I nod, not trusting my voice, and he pulls me back against him, tucking my head under his chin. When the tears finally slow, I stay where I am against his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, slow and strong. I can feel the rise and fall of his breathing.
After a long moment, I pull back and reposition myself in his lap, straddling his thighs so we’re face to face. There’s something almost unbearably intimate about it, sitting here with my face wet from tears, my heart cracked wide open while he looks at me with so much tenderness I can barely stand it. I’m completely exposed to him like this. And it feels right.
“Hey, baby,” he murmurs, his voice soft and low, and his hands come up to cradle my face, tilting it toward him. His thumbs sweep across my cheeks, wiping away the wetness with such care that it makes my throat tight all over again. Then he leans in and kisses my cheek. His lips are soft and warm against my skin, and I feel the gentleness of it spread through my whole body like heat from a fire.
“Theo?” I whisper, but I don’t know what I’m asking for.
“I’ve got you,” he says against my skin, and kisses the other cheek, lingering there until my breath catches. Then the space just beneath my eye where the tears gathered before they fell. Then my temple, his lips barely brushing my hairline.
I close my eyes and let him. Let him kiss every place the sadness touched. Each press of his mouth undoes me a little more. It feels like being known all the way down to my bones. Like he’s seeing every broken piece of me and choosing to love them anyway.
“So strong,” he murmurs between kisses. “My brave girl. Carrying all of that by yourself for so long.”
A sound escapes me, something between a laugh and a sob, and my fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt, holding on.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his hands still cradling my face. “You’re so strong, Emma. I think you can handle anything that comes your way. And whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you. But you don’t have to do it alone anymore. You don’t have to carry everything by yourself. That’s what I’m here for.”
I sniffle, feeling raw and wrung out but so safe in his arms. He pulls me closer, settling me more firmly against him, his hands sliding down to grip my hips. I can feel the warmth of him through our clothes, the solid strength of his thighs beneath me.
“I hate that you’ve had to go through this,” he says. “I wish I could make it all disappear. Keep you here with me where nothing can touch you.” His hand slides into my hair, cradling the back of my head, and the gentle tug of his fingers against my scalp makes me shiver.
I look at him, this man who showed up in my life when I least expected it and changed everything. “I’ve never had this before,” I admit quietly, my voice still shaky. “Someone who wants to take care of me like this. Someone who doesn’t expect me to just handle everything on my own.”
“Then you’ve been with the wrong people.” His voice is certain. “You deserve to be taken care of. You deserve to feel safe.” His grip on my hips tightens, fingers pressing into the soft flesh, pulling me closer until there’s no space left between us. “And I’m going to make sure you do. Every single day. For as long as you’ll let me.”
“You already do,” I tell him.
“Good.” I shift in his lap, pressing closer, and I feel his breath hitch. “Get used to this,” he says. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Promise?” I whisper against his lips, my hips shifting again, chasing the friction, needing more of him.
“Promise.” And then he kisses me for real, deep and slow and thorough, one hand fisting in my hair while the other grips my hip hard, and I melt into him completely.
The kiss deepens, his tongue sliding against mine, unhurried and thorough, like he has all the time in the world. Like kissing me is the only thing he wants to be doing right now. I’m lost in him. Lost in the taste of wine on his lips, the scrape of his stubble against my chin, the way his hands grip my hips like I’m the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth.
I rock against him instinctively, just needing to be closer somehow, needing more of him. The friction sends a spark through me and I gasp against his mouth. He groans, low and rough, and I feel his fingers tighten on my hips.
“Emma.” He pulls back just enough to look at me. “Baby, we don’t have to do anything. I didn’t mean for this to turn into... I just wanted to hold you. After everything tonight, we can just?—“
“I want to.” I cup his face in my hands, making him look at me. “I need to feel close to you right now. I need to feel you.”
His jaw tightens. “You’re emotional. I don’t want you to think I expect?—“
“I know that you’re not expecting anything.” I say, soft and pleading. “After everything tonight, I just... I need you, Theo.”
“Okay,” he murmurs. “I’ll give you whatever you need.”
He stands in one fluid motion, lifting me with him like I weigh nothing at all, and my legs wrap around his waist. I cling to his shoulders, and he holds me secure against him with one arm under my ass while the other hand cradles the back of my head.
“Hold on to me,” he says against my ear, and I do. I bury my face in his neck and breathe him in as he carries me down the hallway toward his bedroom, far away from where Chloe is sleeping upstairs.
The house is quiet around us, just the sound of his footsteps and our breathing. I press kisses to his neck as he walks, and he makes a low sound in his throat and his grip on me tightens.
He shoulders open the bedroom door and sets me down gently, my feet touching the cool hardwood floor. Then he turns to close and lock the door, clicking the lock into place with a deliberate finality.
And while his back is turned, something comes over me.
I feel so raw, so open, so completely stripped bare emotionally. And instead of making me want to hide, it makes me want to give him everything. Every part of me. I want him to see all of it, to take all of it, to claim every inch of me until there’s nothing left that doesn’t belong to him.
