Lucky simply growls. He grabs the little tail that hangs at the bottom of the silks. I grab back on as he pulls me in a circle, sending it wide, speeding up my momentum. But instead of launching me, he hoists himself up onto the silks with me, rising above my safe little loop in two easy pulls. Like it’s nothing at all, he’s hanging upside down above me like a damn monkey.
“I think I like this view even better,” he teases as he twists his feet into the silk and holds on with only one hand. He looks down at me with an intensity I can only describe as… devotion.
I pull myself upright and reach up to grab the front of Lucky’s shirt with my hand. My eyes are locked on his lips the entire time as I pull him down toward me. Closer. Closer.
Until, finally, his lips meet mine. And I live out every girl’s Spiderman upside-down kiss fantasy. Lucky’s lips are hot, eager. His tongue traces my lower lip. My teeth catch his lip. My breath, his mouth, his air, my lips. It’s all the same. There is no end of me and beginning of him.
The silk circles smaller and smaller, until finally, we come to a still in the center of this incredible mirror room. And I kiss Lucky like my life depends on it. Like he’s the last bit of oxygen I’ll ever experience.
And I know. With every part of my being. And I can’t contain it.
“I love you, Lucky,” I say as I brace my hand against the side of his neck. His pulse is a runaway train.
For a second, he just stares at me. Like my words punched him in the chest and knocked all the air out. His mouth parts, then shuts again, green eyes flicking across my face as if he’s searching for the trap.
And then it hits him.
It’s in the way his whole body stills, the way his grin slips away like a mask falling. He blinks once, slow, and I swear I see the edges of his world tilt. Lucky literally flips down to his feet,holding onto the silks right next to my hands as he leans in a little closer.
“Say it again,” he whispers, voice wrecked, almost afraid.
I don’t hesitate. The words fill every part of me to the brim. “I love you, Lucky.”
That breaks him.
He grabs me like he’s drowning and I’m the only thing keeping him alive. His mouth crashes against mine, desperate and hungry, and I clutch his shirt, pull him closer, closer, until I finally just wrap my legs around his waist so there’s no space between us. His kiss is wild, unhinged, something trembles under it too, something tender that makes my knees weak.
When he finally drags back just enough to breathe, his forehead drops to mine, and his chest shakes with a laugh that’s not funny at all. “You’ve destroyed me, Willow. Absolutely ruined me.” His hands cup my face like I’m fragile, like I’m glass, even though we both know I’m not. His eyes blaze, and the words tumble out like a vow. “I love you, too. Holy fuck, I’ve never said anything that I meant more. I love you, Dagger Kitten.”
It steals my breath. Not because I doubted—he’s shown me in every feral look, every reckless kiss, every dangerous thing he’s done with and for me—but hearing it out loud cracks through me like lightning.
I smile against his mouth, and my voice comes out fierce, certain. “Good. Cause you’re never getting rid of me.”
He kisses me again, slower this time, like he’s memorizing the shape of the word between us. And I realize—I’ve never felt safer in my life than here, in this mirrored room, wrapped in Lucky’s arms and our thousand reflections.
Lucky kisses me like he’s starving, but as I try to climb higher, press closer, take more, he tears his mouth from mine with a ragged sound and rests his forehead against mine.
“Willow, I can’t—” His breath shudders. “I swore I’d never push you.”
But as he says the words, as he proves yet again that he’s the best man this world has to offer, I know it.
That hang up inside of me, the fear, the hesitation?
It’s gone.
All that’s left is want. Readiness. Love.
I tighten my fists in his shirt, hold him where I want him. My heart is hammering, but for the first time in years, it’s not with fear—it’s with want. Pure, unapologetic fucking want.
“I’m ready, Lucky,” I say, my voice steady, determined. Fuck, it almost hurts how much conviction is raging through me. “It’s different now. It’s different when you’re someone I love with every damn bone in me. I trust you, Lucky. I know you love me. And now I want this. I want you. All of you. Right now.”
His eyes blaze like I just handed him the whole universe. “Willow…”
“I mean it.” My eyes lock on his. Everything in me feels steady. Calm. Sure in a way I’ve never felt in my life. “I’m ready to be with you. I want to be with you. I started birth control weeks ago. I wanted to be ready. And I need you to believe me. I. Am. Ready.”
I lean in closer, our lips only a breath apart. “And I want you to talk me through it.”
He studies me for five seconds longer. I see the conflict there. He meant every word when he said he was letting me set the pace. He was in it for the long haul. And here I am, telling him I’m ready.
