Nathan’s eyes softened, that cool edge he always wore slipping away for a moment. “There’s no place on this Earth where I wouldn't follow you.” His thumb caressed my cheek. “As for the shirt, I couldn’t get rid of it. It was a reminder of the first day I met you.” Our bodies were impossibly close but still not close enough. I could feel his heartbeat against my chest as if it were my own as Nathan used a hand to continue caressing my face. “Even if I mess up again, please don’t leave me.”
“You plan on messing up again?” I arched a brow at him.
“Not in this lifetime.” Nathan answered firmly. “I missed you, baby,” he said against my skin, his breath warm at the base of my neck as he kissed me there, slow and reverent. “So I’m going to show you exactly how much.”
He lifted me off the ground effortlessly, my legs instinctively wrapping around him, my heart racing in time with his. “But first,” he murmured, his eyes locked on mine, “tell me who you belong to.”
“I belong to you.” I answered without hesitation.
Nathan’s growl of approval rumbled in his chest a second before he lowered me to the bed, his body blanketing mine, his hands never leaving my skin. My dress was stripped away, theroom growing warmer with every touch, every kiss, every quiet breath between us.
His shirt joined my dress on the floor, and quickly there was nothing between us but heat and skin.
Nathan moved against me like he was trying to remember every part of me, like he wanted to be remembered just as deeply.
A shudder ran through me as his lips traced down my neck, across my collarbone, lower still. He took his time, like he was relearning every inch of me, like he wanted me to feel just how much I still belonged to him.
And I do.
God, I do.
“Nathan,” I whispered, threading my fingers through his hair and giving a gentle tug that pulled a groan from him. The sound sent sparks dancing across my skin, warmth unfurling in the center of me.
His mouth met mine again, and everything else faded. Nothing but hands and heat and two hearts moving in sync, like they always had. Every kiss was deeper, every touch more urgent, as if we were making up for all the time lost.
Like he was proving, in the only way he knew how, that no matter how far I ran, no matter what came between us, that we were inevitable.
My eyes caught on to the clock hanging on the wall, which told me it was exactly midnight.
Finally, I broke away, just enough to rest my forehead against his, breath shaky and uneven. “Happy birthday, baby,” I whispered, my lips brushing his ear.
Nathan froze for a fraction of a second, then a slow, crooked grin spread across his face. “Shit,” he muttered, eyes widening. “It is my birthday.”
“The stipulation.” I couldn’t hide the worry in my voice.
He cut me off with a quiet laugh, not bitter, just calm. “I know.” His thumb traced small circles along my back. “And you know what? I don’t care.”
My heart stuttered. “You don’t care? Nathan, you worked for years to make the company what it is. Your father trying to control you with that letter was insane.”
He pressed his forehead to mine, eyes soft but fierce. “I got you back. That’s more than any company, any money, any damn inheritance could ever mean to me.”
I swallowed, my chest tight. “But everything you built?”
He shook his head, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “It’ll be fine. I’ll figure it out. Later. Right now? You’re the most important thing to me.”
My chest ached with the weight of it all, but also with relief. “You really mean that?”
“I do.” he murmured, capturing my lips again, this time in a tender kiss. “Nothing else matters tonight. Nothing. Just us.”
I looked up at him, searching his face for the man who had spent his life trying to prove he was worthy of what his father left behind, and who now stood on the edge of losing it all…but chose me anyway.
My heart squeezed, and before I could stop myself, the words were out.
“Then let’s do it,” I whispered.
He stilled. “Do what?”
“Get married.”
