31. Julia #4
He steps closer, our joined hands caught between us.
“I stayed away because you told me to. I would have kept staying away if that was what you needed. But don’t mistake that for me getting over you.
I didn’t. I missed you every day. I missed your mouth, your laugh, the way you argue with me when you know damn well I’m right.
I missed sleeping next to you so badly there were nights I couldn’t stand my own bed. ”
The ache in my chest becomes almost unbearable. “I love you too.”
Kai goes completely still. Then his free hand comes to my face, warm fingers sliding along my jaw.
“Say it again.” There is Ghost in the roughness of his voice, but no mask and no lie left between us.
“I love you.”
“Fuck, Julia.” His forehead drops against mine while his thumb catches a tear I hadn’t realized escaped. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“You almost did.”
“I know.”
Something in his expression snaps. His arm slides hard around my waist and pulls me against him until there isn’t an inch of cold air left between us.
“You’re mine, little ember,” he says against my mouth. “Fuck, I’ve wanted to say that to you with my own face for so long.”
There was a time when those words would have carried something stolen inside them. They don’t anymore.
“Then you’re mine too.”
A low sound catches in his throat. “That was never in question.”
I laugh, although it breaks halfway through because I’m crying again.
“Tell me I can kiss you.”
“Yes.” I breathe out.
His mouth is on mine before the word has fully disappeared.
He claims me like a man who has been starving.
His lips seal over mine, firm and sure, then part them with a slow, deliberate pressure that leaves no room to doubt what he wants.
When I gasp, he takes the opening and slides his tongue against mine, deep at first, then hungrier, stroking, tasting, dragging a sound out of my throat that he swallows immediately.
His hand fists in my hair and angles my head so he can kiss me deeper while his arm locks around my waist and drags me flush against him.
I kiss him back just as desperately, fingers fisted in his jacket, his stubble scraping my skin.
When he catches my lower lip between his teeth and soothes it with his tongue, my knees weaken and I have to hold onto him harder.
When we finally break apart, neither of us goes far. He kisses me once more, softer this time, just his lips lingering like he cannot quite believe he is allowed to.
“I have thought about doing that every single day since you walked out of my office.”
I smile against his mouth. “I noticed.”
“Smart-ass.”
“That sounds more like you.”
“This is me.” He smirks, nudging the tip of my nose with his before pulling away just enough to take in my entire face.
I brush my thumb over his jaw. “Good. I like you.”
“Only like?”
“Don’t get greedy. You already got love and ownership claims in the last five minutes.”
His mouth curves, and he kisses me again simply because he can.
Voices carry from the house behind us. Kai loosens his hold, though his hand stays at my waist.
“You should probably get back.”
I stare at him. “Not before you ask me out.”
A laugh breaks from him as he shakes his head. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“Yes.”
His smile changes completely, open and almost boyish. “Seven-thirty. I’ll pick you up.”
“You don’t know where I’m staying.”
One of his eyebrows rises, and there is just enough amusement in his eyes that I immediately hear the question he doesn’t say.
Do I need to?
I snort. Of course. Apparently admitting his stalking days are over doesn’t mean he’s above reminding me that finding me has never exactly been his problem.
“I was hoping you might tell me this time,” he says, the corner of his mouth pulling upward.
“That would be very progressive of us.”
I reach into my purse, pull out my phone and hand it to him. Kai takes it without asking what I mean, types in his number and calls himself. A second later, his phone vibrates inside his jacket. He hands mine back before pulling his out, saving my number beneath my name while I watch.
“We’re doing this right this time,” he says.
Something in the certainty of his voice settles warmly inside me. No anonymous letters. No lamp glowing in my window. No man hidden in the shadows deciding how much of himself I’m allowed to know.
Just Kai.
“I’m going to text you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Look at you, communicating like a normal person.”
His eyes narrow with familiar amusement. “Don’t get carried away, little ember.”
The nickname in his real voice sends heat curling low through my stomach. I look up at him, and his eyes darken immediately.
Oh, yes, that part of Ghost can absolutely stay.
I slip my phone back into my purse and start toward the house, only realizing after a few steps that he isn’t beside me.
When I turn, Kai is still standing near the path, watching me but refusing even now to assume that my invitation extends beyond what I have actually said.
So I hold out my hand. Something fierce and tender moves across his face.
This time he doesn’t hesitate for long. He crosses the distance, takes my hand and threads his fingers through mine, his thumb pressing once against my knuckles as we start back toward the house together.
There is no Dr. Blackwood beside me now and no Ghost hidden somewhere behind me.
There is only Kai.
— The end —