.
“You didn’t even give us a heads-up that you were about to do it,” she continued, her voice rising with each accusation. “We could’ve gone about this in the right way. We could have scripted an apology!”
“Hey,” Axel said, holding his palm up like a traffic cop. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
