He shakes his head slowly. “No.”
“Good.” My thumb brushes his lower lip. I feel him shudder. “Because I chose you, Seth. In the Void, when I didn’t even know what I was doing. My Ether chose you before my mind caught up.”
“Bree—” His voice breaks. “You don’t have to—I know you have the others. I’m not expecting—”
“I already chose you.”
The words hang between us.
His whole body goes still.
“I ran to you first,” I continue. “Before I faced the Feeders, before I dealt with any of it. I saw you and I ran. Because you come first. All of you. But especially—” I take a breath. “You were in the Void with me. You found me when I was lost. You stayed when you could have run.”
“I couldn’t leave you.” His voice is raw. “Even when I had to, it was only to find a way to get you out.”
“I know.”
I step closer. Press my body against his bare chest. Feel his heart hammering through both our skins.
His hands come up—tentative, shaking—and settle on my waist. His fingers flex against the thin cotton of my tank top.
“Is this—” He swallows. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t—” He stops. Tries again. “Not since before. Not since before the Void. I don’t know if I can—”
“Then we figure it out together.”
I rise up on my toes and kiss him.
His mouth opens under mine immediately.
Not hesitant. Not careful.Hungry.
His hands tighten on my waist, pulling me flush against him. I feel every inch of his bare chest through my thin tank top—the heat of him, the hard planes of muscle, the way his heart pounds against mine.
I slide my hands up his chest, feeling him shiver under my palms. Over his shoulders. Into his still-damp hair.
He groans into my mouth.
The sound goes straight through me. My fingers tighten in his hair and I pull, tilting his head back so I can deepen the kiss. His hips buck forward involuntarily and I feel him—hard already, straining against the thin fabric of his pants, pressing into my stomach.
“Bree—” He breaks the kiss, breathing ragged. “I need—I want—”
“Tell me.”
His eyes are dark. Desperate. “You. Just you.”
I pull back just enough to grab the hem of my tank top. His gaze drops to my hands, tracking the movement.
I pull it over my head.
His breath punches out of him.
I’m not wearing anything underneath. The cool air hits my bare skin and my nipples tighten. Seth stares at me like I’ve just handed him something sacred.
“God.” The word comes out reverent. Broken. “Bree, you’re—”
