“Yes.”
“Well,” he says softly, “I’m not going anywhere.”
My hands slide up to his chest without really thinking about it. “You promise?” I ask quietly.
His answer is immediate. “Yeah.”
The kiss this time is different from the others. It’s slower. Less desperate. More certain. His hands settle around my waist as I lean into him, the warmth of his body familiar now in a way that makes my heart do that strange fluttering thing again.
We move together without really speaking, drifting further into the kitchen like we’ve both already decided we’re not in a hurry to be anywhere else tonight. At one point I pull back slightly just to look at him. His hair is still slightly messy from the wind outside. His jumper pushed up at the sleeves. That familiar crease between his eyebrows when he’s concentrating on something.
“You know what’s weird?” I say softly.
“What?”
“You’ve been part of my life for so long and somehow this still feels new.”
Rory smiles slightly. “Probably because we spent about twenty years pretending we didn’t want this.”
His thumb brushes lightly along my cheek. “You seem… emotional.” He notes.
“That’s because I am.” I take a breath. Then say the thing that has been hovering at the edge of my thoughts all evening. “Rory, I think I love you.”
The words land in the quiet room between us. Rory goes very still for a second. Then something in his expression softens in a way I’ve never seen before.
“Yeah?” he says quietly. “I think I love you too Frey. In fact, I know I love you. I’ve known I have loved you for as long as I can remember. I’ve just been to chicken shit to do anything about it. So Frey?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m about to prove exactly how much I love you and how every single part of you is mine.”
Chapter fifty
Rory
Admitting my feelings for Freya has opened something in me that I didn’t even realise I’d been holding back all these years. Something deep and urgent that now refuses to stay quiet. Because now that it’s out in the open, now that I’ve said the words out loud and she’s said them back, all I can think about is her. Every part of her. Every inch. Like some part of me has been waiting years to finally stop pretending this wasn’t inevitable. Kissing her now feels almost desperate. Like I can’t quite get enough of her no matter how close she is. My hands slide around her waist, pulling her closer, and she melts into me instantly like she belongs there.
“Fuck, Frey,” I murmur against her mouth. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
She laughs softly against my lips, slightly breathless.
“Rory, you are literally a Greek god,” she says, running her hands up into my hair. “A genuinely unfair specimen of a man. I can’t believe I’ve slept with you.”
I grin, brushing my mouth along her jaw. “You’re about to do a whole lot more than that.”
She swallows, blinking up at me with that mix of nerves and excitement that makes my dick twitch even more than it already is. I unbutton her jeans and lift her easily onto the kitchen counter, her jeans falling to the ground as I lift her. She whimpers softly as her legs come around my waist, themovement bringing her flush against me. Her eyes flick down to the bulge in my jeans for half a second. Then back up.
“You want that?” I ask quietly.
She nods once, a small breath escaping her. “Uh huh.”
I brush my thumb gently along her bottom lip. “You’re going to have to be patient, Frey,” I murmur, my voice rougher than I intend. “Because I want to take my time with you. I want to taste every…”
Kiss
“Single.”
Kiss.
