“Neither do I,” I whispered.
He kissed me again, hungrier this time, and I felt the restraint he'd been holding finally begin to unravel. His hands began to map my body as if he had been waiting years for this—across my shoulders, down the curve of my waist, settling at my hip where his fingers pressed into me with a quiet desperation.
Clothes came off slowly between our kisses and soft laughter. He fumbled with a button and I helped him, our foreheads pressed together as we smiled at each other in the dim light.
"You are so beautiful," he whispered against my skin, his lips trailing from my shoulder to the hollow of my throat. I felt the words more than heard them, vibrating against my pulse point.
"Riven—"
"I've wanted to tell you for months." His mouth found mine again. "I notice everything about you."
My heart felt too full, pressing against my ribs. I pulled him closer to me, eliminating the last breath of space between us. "Then show me everything."
And he did.
He spun me around with impossible gentleness, as though I were something precious he was afraid to break. The sheets were cool against my back, a sharp contrast to the heat of his body hovering over mine. He paused, drinking me in, and I watched his eyes darken as they traveled slowly down my body and back up again.
"Tell me what you want," he said, his voice rough.
I reached for him, pulling him down until his weight pressed me into the mattress. "You. Just you."
His mouth found the curve of my neck and I arched into him, closing my eyes and gasping when his teeth grazed my pulse point. He kissed his way down. His hands followed the path his lips made, learning every dip and curve, every place that made me shiver.
When I opened my eyes, he was watching me with wonder.
"Come here," I breathed, pulling him up to me.
Our bodies aligned, his forehead pressed to mine. "Are you sure?"
In answer, I wrapped my legs around him and drew him in.
"I've wanted this—wanted you—for so long,” he said, his eyes locked on mine.
I pulled his mouth down to mine, swallowing his words with a hungry kiss. We moved together faster now, more urgent, chasing something just out of reach.
We stayed like that for a long moment, breathing hard. He pressed soft kisses to my cheeks, my eyelids, the corner of my mouth.
"That was..." He trailed off, seemingly unable to find the words.
I understood. There were no words for what had just passed between us.
It was more than just physical. There was something healing in the way he had held me, in the way I had held him back—as though we were two broken things finally finding where our jagged edges fit together. He had touched me like I truly mattered to him, like I was the only real thing in his world, and I realized with startling clarity that I felt the same.
When he finally rolled onto his back, he immediately pulled me against him, as if even a few inches of distance was too much.
We continued to lie tangled together under the cool sheets. The room felt smaller and more intimate with his arm draped around me.
I kissed his chest, right over his heart. “Please don't let me regret this.”
“I’ll try my best every day.”
“That’s all I'm asking.”
Eventually, my own eyes grew heavy, and I let sleep pull me under. I felt safe in his arms, warmer than I had been in years. The last thing I felt was his arm tightening around me, holding me close as if he were afraid I might disappear.
I wouldn’t. I was exactly where I was meant to be.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
