Alix exhaled, ragged. The words came out before she could think. “No one has ever loved me this way before.”
It wasn’t a plea. Just a truth she’d never said out loud.
Grace’s face softened in a way that made Alix’s stomach twist. “Yeah, well. No one’s ever made me feel like I wasn’t too much before.”
Alix let out a wet laugh that was mostly a sob. She stepped closer, close enough to see the gold in Grace’s hazel eyes, the freckle near her temple. Her thumb brushed Grace’s jaw, and Grace leaned into it.
Everything slowed. The hum of the city outside, the dimming light, the sound of their breathing syncing up.
“I love you,” Alix said. Her voice barely a whisper. No joke, no bravado. Just the truth. She said it again, reverent. “I love you and I am so scared to lose you.”
Grace’s breath caught. She nodded and pulled Alix down to her mouth. When they kissed, it wasn’t frantic or hungry. It was slow, certain, like a promise she didn’t know how to make any other way.
Grace’s hands found her waist. Alix’s fingers slid into her hair, tugging her closer, gentler than their first time but still insistent.
Alix pressed her forehead to Grace’s and thought,So this is what staying feels like.
Grace smiled against her mouth, and Alix felt the warmth of it flood through her. The fear was still there, but quieter now. Itwas something she could hold in her hands instead of running from.
Grace’s breath mingled with hers. The quiet between them wasn’t heavy anymore. It was warm, thrumming, filled with breaths and those little noises Grace made low in her throat when they kissed.
When Grace’s fingertips brushed the side of her face, Alix felt the smallest tremor run down her spine. The kind of touch that saidYou don’t have to bolt this time.She leaned in until their foreheads rested together.
“I love you,” Alix repeated. She’d never, ever get sick of saying that.
The next kiss built gradually, hesitant, then certain. Alix moved closer, hands sliding over the cotton of Grace’s shirt, every inch committed to memory.
The fear she’d carried all day loosened its grip, replaced by something steadier. She let herself feel the rise of Grace’s chest against her own, the flutter of her pulse under her palm.
“Hey,” Grace whispered, voice rough around the edges.
“Yeah.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “You…” Grace took a breath so deep it snatched the air from Alix’s lungs too. “Are more than enough exactly how you are.”
It was the gentlest undoing imaginable.
Alix caught Grace’s hips and lifted her easily onto the counter, the movement natural, sure. They kissed as Alix fumbled off Grace’s jeans, both of them grinning and laughing through the awkward movements. Grace tried to leave her underwear on, but Alix rolled her eyes and pulled those down right along with her jeans. Grace kicked her feet until the jeans slid to the floor. Alix’s hands lingered at her bare knees, sliding down, grounding herself in the warmth of skin and the rise of Grace’s breath.
Then she sank to her knees — not in surrender, but in reverence — looking up at her and feeling like Grace was something holy and close, something she’d spend the rest of her life learning by heart.
Grace’s hands threaded into Alix’s hair. “If you keep looking up at me like that without putting your mouth on me, I’m going to take matters into my own hands.”
“So impatient,” Alix said, grinning. She slid her hands up Grace’s thighs, reveling in the silken feel of Grace’s perfect skin. She’d never, ever,everget enough of this.
“Alix,” Grace hissed, and Alix huffed another laugh.
She nipped at Grace’s inner thigh.
“I’m just thinking about my New Year’s resolution,” Alix said, letting her warm breath play across Grace’s molten center.
“Your… what?” Grace’s knuckles were white on the edge of the counter.
“My resolution is to do this at every opportunity. I think I could exist on this alone, honestly,” Alix said, sliding a finger over Grace’s entrance, up toward her clit.
“You won’t exist at all if I accidentally snap your neck with my thighs,” Grace said through clenched teeth.
Alix’s laugh was buried as she let her tongue draw a long, lazy line through Grace’s heat. Grace’s head tipped back against the cupboard. She tasted heavenly, sweet and rich, and Alix could feel her own damp underwear as she shifted, burying her mouth in Grace.
