The darkness returned just as quickly, the echo of the explosion rolling through the night.
Sage gazed upward.
Another firework screamed skyward, a sharp whistle cutting through the night before it detonated overhead—gold and white bursting wide, sparks cascading outward like shattered light.
His head turned slowly.
The flare washed over the field, bright enough to turn shadows into shapes, to catch every detail—the hard line of Law’s jaw, the shadow of stubble.
Their gazes locked and held.
They stood so close, yet not close enough. He shook off the thought.
Another shot followed, red this time—cracking open in a scatter of burning embers that drifted slowly down, the light flickering across Law’s face in pulses.
Sage couldn’t look away.
The booming sound rolled through his chest a second later, deep and heavy, vibrating through bone and breath.
The vibration lingered, low and steady, echoing through him in a way that didn’t settle.
The dark dropped back over them between bursts, thicker now, the space around them shrinking with every flash.
Law’s hand didn’t move from his arm.
Law felt a shift between them the second Sage didn’t pull back, didn’t break the contact.
That was all he needed.
Another firework burst overhead, light flashing across Sage’s face—his parted lips, the heat still there, the awareness he wasn’t even trying to hide anymore.
Law’s grip shifted—not letting go, just enough to draw him in that last inch, his thumb pressing more firmly into Sage’s arm.
The pressure anchored him, grounding and deliberate.
“You’re not stepping back,” he said quietly.
Sage’s breath hitched.
The air caught halfway in, sharp and uneven.
That was it.
Law didn’t wait for anything else.
He closed the distance—slow at first, deliberate.
When his lips touched Sage’s, Law cupped his face. Heat hit fast between them. Angling his head, he closed his mouth over Sage’s and took the kiss deeper.
The contact knocked the breath out of him for a second, everything else dropping away under it.
A sharp breath broke between them as Sage’s arms slid up around his neck, fingers curling into the hair at the back of his head. Heat shot up Law’s spine.
He groaned low, his hand sliding to Sage’s waist as he pulled him closer, grinding in just enough to feel the answering hardness.
Sage sucked in a breath against his mouth, the sound catching between them as Law held him there—tight enough to feel the air leave him.
His lungs burned for a second before he dragged in another breath, uneven and late.
