“I’m not expecting him to jump for joy, but I’m also not willing to listen to any bullshit. He did what he did, and now that I’m sitting here in your lap…I’m glad he cheated on me.”
Amelia regarded Jo with a sympathetic smile. “Jo…”
“I’m serious.” Jo lowered a hand and took Amelia’s. “I’ve wanted you for longer than I cared to admit to myself. Now that we’re here, I feel as though everything happened because it was supposed to.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“I’d never lie to you.”
Amelia swallowed. She wanted to say she’d never lie to Jo either, but well…she’d already been there and done that. “I know you’ll probably find it hard to trust me after what I did to you, but that’s not who I am, Jo. Not deep down. I knew it was wrong and I spent weeks warring with myself, but every time I considered telling you, you talked to me about Lia and how much you enjoyed being with her…and I couldn’t do it.” Amelia lifted their hands and kissed Jo’s knuckles. “But moving forward, I’llneverlie to you again. You have my word.”
“I believe you.” Jo dipped her head and placed a kiss to Amelia’s jaw. “And thank you…for letting me in. It means the world, really.”
Amelia guided Jo up out of her lap, the blanket slowly falling to the floor between them. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to be myself with. It’s why I found it so hard to be honest. I wasn’t sure I could handle the rejection.”
“I’m sorry,” Jo whispered as she cast her gaze to the space between them. “If I hadn’t kept telling myselfandus that it was a bad idea, you may have felt safer with me.”
“I’ve always felt safe with you.”
Jo stared at her, unmoving. Then, in the quiet that followed, Amelia reached up and fisted her hand in Jo’s hair, dragging her in close with the kind of hunger that had been simmering since the moment they’d been rudely interrupted in the kitchen.
The kiss was searing. Open, needy, and so fuckingreal.
There was no desperation…justhonestywith every swipe of their tongues.
Jo moaned softly, her hands landing on Amelia’s waist as her fingers pressed through the material of the hoodie she’d borrowed. Amelia didn’t hesitate as she pushed Jo gently back towards her bedroom door, their mouths still tangled as they stumbled their way through the small space.
In that moment, it wasallAmelia. Not a fantasy, not an act, just Amelia…shedding the last of the weight she’d carried for so long.
Jo’s hands slid under the hem of Amelia’s hoodie, her fingertips brushing her bare skin. Amelia let out a broken whimper, her breath catching as she pressed closer and backed Jo up against her bedroom door. She wanted to lose herself. She wanted togiveherself. God, she needed to feel what it was like to be wanted. Not as a body in a dark room, but as a woman finally learning what it was to be held in the light.
“I wantyouto ruinme,” she whispered against Jo’s lips. “Not behind a curtain. Not in the dark. Right here…where I can see you.”
Jo’s body shuddered under her hands. “Amelia…”
“I mean it.” She pulled back and met Jo’s eyes. “This is the most important night of my life. I want to remember this. Every second of it. Withyou.”
Jo’s lips parted in a soft gasp, her eyes dark and shining with something Amelia hadn’t seen before. Reverence. As though Amelia was something rare and precious. For the first time sinceshe’d closed herself off to love, Amelia felt like she was exactly that.
Jo reached behind her and opened the door without breaking eye contact, guiding Amelia into the bedroom. The room was dimly lit, just the soft glow from the lamp beside the bed illuminating the space, and Amelia could feel her heartbeat in every inch of her skin.
Jo closed the door with a quiet click and leaned back against it, watching her.
No words.
Just silence.
That charged energy Amelia had missed.
Amelia stepped closer, her hoodie riding high on her thighs with every movement. She reached for Jo again, cupping her face and running her thumbs beneath her eyes, across her cheeks, down to the corners of her mouth. She wanted to remember every line of her face and every flicker of emotion in those eyes.
“Touch me like you mean it,” Amelia whispered against Jo’s lips. “Not because you feel sorry for me. Not because of everything I told you. Just…because you want to.”
Jo let out the softest breath, and then she surged forward and kissed her again, her hands skimming down Amelia’s arms, over her hips, one eventually settling around the back of her neck while the other was placed over Amelia’s heart. “I’ve never wanted anything more.” Jo’s lips brushed over Amelia’s jaw. “I wantyou. Not the version you think I need, not the woman you had to become to survive…justyou.”
Amelia’s whole body gave in at that.
Jo pushed her hoodie up and over her head, revealing the skin she’d kept hidden for so long. Not just from others, but from herself. Being at Satin didn’t count, none of the people there mattered, but here…under Jo’s touch, she let herself be seenfully. The scars she had come to hate. The curves that had once made her feel ashamed. The softness she had tried to turn into armour.
