Ethan
As soon as I saw Summer coming down those stairs, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands, well…
hand, off her tonight. She looks breathtakingly beautiful.
Her long dark brown hair, almost black, falls in soft waves all the way to her gorgeous hips, hips I can’t wait to hold while I…
okay, not going there yet. Her blue eyes somehow seem lighter than usual, as if tiny firelights were switched on behind them.
Her lips are the perfect shade of red to match her dress and coat.
A warm beige scarf frames her long, elegant neck, and her usual scent, cinnamon, jasmine, and a hint of vanilla, makes me ache to bury my face in her shoulder and breathe her in like a starving man.
This woman is oxygen to my fire, I can’t stay away from her, and I don’t want to.
She’s staring up at the Ferris wheel we just got off, cheeks rosy from the cold, lips swollen from my kisses, the long line of her neck exposed in a way that makes me want to press soft bites all along it.
“Do you know how to skate?” I ask, squeezing her hand lightly.
“Oh? No. I always wanted to, but… well, my mother never thought it was a gracious thing to do. What if I fall, making myself ridiculous in front of everyone?”
Summer’s gaze drops to her feet, shoulders folding just slightly inward, that old insecurity tightening around her like cold wind.
My jaw clenches. It never fails, every time she mentions the cruel, useless things that woman drilled into her, my blood boils.
And a part of me wants to find her family and knock some damn sense into them.
But I force the anger down. Not tonight.
Tonight, she’s here. Free. Wanted. Cherished. Loved.
And when she looks around the Winter Wonderland with wide eyes, something deeper hits me so hard it hurts, she’s never really been allowed to be a child. Never allowed to play or laugh or mess up without someone judging her.
I want to give that to her.
All of it.
Every joy she was denied.
Tonight and every night after.
“Well, no time like now to start,” I say with a slow smile.
She finally meets my gaze, those baby blues locking onto mine, her cherry-red lips curving into a shy, perfect smile that makes my heart punch against my ribs.
“Oh, no, I can’t start now,” she shakes her head, but I see it, the longing in her eyes as she watches the skaters glide effortlessly across the ice.
I step close, letting my mouth brush her ear, my voice dropping low. “I love teaching you new things. Let me take your ice-skating virginity.”
Her breath stutters. Her eyes darken.
And just like that, I know I’ve dragged her far from her mother’s voice and straight into mine.
I smile, caught between restraint and the ache to have her against me again. “Trust me?” I ask, pulling her in gently. I kiss her, just a taste…slow, careful, addictive. Her lips answer mine like they’ve been waiting for the pressure, and when I pull back, her smile is brighter, softer.
“I wish I could give you all my firsts, Ethan,” she whispers.
And damn, that one goes straight through me.
“Let’s go, Ice Princess,” I wink, threading my fingers with hers as I lead her toward the rink.
We grab our skates and make our way to the ice.
“Oh my God, Ethan, I can’t,” Summer murmurs, gripping the railing like it’s the only thing keeping her alive.
“Hold on to me,” I tell her. She takes my hand, slips a little, and I pull her tight against my chest. Her warmth sinks into me, and suddenly the cold doesn’t matter.
“Ethan, I don’t want to hurt your arm,” she whispers, glancing at my sling.
“The only thing hurting me right now,” I murmur, nose brushing her neck, “is not being able to touch you.” I inhale her slowly, cinnamon, jasmine, vanilla, like a prayer I didn’t know I needed.
I press a line of soft, teasing kisses behind her ear.
“Smell you,” I breathe, lips skimming hers without taking them fully. “Taste you.”
Her quiet gasp is pure fire.
I melt into her mouth, kissing her deep and slow, skating backward as if it’s nothing, guiding her with my body, my lips, my hand at her waist. Every glide, every shift of my skates sends a warm jolt up her spine, and I feel her unravel a little more each second.
I finally pull back, our foreheads touching, breaths mingling in cold air that suddenly feels too warm.
“We’re skating?” she whispers, eyes wide with wonder, real, pure, childlike wonder. Something she’s owed. Something I want to give her for the rest of her life.
“I love you,” I murmur, the words slipping out because they’re too true to hold back.
Her gaze lifts to mine, bright, shimmering, fragile.
“I never thought I could be this happy, Ethan.” She rests her head on my shoulder, trusting me to guide her around the rink, and my heart damn near bursts.
“I love you too,” she whispers, soft, trembling, and it takes every bit of restraint I have not to lose myself in her completely.
After we finish skating, we walk hand in hand toward the hot chocolate and churros stand. The smell of cocoa, cinnamon sugar, and fried dough wraps around us like a warm blanket. Lights from the carnival shimmer in her eyes, turning them into something close to magic.
Her fingers tighten around mine.
Her cheeks glow in the lantern light.
Snowflakes cling to her hair like tiny stars.
And for a moment, I swear I’m standing in the middle of my own miracle.
And when she looks up at me with those glittering blue eyes, soft, warm, impossibly mine, I know one thing with absolute certainty:
I’d walk through hell itself for this woman… as long as she keeps choosing me.