With one final thrust of his hips, he made her see stars.
Audrey cried out and gave herself over to it, seizing and shivering in his lap as she drew his own orgasm from him. Her nails bit into his back just as firmly as Theo’s fingers pulled against her scalp, and together they sat there in their living room, on their couch, riding the waves of their bliss between drinking their pleasure with their mouths.
Then, there was silence.
And softness.
Theo leaned back on the couch, cradling her on his chest as he laid them both down. He was still inside her, but she didn’t want him to leave yet. He was warmth. He was love.
He was home.
Finally, he broke the silence.
“You saved me from my prison. From my pain. You are my light.” His voice trembled as he spoke, just as much as his right hand once did, lifting to sweep her tousled hair away from her face. “My infinite love.” Tears lined his eyes and glinted in the firelight. “My beautiful Audrey.” He sniffed, and a quivering smile cracked across his wide mouth.
“I love you too, with all that I am.” Audrey closed her eyes as she cupped one cheek and pulled his face closer so she could press her lips to the other. “You shine just as brightly for me, you know.” She smiled against his skin. “My brilliant Theo.”
That, at least, was no secret.
It was a truth she’d never stop sharing with him.
Theo’s Epilogue
It was thescent of strawberries and honey that woke him this morning—like it did every other.
Theo tightened his arms around Audrey and nestled closer, breathing in deep, awake but unwilling to open his eyes.
Not yet.
When she no longer smelled like coffee, temporarily on her days off back when they first met, and permanently after she’d finally quit her job at the café, he thought she smelled like summer: all sunshine and sweetness and light.
It made sense. That’s what she was to him, so of course she’d smell that way.
He buried his nose in her hair now, letting the heady, sleepy warmth of her body curving against his wash over him, soothe him, settle into his bones. He wasn’t ready to wake up fully—not yet. He needed more time.
He’d always needed more time.
It was sweeter this way, savoring her like this, like she was one of his dreams. Because for him, she was. She was his most beautiful dream.
And every time he opened his eyes, he was terrified he’d find that she wasonlya dream.
He was terrified to find himself alone again.
The accident wasexactly two years and five days ago.
Theo knew because he counted: another day he managed to beat back the looming specter of death was another victory in the game of life. Another tally added to his scoreboard.
One more tick mark.
One more point.
One more win.
But it was one year, ten months, and twenty days since he woke up alone in his house for the first time after he’d lost his father—and himself.
Every bit of his body and mind had felt like they were being torn apart and burned away.
And he’d considered throwing the game entirely.
