Chapter 27 #2
“I love you too,” she whispered. “I was so scared you didn’t feel the same way. That I’d imagined everything between us, or that you’d convince yourself walking away was some kind of noble sacrifice.”
I pulled back just enough to look at her, really look at her, this incredible woman who’d somehow torn down all those emotional walls I built around my heart. “I almost did, but I realized that losing you would be the real tragedy.”
She gave me a sassy grin. “You’re right about that.”
She rose onto her toes and kissed me. The moment her lips touched mine, something inside me finally settled into place. This was where I belonged. Not in the shadows, not on the outside looking in, but here—with her.
I kissed her back, soft at first, savoring the sweetness of it, the relief of finally allowing myself to have this, and her. Then her fingers curled into the front of my shirt, pulling me closer, and the sweetness gave way to hunger.
“I missed you,” she breathed against my mouth. “Every day this week, I missed you.”
“I’m here now.” I trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, drinking in the way she shivered under my touch. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Prove it.”
The challenge in her voice ignited something primal in me and I knew one day soon I’d have to take her back to the Players Club and chase her through that maze or atrium. But for now, I swept her into my arms, cradling her against my chest as I carried her toward the bedroom.
Stella laughed, her arms winding around my neck. “Very caveman of you.”
“You have no idea.” I laid her down on my bed, pausing to take in the sight of her while I stripped out of my clothes—hair fanned across my pillow, lips swollen from our kiss, eyes dark with wanting.
“Do you know how many nights I thought about what I would do with you if you were here, in my space, in my life?”
She shook her head. “No, but you can show me.”
I lowered myself over her, bracketing her body with my arms. “I intend to.”
This time, there was no need to seize the moment before it slipped away. We had time now. We had a future together. Forever to enjoy one another.
I undressed her slowly, reverently, pressing kisses to each inch of skin I revealed. The slope of her shoulder. The curve of her waist. The sensitive hollow of her hip. She arched into my touch, gasping my name, and every sound she made felt like a gift.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured against her stomach. “Do you know how proud I am of you? Standing up to your parents and fighting for what you want?”
“Tate...” She moved restlessly beneath me, her fingers threading through my hair.
“I mean it.” I kissed my way back up her body, my hips settling between her thighs, the tip of my cock pressing against her core. “You’re the bravest person I know. And I’m going to spend every day making sure you never doubt how incredible you are.”
When I finally sank into her, we both went still. Her eyes locked onto mine, shining with emotion, and in that moment the connection between us felt almost sacred.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too.” I began to move, slow and deep, watching every flicker of pleasure that crossed her face. “Always.”
We moved together like we’d been doing this forever—perfectly in sync, each of us attuned to what the other needed.
I took my time, drawing out every sensation, showing her with my body what I’d struggled to say with words.
How much she meant to me. How lost I’d been without her.
How nothing in my life had ever felt as right as this.
When she finally came apart in my arms, crying out my name, I followed her over the edge, and for one perfect moment, everything else fell away. No doubts. No fears. No shadows from the past.
Just us.
Later, tangled together in my sheets, Stella traced idle patterns on my chest while I played with her hair. The last rays of sunset filtered through the window, casting everything in shades of gold.
“So what happens now?” she asked quietly.
“Now?” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now, you move in with me, and we build something together. Your store. Our life. Whatever comes next.”
“And my parents?”
“We’ll figure it out. They’ll come around eventually, or they won’t—but either way, it doesn’t change this.” I tightened my arms around her. “It doesn’t change us.”
She snuggled closer, a contented sigh escaping her lips. “I like the sound of that. Us.”
“Get used to it.” I smiled against her hair—a real smile, the kind I’d almost forgotten I was capable of. “Because I’m not going anywhere, Stella. Not ever.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She tilted her head up to kiss me, soft and slow, and I felt something I hadn’t felt in years. Maybe ever. Peace.
Whatever challenges lay ahead, we’d face them together. This woman had walked into my life and dismantled every defense I’d ever built. She’d seen the worst of me and chose to stay anyway.
I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve her, but I was done questioning it.
For the first time in my life, I had everything I wanted. And I was never letting go.