I close the door behind me and try again. “For running away. I was stupid, I was wrong, and I...I love you, too.”
“Then...prove it.”
P-Prove it?
My heart bangs against my chest as he closes the distance between us, and I find myself holding my breath as his hand comes up to cup my face. The gentleness of the touch doesn’t match the coldness in his eyes, but I’m just too nervous and confused to understand what’s going on.
“Yes, Evianne.” His thumb strokes my cheek. “Prove it.”
He leans closer, and the moment his lips brush mine—
Oh.
So that’s what he means.
His lips are now moving against mine with a tenderness that makes my chest ache, and I’m melting into him, relief flooding through me because he understands, he forgives me, he—
But then I remember.
I need to prove I mean it. Need to show him this isn’t just me running back because I’m scared of being alone.
And so...
I press up on my toes and kiss him back, and it honestly feels like standing at the edge of that frozen lake all over again. That same breathless terror, that same leap of faith.
My hands find his chest, pressing against the solid warmth of him, feeling his heartbeat under my palms, fast, so fast, as fast as mine, and that gives me courage somehow, knowing he’s affected too, knowing I’m not alone in this terrifying vulnerability.
I deepen the kiss.
It’s clumsy at first. I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’ve only ever kissed Joseph, and he always made me feel like I was doing it wrong. But Veil makes this sound in the back of his throat, this low groan that sends heat rushing through my entire body, and I think maybe, maybe I’m doing it right this time.
Maybe with him it’s different.
Maybe with him I’m enough.
My fingers curl into his shirt, holding on, and I’m trying to tell him everything I can’t say out loud. I choose you. I’m choosing you. I’m terrified but I’m choosing you anyway because you’re worth being brave for.
He’s kissing me back now. Hard. Hungry. His hands slide into my hair, tilting my head back, and I gasp because I’ve never been kissed like this, never felt so wanted, and we’re pressed together in his study with the door closed and nothing between us except everything we haven’t said.
I love him.
I love him and I’m showing him with this kiss, with my hands trembling against his chest.
Please see me.
Please understand what this means.
Please know I’m giving you everything I have.
His grip tightens in my hair, and his other hand spans my waist, pulling me closer, and I’m lost in him, drowning in him, finally, finally letting myself feel—
He pushes me away.
Abruptly.
Hard enough that I stumble.
“Enough.”
