“I guess?” she says, voice uncertain.
“One … two … ” She giggles. “Three,” I say, removing my hands and kneeling behind her. She takes in the space around her, her eyes tracking the purple hydrangea petals littered across the forest floor at her feet. Her gaze lands on the rich, deep gray wool blanket nestled at the base of a large redwood. The blanket lies beneath the amber glow of string lights hanging between the low-lying branches overhead. The lights sway slightly in the breeze, casting shadows that dance over the scene before her. Atop the blanket lies an ice bucket with a single, unopened bottle of champagne resting inside it. Sloane sucks in a breath, turning on her heels to face me. She looks down, eyes widening at the object I hold out in my hands.
“Sloane Lena Keenan,” I start, my hands trembling as I struggle to compose my own emotions. Her eyes fill with tears, one escaping to spill down her cheek as she holds my gaze. “You saw me when no one else would. You saved me from the darkness inside of me, making a home for it beside your own. There is no future for me without you in it. You are my resurrection, my ruin, my obsession. Will you be mine, darling, in this lifetime, and every one after that? Will you marry me?”
Tears fall down her face in a steady stream, her eyes a vivid green that mirrors the foliage around us. Her lips part, but sound abandons them at first, causing the forest around us togrow silent in waiting. Then she speaks, voice raw and filled with emotion.
“I would have followed you into the darkness in every lifetime, Riven. You are the one who set me free, allowed me to become the version of myself that I’m no longer ashamed of. Take me. Make me yours in every single way.”
She falls to her knees before me, cupping my face in her hands. “Yes,always, yes.” She presses her mouth softly to mine, kissing me slowly like she wants to commit the very moment to memory. The kiss is unhurried and deep, the kind that lingers long after lips part. The lights hanging above us flicker as if the forest itself bears witness to our union.
I pull away from her, removing the ring from the black velvet box that holds it. With hands that still tremble, I place the large, faintly pale sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds onto her ring finger. The haunting jewel sits atop a white-gold band as the finishing touch.
“Our story was never ordinary. So, I thought … why should this be any different?” I say, looking up into her eyes to gauge her reaction.
“It’s perfect, Riven.Soperfect.” She cries, throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me again. This time, the kiss is filled with an unrestrained hunger. She fists her hands in my hair as I lift her from the ground and walk toward the blanket. I lean down, setting her on her back on top of it. She pulls me closer, her legs wrapped tightly around me. This moment feels like more than the all-consuming love of two souls; it feels likeeternity.
I sit up, tearing off the layers of clothing that separate us before bringing my mouth back to hers. With a growl, I flip her over until she’s above me. I want to worship at her altar. She sits up fully, rolling her hips over my hard shaft, allowing me to feel exactly what I’ve already done to her.
“Sloane,” I groan, rubbing against her wet center. I watch her above me, her silhouette bathed in the amber glow of the hanging lights. She is a vision like this, one that I could happily stare at for the rest of my days. She lifts herself enough to slip her hand beneath us and align herself on top of me. She sinks at an agonizing pace, and it halts the beat of my heart.
“Fuck,” I murmur, “you feel so good, darling.” My praise has the intended effect of quickening her pace, if only enough to provide me with that friction that sets my soul on fire. I grip the tops of her thighs, thrusting up and meeting her rhythm until our souls beat to the same drum. The forest around us awakens, the lights above us seemingly brighter now. She tosses her head back, moaning into the night sky as she rolls her hips around me in slow circles. She is a goddess who shines brighter than even the stars above us.
This time is different. This time, I don’t order her to look at me, nor do I command her to voice her desires. Her hooded gaze finds mine all on her own, wrapping me up in them the way that she always truly has. The control was always hers, mine only ever an illusion. Maybe I’ve always known this to be true. Even when I thought that I had honed it, it only ever depended on her touch, her words, her presence. She allows me to have her, todevourher, because she chooses it. She surrenders to me knowingly, aware that I’d give her anything she asked for. Her next words find my ears all on their own.
“Touch me, Riven. I want to feel your hands on me,” she pants. I move my hand to her clit, flicking it between my fingers as she writhes above me. My other hand finds the swell of her breast, brushing the pad of my finger over her nipple in a soft caress. She moans loudly, the sound of it drawing me nearer to that place that lies beyond the stars. A smile tugs at the corner of her lips in a soft, kind of dangerous way. Her next words are my absolute and utter undoing.
“Come for me, Riven.” Her words are a whispered invitation, layered in tenderness and fire. My once unyielding control shatters into nothing as I shudder beneath her, burying myself deep inside of her. I chase that final edge as she plants her palms firmly against my chest to anchor me. I feel her tightening around me, close to her release.
“Let go for me, Riven.” I didn’t know I needed to do just that. Together, we come. Her name spills from my lips like a confession, like I’m falling to my knees at the altar of the only salvation I’ve ever truly known. She screams my name into the forest, eyes never leaving mine. For the first time, I allow myself to be completely unmade by her. I never thought that surrender could feel like freedom. But here, with her in my arms under the night sky, I find that I am truly free.
