Chapter Thirty-Six #2
‘There was never a single doubt in my mind that I’d come back to you. Tell me you feel the same way.’ He rubbed his thumb over my cheek. ‘That you ache with the same greediness. That a wild kind of ravenous need courses through you too.’
I laid a kiss against the hollow of his throat, loving the way his frantic pulse thrummed beneath my lips.
‘I do. I’ve felt it since the moment you stumbled out of the woods,’ I whispered, sliding my hands beneath his jacket, aching to feel the warmth of his skin against my hands.
‘It only grew as I watched you jump in to help Julius. Made those ridiculous color-coded notes in the archives.’
He let out a low chuckle. ‘I may be a writer, but I don’t have the words to express how I feel about you. The way my heart becomes hollow when you’re not in my line of sight. How my hands feel useless if they aren’t stroking your soft skin.’ His arms tightened around my waist.
‘It was hard having you gone,’ I said, swallowing the sob filling my throat.
‘Even though you explained why you left…’ I turned away so I’d have the strength to push out my next confession.
‘I wasn’t sure you’d ever want to return to this place.
You sent those few texts and then went silent.
I thought you might be done with Harvest Moon… and me.’
He turned me to face him. ‘I’ll never be done with you, Dani.’ There was such devotion in his eyes that I had to remember to breathe. ‘I should have been better about staying in touch,’ he admitted. ‘But my focus was on getting back to LA and settling things with the magazine.’
‘What do you mean by “settling things”?’
‘They weren’t thrilled with the first draft of the article.’
‘Why?’
‘Because they wanted it to have a more supernatural feel. Thought it’d add more flavor and intrigue. They even pitched me a ridiculous headline. “Be Mesmerized by Real Magic in Harvest Moon”.’
I raised my brows.
‘Yep, it’s bad. You can say it.’
‘It’s very… hokey. Doesn’t seem like the slick headlines they usually choose.’
‘Luckily, I talked them into giving me free rein to write what I wanted. Once they saw the piece as it is now, the picturesque photos I included, they let me have my way.’ He lovingly cupped my chin. ‘It was true. Every word. There is magic here. Just not the kind everyone imagines.’
This time his kiss was slow and playful. He nipped at the edges of my mouth. Used his tongue to split the seam between us. I sank into him, loving the circle of his embrace. The way he panted out my name as I ran my hands down his chest.
The dogs began to bark, chasing each other in a playful circle.
‘Looks like we aren’t the only ones glad to see each other,’ he said.
‘I’m pretty sure Flora has been moping since the day you left.’
‘Is that right?’ He gave me another hungry kiss. ‘Was she the only one moping?’
‘Hmmm. I don’t remember.’
‘Liar.’ He tucked me against his chest. The sun made its slow ascent, and I loved the way it warmed his cheeks.
‘I meant what I wrote about this place. How it gets inside your bones and doesn’t let go.
When I got back to LA, it was claustrophobic.
Too cramped. Too suffocating. Even Indy felt it.
He’d go out onto the small patch of grass near my condo and turn in circles.
Whine like I was pulling some kind of prank on him.
’ He stroked a hand down my arm. ‘I broke my lease. Thought this might be my home now.’
I tipped my head back to look at him. ‘Are you serious?’
‘The dozens of boxes in the cabin would say yes.’
‘But your work?’
‘See, Dr McGuire, there’s this thing called the internet.’ He chuckled. ‘Plus, I want to take you on that date to Breckenridge to make up for the way I didn’t live up to our wager.’
‘True, but I liked the outcome.’
‘My mother is thrilled with this turn of events, too. She’s already planning to visit regularly. I will have to travel some for assignments with my full-time gig at Metropolitan, but I’ll make it work.’
‘Way to bury the lede!’
His gaze went devilish. ‘Why is it so hot when you speak journalist?’
I pressed another kiss to his mouth.
‘It also makes sense to be here, considering what Aster said about me. Always did like the color orange.’
I froze in place, my jaw dropping open. ‘That day at Drip! Drip! Hooray!, you heard her?’
‘Part of my job is to be a good listener.’
I stepped out of his arms quickly, stumbling back. ‘She can be wrong. It’s not exact. It doesn’t mean you have to believe it.’
‘I will admit I thought it was ridiculous at first—’
‘You don’t have to stay. I mean you’re not obligated to me in any way.’
He closed the space I’d made between us and pressed his fingers against my hip bones.
‘Your sister didn’t need to say a word, because I already knew.
When I came out of the woods the day we met, it wasn’t my stupid boots that made me trip.
It was seeing you. In that split second, my body started vibrating on another frequency. It was kismet.’
‘Kismet? Did you get that from WordHippo?’ I teased.
He let out a full-bellied laugh. ‘Fate. Destiny. Whatever the hell you want to call it. Up until that day, I’d been swimming my entire life underwater, but the minute you came into view, I broke the surface.
’ He tipped up my chin. ‘From that moment, I understood the person I’d been searching for my whole life was standing in front of me.
She just happened to be glaring at me like I was the biggest asshole on the planet. ’
His large hand slid to my neck, and he pulled me closer. ‘All I need is for you to believe in us too, Dani. I know you’ve been hurt, but if you trust me with your heart, I swear it’ll be safe with me. Always.’
Even though I’d denied it, when I first encountered him on the trail, felt that tug between us, I understood he was meant to fill the space in my heart too. I leaned in and gave him a kiss, making it clear that I wanted him to be mine forever.
Birds sang in the trees. Small animals rustled in the brush around us.
Bryce turned me until my back was tucked against his chest. The rhythm of our breaths synced as the sun broke the horizon, bathing the forest in a delicate, golden light.
I settled into the cradle of his arms, grateful we could experience another gorgeous, dare I say magical, day in sleepy little Harvest Moon.