"A few days," she repeated quietly, her gaze dropping to her hands.
"Your life will go back to normal." The words nearly choked me, tasting bitter on my tongue.
Bright green eyes lifted to mine and held. "What if I don't want it to?"
My heart stuttered in my chest. Hope flared, dangerous and bright, before I forced it down, afraid to believe what I thought I heard in her voice.
"You don't want to be President?" I asked carefully, searching her face for answers.
"No." She shook her head, a small smile touching her lips even as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "That's not what I meant."
I waited, barely breathing, my entire world narrowing to this moment, to her.
"I don't want this to end." Her hand lifted, laying softly on my chest, over the heart that hammered just for her. "I don't want to lose you."
The words hit me like a shockwave, reverberating through every cell in my body. For a moment, I could only stare at her, certain I'd misunderstood. But the vulnerability in her expression, the way her fingers trembled slightly against my chest, the raw honesty in those beautiful green eyes.
"Ellie...." Her name came out rough, broken, barely more than a whisper.
"I know it's complicated," she continued, her voice gaining strength even as emotion threatened to overwhelm it. "I know I'll be going back to the White House, back to the presidency and all the scrutiny that comes with it. But Rickon, these past days with you, they've been the most real thing I've experienced in years. Maybe ever. And the thought of going back to that life without you...." She swallowed hard, her throat working. "I don't want to."
I covered her hand with mine, pressing it more firmly against my chest where my heart raced. "I don't want it to end either," I said, the words tumbling out before I could second-guess them.
My mind spun, searching desperately for solutions, for any way to make this work. Then it struck me, clear and simple.
"Perhaps I could return with you," I said slowly, the idea taking shape even as I spoke. "Use the cuddwisg and remain in the guise of a Secret Service agent. I could stay at your side, protect you as I've been doing, but…." I met her eyes, letting her see everything I felt. "Not as an assignment. As someone who chooses to be there."
Her breath caught, her lips parting in surprise. "You would do that? Leave your ship? Stay with me?"
"I would give up everything to be with you," I said, the words coming from somewhere deep within me, from a place I hadn't known existed until I met her. I turned her hand over in mine, threading our fingers together. "I am yours until you send me away."
Her eyes widened, filling with tears that caught the light streaming through the shack's small window. "You would do that?"
"Yes." The certainty of it resonated through every fiber of my being, absolute and unshakeable. "When my mate and daughter died, I thought I would never feel like this for someone again. I believed myself content with their memory. But from the moment I saw you, I knew you were mine. I tried to deny it, tried to maintain professional distance, but...." I shook my head. "I cannot fight what you are to me. I will not."
She pulled back slightly, searching my face with those penetrating green eyes. "I'm president for two more years, Rickon. Two more years of living in a fishbowl, of every moment scrutinized, every relationship analyzed and picked apart." Her voice dropped. "I've already decided I'm not running again. I can't do another term. But...." She touched my face, her fingers trembling against my skin. "You’d really do that? Stay on Earth, wear a disguise every single day, just to be with me?"
"Yes." The answer came without hesitation, without a doubt. "Gladly. I love you, Ellie."
The words hung between us, raw and honest and terrifying in their simplicity.
Her tears spilled over then, tracking down her cheeks in silvery trails. "I love you too," she whispered, and then her mouth was on mine.
The kiss was desperate, hungry, filled with all the fear and hope and need we'd been holding back. I pulled her against me, one hand tangling in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back. She made a small sound in her throat, her fingers clutching at my shoulders as if she feared I might disappear.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, I rested my forehead against hers. "We should go," I murmured against her lips, reluctant to move even an inch away from her.
"What if I don't want to?" She whispered, feathering her mouth over mine. "Rickon," she breathed against my lips. "I need—"
"I know." My hands were already working at her clothes, mindful of the chill inside the fishing shed despite the heat raging between us. "I know. I've got you."
My words seemed to do something to her, because she made a sound low in her throat that went straight to my cock. A second later and her hands were fumbling with my pants.
"These fucking things," she muttered, yanking at the zipper.
I finally got the zipper down and shoved my pants down my hips, kicking them off along with my boots in movements that were far from graceful. The cold air hit my heated skin, but I barely registered it, not when Ellie was looking at me like that, her eyes bright with want.
"Your turn," I said, my voice rough as I reached for the zipper of her parka. My fingers were steadier now, more purposeful, as I drew it down slowly. She shivered, whether from anticipation or the cold, I couldn't tell.
