His virile scent wraps around me, and his arms curve around my back, pulling me in until there’s no space left, his breath caressing my cheek, his confidence enveloping me in a protective embrace.
I melt.Full-on, shameless melt.My knees go soft.My pulse sings, and I let him move us across the deck in fluid, deliberate steps that feel indecently sexy.
“Your turn,” I whisper.“Ask me if I’ve ever danced with a man before.”
He bends his neck, mouth hovering near my ear.“Have you ever danced with a man?”
“No.”
Pleasure shimmers across his gorgeous face.His fingers tighten at my waist, drawing me even closer.He stands taller, prouder, and it hits me how much he loves this.How much I love giving him this.How he looks at me like I’ve handed him the world.
And I’m happy, too.Not the fleeting kind.The deep, forever kind that reshapes my heart.
He spins me, catches me against his chest, and I laugh, unfiltered and honest.
Surrounded by glittering water and the laughter of family, we dance in the warm sunlight.I lean into him fully, letting the day be exactly what it is.
Beautiful.Simple.Safe enough that neither of us pulls away.
Maybe that’s the biggest question answered today.
At the end of our one-week hiatus on the island, I finish towel-drying my hair in the bathroom and stare at the fogged mirror.
My reflection looks… Different.Unsettled but not in a bad way.More like I’ve been unplugged and rebooted, and all my internal parts have recalibrated around… Him.
My darling wolf.
This week gave us quiet mornings, slow nights, honest answers, stolen hours where nothing hurt, and the best sex of my life.
He taught me how to fish off the dock, and I learned that I don’t have the patience for it.We played cards with his family, and I learned that Leo is a sore loser and that Kody is a sneaky cheat.
We ate dinner with his family on the outdoor patio, worked out in the home gym, and took full advantage of the pool.
And now it’s ending.
My heart rate is all over the place because I don’t know what life looks like once we leave this house, this strange, precious bubble we hid ourselves in.
I’m terrified I’m about to lose it.
I’m equally terrified I’m not.
Under all the clashing noise, something louder pushes against my breastbone.A pressure.A truth.Three words I’ve been carrying like held breath.They’ve been sitting in my lungs all week, swelling with every glance, touch, and easy grin Wolf tosses my way.
I’ve told other mensomethingbefore.Variations.Performances.Nothing that came with this intensity, this clarity, this life-altering certainty.
This is absolute.
Wolfson Strakh isn’t a gentle drift or a stumbling detour.He’s a roar in my chest.A pounding beneath my skin.Losing him would be losing an organ.He’s vital.Integral.An essential part that doesn’t grow back.
I can’t lose him.
With a steadying breath, I return to the bedroom in a long T-shirt and undies, my hair damp around my shoulders.
He’s sprawled across the bed, head tipped back, eyes closed.His arms lay out to the sides like he’s offering himself up to a god who never deserved him.
It looks like prayer.
A heathen’s prayer.
