Chapter 57
Corinne
The kids fell asleep in the car on the way back. Kyle's head slumped against the window, his fingers still loosely curled around his little toy car. Astrid had her thumb in her mouth and her other hand tangled in my sweater. Jasper drove in silence, one hand on the wheel, the other gently resting on my thigh. The kind of silence that wasn't uncomfortable. It felt heavy with the weight of everything unsaid.
Dinner had been... surreal.
"Your parents were surprisingly nice," I said finally, my voice quiet.
"Yeah, well. You kind of disarmed them with the whole 'I've already been doing it alone' line. My dad didn't know where to go from there."
"He was polite. Judgy. But polite."
"That's him being affectionate. Trust me," he said, giving my knee a small squeeze. "You did amazing."
I leaned my head against the window, watching the city lights blur by. "Do you think they liked the kids?"
"They adored them. Especially Astrid. She had my mother wrapped around her little finger the second she declared she was a beauty princess."
I smiled faintly, my throat tightening.
"You okay?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah. Just... trying to breathe through it. Still feels like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"No shoes are dropping tonight, Corine. Just us."
By the time we got home, it was late. We barely managed to carry the kids upstairs and tuck them into their beds. Astrid curled into her stuffed bunny, and Kyle insisted I stay until he counted to fifty. When I came downstairs, Jasper was in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of wine. But I walked past him, toward the hallway.
He followed.
"Corine?"
I turned slowly. "I don't want wine. I want you."
Clothes were shed between soft laughs and whispered promises. His hands memorized me like I was a new language he was desperate to learn. My back hit the sheets, and the weight of his body felt like gravity finally letting me rest.
He hovered above me, his strong arms bracketing my head, his intense gaze locked with mine. With a roll of his hips, he entered me in one smooth stroke, filling me completely.
"Oh god," I gasped, my back arching off the bed at the exquisite sensation.
He stilled, giving me a moment to adjust. "Okay?" he asked, concern etched on his handsome face.
I nodded, wrapping my legs around his waist. "More than okay. Please, don't stop."
A slow smile spread across his lips as he began to move. He withdrew almost completely before thrusting back in, setting a steady rhythm that had me panting with pleasure.
His hands roamed my body, caressing every curve and hollow. He cupped my breasts, rolling my nipples between his fingers until they were hard, aching peaks. Leaning down, he captured one in his mouth, suckling and laving with his tongue.
I writhed beneath him, my hips lifting to meet his thrusts. The sounds of our coupling filled the room - the slap of skin against skin, our mingled moans and gasps.
He released my breast with a wet pop, trailing kisses up my neck to my ear. "You feel so good," he murmured, his hot breath sending shivers down my spine. "So tight and wet for me."
His words, combined with the delicious friction of his cock stroking my inner walls, sent me hurtling towards my peak. "I'm close," I panted, my nails digging into his shoulders.
He increased his pace, driving into me harder, deeper. "That's it, baby. Come for me. Let me feel you."
My orgasm crashed over me like a tidal wave, my body shaking and convulsing as wave after wave of ecstasy washed through me. I cried out his name, clinging to him like a lifeline.
With a final, powerful thrust, he followed me over the edge, his own release flooding my core. He collapsed onto me, his face buried in the crook of my neck as we both struggled to catch our breath.
After a moment, he lifted his head to look at me, his eyes soft with satisfaction and affection. "Wow," he breathed.
I smiled up at him, tracing his jaw with my fingers. "Wow indeed."
When we came down from it, our bodies tangled in sweat and sheets, he didn't move away. Instead, he tucked me against his chest, his fingers brushing gently through my hair.
"Corine," he said, voice thick with emotion. "I love you."
I froze.
He pulled back slightly, his eyes searching mine. "I love you. And I don't just mean the version of you from tonight, or the one who fights through every day. I mean all of it. The darkness. The fear. The spirals. The scars. I want all of it. All of you."
Tears welled in my eyes before I could stop them. He cupped my face and kissed each tear as it fell.
"I never thought I could love again," I whispered. "Not after Allen. Not after everything that happened. I was so broken, Jasper. I still am. Some days, I feel like I'm just pretending to be okay. And I'm terrified that one day, you'll wake up and realize you don't want to deal with this version of me. That the good moments aren't worth the bad."
He leaned in and kissed me slow. "I'm not going anywhere. Not when you break. Not when you spiral. Not when you scream at the dark and cry in the bathtub. I'll be there. Holding your hand. Passing you the towel. Carrying you out if I have to."
I let out a choked laugh-sob. "That's a heavy promise."
"You carry the weight of the world. Let me carry some of it for you."
I buried my face into his chest. His heartbeat steadied mine.
After a long pause, I whispered, "A part of me will always love Allen."
Jasper nodded slowly. "I know."
"He was my first love. My first real heartbreak. The father of my children. I-" I swallowed hard. "But that part? It's only 0.1%. The rest of my heart-the 99.9%? It's you. It's you and the kids."
Jasper didn't flinch. He kissed my forehead. "Then I'll love that 99.9% with everything I have. And protect the 0.1% too, because it made you who you are."
The dam broke. I cried like I hadn't cried in years. Not because I was falling apart. But because I was finally safe enough to fall apart.
After a while, I asked quietly, "Do you think your parents really meant it? That they liked us?"
He smiled gently. "My mom asked if she could take Kyle to the museum next weekend. That's practically royal approval. And my dad told me he respected you for your resilience. Said he sees strength in you that even most politicians lack."
"He said that?"
"Verbatim. You won them over."
"What about Brittany and Ace?"
Jasper groaned. "Don't get me started. I'm still trying to figure out if I should punch Ace or just pretend I didn't see the way his shirt was untucked when they came back to the table."
I snorted. "Your sister's a grown woman."
"Exactly the problem."
We laughed until we couldn't anymore. Then we lay there in silence, wrapped in the warmth of each other. The kind of silence that felt like a beginning.
Tomorrow, the world would continue. Therapy sessions. Preschool drop-offs. Diaper changes. Work calls. Panic attacks I wouldn't see coming. But tonight?
Tonight, I was loved.
And for the first time in a long, long time-
I believed it.