“Anything.”
“What happens after these two weeks? When we go back to Blackridge and real life?”
Carson was quiet for a moment. “What do you want to happen?”
“I want what you said earlier. Moving in with you. Building a life together.” She turned to look at him. “But I also want to make sure we’re doing this for the right reasons. Not just because we got thrown together by circumstances.”
“We weren’t thrown together. We chose each other.” His hand moved to cup her face. “Every step of this, we made choices. You chose to trust me. I chose to protect you. We both chose to let this become more than just a case.”
“But what if—”
“Stop.” He silenced her with a gentle kiss. “I know what you’re worried about. That once the adrenaline wears off and life goes back to normal,we’ll realize this was just trauma bonding. That we don’t actually work outside of crisis situations.”
“Do you worry about that too?”
“Sometimes. Late at night when I can’t sleep and my brain won’t shut off.” He pulled her closer. “But then I remember how I felt before any of the danger. That first day you walked into the coffee shop and asked for my help. I was drawn to you then. Wanted to protect you, yes, but also just wanted to know you. Wanted to make you smile. Wanted to be someone you could trust.”
“Really?”
“Really. And every day since then, those feelings got stronger. The danger didn’t create what’s between us, Nora. It just accelerated it. Made us face things we might have taken months to admit otherwise.”
She studied his face in the firelight. “So you think we would have ended up here anyway? Even without Eugene and Dan and all of it?”
“I think we would have found each other eventually. Maybe I would have seen you at a coffee shop and worked up the courage to ask you out. Maybe you would have needed help with a parking ticket and ended up at the station.” He smiled. “The universe has a way of putting people together who are meant to be together.”
“You believe in fate?”
“I believe in you and me. Call it whatever you want.”
Nora kissed him then—pouring all her hope and fear and love into the contact. Carson responded immediately, deepening the kiss, his hand sliding into her hair.
When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Carson rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “Not because you needed saving. Not because of adrenaline or danger or any of that. I love you because you’re brave and kind and you see the best in people, even when they don’t deserve it. Because you make me want to be better. Because being with you feels like coming home.”
Tears spilled down Nora’s cheeks. “I love you too. So much it scares me sometimes.”
“Good. I like you a little scared.” He wiped away her tears with his thumb. “Keeps you on your toes.”
She laughed through the tears. “You’re terrible.”
“You love it.”
“I really do.”
They kissed again, and this time it didn’t stop at kissing. Carson’s hands moved to the hem of her sweater, and Nora helped him pull it over her head. His shirt followed. Fabric dropped to the floor left and right. Then they were skin to skin, the fire warming them from one side while they created their own heat.
“Bedroom?” Carson murmured against her mouth.
“Too far,” Nora said against his mouth as she arched her hips, forcing his hard length to nudge inside slightly.
“Couch then,” Carson said on a groan as he lowered himself down, sliding into her warm, wet sheath fully.
“Perfect,” Nora breathed, gasping as Carson cupped a breast and wrapped his lips around one pert nipple as his hips began to move.
***
Later, they lay tangled together on the couch, a blanket pulled over them, the fire crackling softly.
