Chapter 29 #2
He didn’t let go of me. If anything, his grip remained exactly where it was, one hand steady at my neck, his thumb brushing along my jaw.
Grounding me. Keeping me here.
“I don’t have a speech prepared,” I admitted.
“I’d be disappointed if you did,” he replied.
I stared into his eyes, seeing him as he was, not the version of him I’d been carrying around in my head.
He’s really here.
I brought my hand up, resting it against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my palm.
“I love you,” I said again. Not because he hadn’t heard me, but because now I understood what it meant to say it.
His face glowed. “Good.”
Despite my fluttering stomach and my thumping heart, I smiled.
“That’s it? That’s your response?”
He grinned. “No, that’s my confirmation.”
For a second, neither of us moved, and I knew what was coming.
Stefan pulled me into him, and then his mouth was on mine—hard, immediate, the kiss breaking through every inch of space we’d kept between us until now. There was no hesitation, no awareness of where we were, no pause to consider who might be watching.
I met his kiss with equal fervour, my hands gripping his coat, dragging him closer, needing him closer, the solid heat of him grounding me in a way nothing else had since I’d left.
His kiss was like his words, direct, uncompromising, and certain, but there was something else I hadn’t felt from him before.
Release.
Stefan
The weeks of silence, of holding back, choosing not to act, letting Kieran walk away… All of it broke in that moment.
I held him tightly, my breath unsteady against his lips, and deepened the kiss that was demanding and giving in equal measure. I was making up for every second I hadn’t taken when I could have.
He wasn’t holding back either. The way he leaned into the kiss, sliding his hand to my jaw, I felt the slight loss of control in him—and recognised it in myself.
This is where we’ve been heading all along.
I was aware of movement around us, people passing, voices, life continuing.
None of it mattered.
When we finally broke apart, I pressed my forehead to his, my hand still at his neck, not letting go.
Not this time.
And now I had to tell him that.
“I’m not letting you walk away again,” I said quietly.
A breath shuddered out of him. “Good. Neither am I.”
Kieran
By the time we made it out of the terminal, the cold hit properly, sharp enough to bring everything back into focus. My hand remained firmly in his, as though neither of us was willing to test what would happen if we let go.
Not yet.
Maybe not for a while.
“I assume Karl is somewhere nearby, feeling very pleased with himself,” I said.
Stefan chuckled. “Karl is in his apartment, warm and cosy, whereas we are about to freeze our balls off if there isn’t an Uber around.”
“I was going to ask why we weren’t taking the train.”
We stopped on the pavement across the road from the terminal, and Stefan removed his phone from his pocket. “I want you in my apartment, and this is the fastest route to that outcome.”
I frowned. “So… where exactly am I sleeping tonight? Because I assumed it would be Karl’s place.”
“No.” A simple, uncomplicated response.
I raised my eyebrows. “No?”
“No,” he repeated. “You’re staying with me.”
“And Karl knows this?”
Stefan snorted. “He knew as soon as I told him yesterday.” He cupped my cheek. “We’ve spent enough time apart,” he said in a low voice. “I see no reason to continue doing so.”
“Okay.”
There was nothing else to say because I didn’t want anything else.
He peered at his phone and smiled. “Thank God. Our driver is one minute away. driving a silver Toyota.”
“You realise this is a significant escalation.”
“The arrival of our Uber?” He frowned. “In what way?”
I rolled my eyes. “Moving in together within minutes of seeing each other again.”
Stefan glanced at me. “You’re not moving in. You’re staying with me.”
I narrowed my gaze. “That sounds suspiciously like semantics.”
“It is precise.”
I bit back a smile. “Of course it is.”
The car pulled up in front of us, and Stefan placed my suitcase in the boot. Once we were safely stowed in the backseat and we were leaving the terminal behind us, his hand found mine again.
I shifted closer, my thumb brushing against his, the contact instinctive now, easy.
Stefan’s grip tightened, and I glanced at him. His gaze was fixed ahead for a moment before it flicked toward the driver, then back to me.
A signal, subtle but deliberate.
Deliberate.
“Later,” he said quietly.
Understanding clicked into place almost instantly. Different city, different spaces, different rules.
I nodded. “Later,” I echoed.
His thumb moved once against mine, something wordless passing between us. And then, as if nothing had shifted at all, he settled back in his seat, his hand still holding mine, the contact unchanged, just contained.
We sped along the motorway, heading towards the city, and my mind couldn’t let go of that one word, laced with intent.
Later.
“You did make a promise, you know,” I said quietly.
He looked at me. “What promise?”
I stared at the road ahead. “Something about making full use of your apartment.”
It took him a second or two to catch on.
No way was I going to mention flat surfaces.
I caught his flicker of recognition, and the hitch in his breathing.
“Because I think I said at the time that it sounded like a challenge.” I turned my head to meet his gaze. “So I suppose I’m trying to ascertain if you plan on following through.”
His eyes widened. “Yes.”
My chest—and another part of my anatomy—tightened in anticipation.
“Good.” I kept my voice low and even.
Berlin stretched out ahead of us, familiar to him, still new to me, and yet, somehow, already mine in a way it hadn’t been before. This time I wasn’t here temporarily or just passing through.
And I didn’t intend holding anything back.