Maybe she had no idea I’d stood right outside the bedroom door and heard the entire conversation between her and her sister. I knew exactly what she wanted, but I hadn’t given it to her because I was so furious at the way she’d betrayed me. But it was getting more difficult to hold on to my anger…especially when I believed every word she said. I fell right back into the place I used to be. “I’m not going to let you go, no matter what we are.”
“I-I didn’t expect you to.” Her emotional voice broke with sincerity. “I know you can’t.”
My hands left my hips and hung at my sides. The lights along the walls were dimmed, so while the room was dark, they were still bright enough to cast a glow that distinguished her beautiful features, her high cheekbones, her kissable lips, her starlike eyes.
She came closer to me. “The last time we saw each other outside my apartment, it was so hard to watch you go. I’ve never felt pain like that…like I was losing a piece of me that would leave me crippled until I got it back.” She looked up into my face, open like the centerfold of a book, letting me read every page in any order I wished. “The time I lived in Paris with Melanie, there was never anyone else…because none of them were ever right. I’d go on a date, see your face, and then go home…alone. I’ve never, in my life, had a connection like this with a man…and I miss you.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment, steeling the emotions that flew out of her heart as well as her mouth. She looked at me again. “Please let it go…and be with me.”
There was an initial jolt of anger because I wanted to hold on to my bitterness because it was all I’d had to survive these last few months. Sometimes it was easier to suffer the world angry than calm. It was a defense mechanism, and I was angry all the time, had always been angry…since I could remember. But this woman made me different, brought me back to an innocence I hadn’t known in over a decade. She brought out the best in me, made me risk everything for the first time in my life, and she saw all my flaws but never forgot my good qualities.
Her hands reached to my arms, her fingers giving me an affectionate squeeze. “Let it go…”
The sound of her gentle voice released the tension in all the muscles of my body. She was the light that led out of my prison, and I slowly followed it until I reached the world outside…and it was beautiful.
My hands left my sides and moved around her waist, wrapping around her possessively, my skin burning when I finally got to touch her the way I wanted. They locked in place as I crushed her against me, my mouth finding hers and giving her the kiss I’d wanted to give every single time I looked at her lips. I pulled her tighter once I felt our bodies come together, my lips pausing to breathe.
Her hands slid up my arms until they stopped. She pulled away slightly and looked at my mouth, breathing hard even though I’d only kissed her once, an embrace that ended as quickly as it began. Then she moved into me abruptly, her arms hooking around my neck to bring me back to her, anxious to kiss me again. “Magnus…”
The resentment and rage fell from my body as I kissed the lips I’d never stopped thinking about. They were full and so soft. I pulled her bottom lip into my mouth before I came back to her and gave her my tongue this time.
Hers greeted me with a sexy swipe, a hot breath.
My hand left her back and moved into her hair, digging underneath the curls, and I supported the back of her head as I crushed her lips to mine. My hand covered both her cheeks, and I dug my fingers into both sides, feeling her petite size in my grasp. The longer I touched her, the more the ice thawed in my extremities, and the passion leaped to life like a burning hearth that just had another log thrown on top.
But her desire was even greater than mine. She cupped my cheek as she kissed me, devouring my mouth like she needed to pack in every kiss to make up for all the ones we missed. Her fingers moved up the back of my neck and into my hair, pulling on the strands as she kept my mouth on hers.
Both of my hands moved to her ass, and I lifted her into me, our faces level so she could continue to kiss me as I carried her into my bedroom. Her hands were still in my hair, and she breathed against my mouth like she was the one doing all the lifting.