Page 169 of Neap & Spring

“Never.” His mouth finds mine again, his tongue sliding against mine in tandem with his thrusts. “Never stopping. Never letting you go again.”

The rhythm builds, his movements becoming less controlled and more desperate. My hands are in his hair, on his shoulders, down his back, trying to pull him impossibly closer. I can feel the pleasure building, coiling tighter and tighter in my belly.

“I love you,” he says against my mouth, and then again and again like a prayer. “I love you, I love you.”

“I love you. Cal, I —”

He shifts his angle slightly and hits the spot inside me that makes me cry out, my nails digging into his back.

“There,” I gasp. “Right there.”

He does it again, and again, each thrust hitting that perfect spot, sending sparks of pleasure through my entire body. “Let go for me, baby. Let me feel you.”

The pleasure builds and builds, until I’m right on the edge, my whole body taut with it, every nerve ending on fire.

“Let go,” he murmurs, and his hand slides between us, his thumb finding my clit, circling with just the right pressure. “I’ve got you. Let go.”

And I do, falling over the edge with his name on my lips, my body convulsing around him, pleasure crashing through me in waves so intense I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything but feel.

“Fuck, Vivi, yes.” He follows moments later, my name torn from his throat as I feel him pulse inside me, hot and perfect, his body going rigid above me, and we ride it out together, clinging to each other like we’re the only solid things in a world that’s trying to shake itself apart.

When we finally still and the aftershocks fade to pleasant tingles and our breathing starts to even out, he doesn’t pull away. He shifts his weight slightly so he’s not crushing me but stays inside me, connected, and tucks his face into my neck.

“I love you,” he whispers again, his breath warm against my skin. “I’m so in love with you.”

I run my fingers through his damp hair, feeling my heartbeat slowly returning to normal. “I love you, Callum Reid.”

We lie there for a long moment, tangled together, his heart hammering against mine, both of us still trembling slightly.

Outside, the storm continues its assault on the cottage. I can hear water still pouring in through the broken window, the wind still screaming, the structure still groaning under the pressure.

But here, in this bed, with Callum’s weight anchoring me and his breath warm against my neck and his hands gentle on my skin, I feel safer than I have in years.

“We should probably move to the bathroom,” he says eventually, still not moving at all. “Your foot,” he mumbles groggily.

“In a minute.”

“It could get infected, Vivi.”

“One more minute.” I tighten my arms around him, not ready to let go yet. “Just one more minute like this.”

He lifts his head to look at me, and his expression is so soft, so full of love and contentment, it makes my chest ache.

“Okay,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead, then my nose, then my lips. “One more minute.”

He lowers his head back to my shoulder, and we stay like that, wrapped around each other, his body still inside mine, while the storm tries to tear the world apart outside.

But it can’t touch us.

Not anymore.

We’re finally home.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Vivienne

The bathroom is barely big enough for the two of us and the supplies Callum gathered from the kitchen before we retreated in here. He has them all lined up on the edge of the tub — a first aid kit that looks like it’s from the nineties, clean towels, and a bowl of water he somehow managed to fill despite the chaos outside.