“Cedar from the big tree that came down behind the shop last winter,” I tell her, voice quieter than I mean it to be. “Walnut inlay because it’s strong. The carving… that’s us. You’re the sun. I’m the mountain. And together we’re something solid. Something that lasts.”
Her fingers tremble as she lifts the pendant. Tears gather along her lower lashes.
I take a breath, the words I’ve been carrying since the moment I met her are finally ready to come out.
“I love you, Katy.”
She looks up fast, eyes wide.
“I know it’s fast,” I continue before she can speak. “I know I’m supposed to wait, supposed to play it cool, supposed to pretend I’m not terrified every time you smile at me because I don’t want to lose this. But I’m done pretending. I fell the second you laughed at that bar. Every day since has just been me falling harder. You’re loud and bright, you talk to animals, and you make this quiet life feel alive. You’re the best thing I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to live without it. I love you. Completely. Instantly. Irrevocably.”
Tears spill over now, sliding down her cheeks. She doesn’t wipe them away.
“I love you too,” she whispers. Her voice cracks. “I’ve loved you since the night you made me dinner. Maybe before that. I was scared to say it because I thought it would freak you out, but… God, Nathan. I love you so much it hurts sometimes.”
Relief crashes through me like a wave. I pull her into my arms, kissing her hard, desperate, grateful, full of everything I’ve been holding back.
She kisses me back just as fiercely, hands fisting in my shirt, legs straddling my lap as she climbs on top of me. The blanket falls away. She’s naked beneath it, soft and warm against me. I groan into her mouth, hands sliding up her thighs, gripping her hips.
“I need you,” she breathes against my lips. “Right now.”
I flip us so she’s beneath me, my weight braced on my forearms. She reaches between us, fumbling with the drawstring of my sweatpants, shoving them down just enough to free me. I’m already hard, aching for her. She wraps her hand around me, stroking once, twice, and I hiss through my teeth.
“Condom,” I manage.
She shakes her head. “I’m on the pill. Clean. Please.”
I search her eyes. Find only certainty.
I notch at her entrance and push in, slow at first, savoring the tight, wet heat that surrounds me. She gasps, nails digging into my shoulders. When I’m fully seated, we both pause, breathing hard, foreheads pressed together.
“You feel…” I swallow. “So perfect.”
She kisses me, messy, hungry. “Move. Please.”
I do.
The rhythm starts slow, deep, rolling thrusts that make her sigh every time I bottom out. Then faster. Harder. She wraps her legs around my waist, heels digging into my ass, urging me deeper. The headboard thumps against the wall. Her nails rake down my back. I kiss her throat, her jaw, her mouth. The kiss is desperate and claiming.
“I love you,” I growl against her ear. “Love this. Love you.”
“I love you,” she gasps. “So much. Don’t stop.”
I angle deeper, hitting that spot that makes her cry out. One hand slips between us, thumb finding her clit, circling fast and firm. She tightens around me, breath hitching.
“Come for me,” I rasp. “Let me feel you.”
She shatters, back bowing, pulsing hot and tight around me. I follow right after, hips slamming deep one last time, growling her name as pleasure rips through me, spilling inside her in long, shuddering pulses.
We collapse together, sweaty, breathless, tangled. I roll us so she’s draped across my chest, still inside her, softening slowly.
She presses lazy kisses to my collarbone. “I love you.”
I kiss her hair. “I love you too.”
We lie there in the afterglow, listening to the wind move through the pines outside. Bear scratches at the door again, tail thumping.
Katy laughs softly. “He’s jealous.”
