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“That I love you. So thoroughly and unmistakably. I’ve known I loved you, the person you were, your soul, before I knew what you looked like, but I didn’t want to simply write it down on a piece of paper. It seemed too important to be read. I wanted you to hear it from me. I never got to say it, and I hated you for a very, very long time for it. For making me love you, for showing me what it truly meant to be loved for who I was deep inside, then disappearing—or so I thought—before I had the chance to come clean about my feelings. But now I can. I can, and I’ll say it again and again, because fuck if it’s not a weight off my chest to finally be able to. I love you. I love you so much, Oliver. I’ve never been so sure of anything else in my life.”

I’m stunned into silence. My mind can’t catch up with my heart, which has taken off in a sprint and is about to jump out of my chest. Words blur and tumble, tripping over each other in my mouth, and I’m left with no coherent thoughts with which to form a sentence.

I’m overwhelmed and overpowered by my emotions. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this.

“Please say something,” she whispers.

The worry in her voice snaps me out of it, and I blurt, “I love you. God, I love you, sweetheart. It’s never been up for debate. Not even for one second. I’m sorry. I’m just processing all you’ve said. If someone had asked me a few months ago whether I thought you’d say that to me, I’d have told them that the most likely thing I’d get out of you would be a slap in the face. But you can read the letters I’ve written to you over the years. There’s not a single one where I don’t mention that I love you from the depths of my being. Not a single one. It’s as if you were etched into my soul, into my bones. I’ve known for years that you were mine and I yours. Soulmates. That’s what we are.”

And as if the words were taking shape in the air around us, becoming tangible as they left my mouth, the bond between Charlee and me grows stronger.

“We are.” She smiles and tugs me to her mouth, claiming me as completely as the words she just uttered did, only with another kind of intent. “Take me upstairs.”

I smile against her mouth. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

I scoop her up and almost run to my bedroom, where I lay her down on my bed. I can’t get enough of this, of her in my bed.

“Come here,” she moans.

“Where do you want me?”

She spreads her legs. An invitation. My knee sinks into the mattress, but my attention is drawn to something lying in the opposite corner of the bed. I freeze.

“Charlee?” Her name comes out strangled.

“Hmm?”

“What is that?”

She looks in the direction of where I nodded, and crimson splotches creep up her neck. “I cleaned it, I promise. I must have forgotten it after I took a bath.”

I pick up the long, curved object with the rounded tip. “Did you use this while you took a bath? In my bedroom?” I ask, exhaling sharply as I hold the silicon magic wand in my hand.

“I did.” She scrambles onto her knees, reaching to grab it, but I hold it out of range.

“Fuck. You packed a vibrator? To come here?”

“I didn’t know I’d be staying at your place. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used it here.”

I inhale deeply. “Correction: you shouldn’t have used it alone.”

“Oh,” she says coyly, and raises her eyes to me. “Do you . . . do you want to use it on me? Now?”

I stare at her incredulously. “Do I want to use it on you? Yes. Yes, I do.”

A Cheshire cat smile spreads across Charlee’s face, and my cock springs to attention.

“On one condition, then.” She crawls on the bed until her hands reach for the waistband on my pants and start to unbutton them.

“Anything,” I pant as she brings the zipper down.

“I want to take care of you while you take care of me.”

“Charlee,” I grunt, “I don’t think I’ll be able to hold it in if you—”

She palms my length through my boxers, and a growl rumbles through my chest. I lose my train of thought. “I want to. Please, Oli.”

I imagine parting those plump, inviting lips with my cock, the very same ones she’s currently pushing into a pout, begging me again to let her have her way. I can’t deny her anything. But if I’m about to lose my damn mind, I might as well do it my way.