“You, Prim, open a door to my walls. Only you have the key, and you come and go as you please. And that,” Leo swallowed, “was scary.”
He looked down ridden with guilt. He sighed again and looked up, imploring her to understand what she was saying.
“I got so scared, Prim. So, I acted on instinct. Pushing you away, closing the door like I did the door between our rooms, thinking that this would protect me. But it was too late. You were everywhere, in my mind, in my soul, under my skin.”
Prim nodded in understanding, her thumb stroking his cheek as her other hand still nestled in his.
“I never thought in my life,” Prim started, “that I could have someone for me. It's been years since I've been taking care of the twins and worrying about their future. And I never really had anyone worrying about me. And the worst part is, I never thought I wanted anyone taking care of me. Till you came along.”
Leo was listening very carefully, nuzzling closer while on his knees. His eyes didn't leave hers as she told her side of the story.
“I know, Leo,” she ran her fingers through his hair, “we didn't meet with the most regular of circumstances.”
“Regular is overrated. One day, have Abigail tell you her story.”
“I do get the sense that it would be interesting,” Prim joked with a huffed laughter.
They both laughed a little,e expelling some of the tension that still pestered their souls from the danger that they had faced.Then their look turned deeper, bringing them back to the moment.
“But somehow,” Prim said softly, “along the way it became real for me.”
Leo straightened his body, his height brought him closer to her face even in this position.
“It was real. It is real, Prim,” Leo begged. “It's not fair that it took me the realization that I would lose you, terribly lose you, to realize what you mean to me. What you always meant to me but I just named it something else entirely.”
He pulled even closer, both hands on her waist, his stance that of supplication. His impossibly blue eyes were taking in her face as if he was trying to decipher every little movement with agony.
“Please tell me I'm not late,” Leo begged. “You were never a wife of convenience or circumstance. I was always meant to be yours.”
Prim's breath hitched. She didn't expect that kind of confession. She searched his face for any traces of a lie.
“You seem to be in disbelief,” Leo sighed. “I don't blame you. I guess I will have to make up for all the stupid things I said. And I will start by saying this.”
His grip upon her waist became tighter. He pulled incredibly close, not even air could pass between them, his breath fanned her face. All that he was expressed in his blue eyes, open and clear as she gazed down upon them.
“I love you, my Prim. I love you, Ms. P.J. I love you.”
Her hands, which had been stroking his hair, stilled. Then, they framed his face, her touch reverent. He bravely bared himself to her. It was only fair that she did the same. She leaned in, now their faces so close that she breathed the air he exhaled.
“I have loved you through every strategy, every defense, every foolish, wonderful moment. I loved you even when you broke my heart, because my heart was yours already. I love you so much.”
Leo exhaled a stuttering breath that was holding inside him his whole essence, and he could now release it into her care with trust. His smile was so radiant it could make the sunbeams filtering through the drapes jealous.
“You love me? You truly love?”
“I do.”
He closed the distance between them in a searing kiss. His hands left her waist, one tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck, the other splaying against her back to press her closer, as if he could fill the hollow space that she left with your warmth.
Prim responded with the same fervor. Her fingers slid from his face into his hair, gripping, anchoring. All that she didn't say was poured into this kiss that turned into a promise into a vow.
They broke the kiss just to gasp for air, but they stayed close, looking at each other finally without any pretense or any doubts.
“Again!” Leo requested.
She could feel in his desperation that it might take a million kisses to reaffirm what they almost lost. And she was willing to meet that tally.
In one swift move, he lifted her up and laid her on the bed. They still wore the clothes from the harbor, the stench of their agony wafted in the air, and blood was all over him, but none of it mattered. If Prem didn't feel him all of him right now she would go crazy.
