Page 155 of A Million To Fall

“I’m here.” I swallow against the tightness in my throat. “Right now, I’m here. With you.”

My voice breaks—everything inside me unraveling at once.

“And I love you.”

The words are out before I can stop them.

He stills. Completely. Like the entire world just stopped turning.

His eyes hold mine, wide and disbelieving, as though he’s waiting for me to take it back.

“I love you,” I say again, softer this time. Maybe if I say it gently enough, it won’t destroy… everything.

One second there’s space between us and the next Boston is hauling me against him, kissing me like he doesn’t know whether to celebrate or grieve—like relief and heartbreak and love all live in the same place.

His mouth claims mine with a desperation that steals the air from my lungs.

And I kiss him back just as fiercely.

He groans into the kiss, a rough, wrecked sound that vibrates through me. Need surges, pooling—hot and aching—low in my stomach.

He grips the backs of my thighs and lifts me effortlessly. I wrap myself around him, unwilling to let go again.

“Stormy,” he breathes against my mouth.

We stumble into the wall with a soft thud.

I laugh shakily against his lips.

He rests his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged. “Sorry,” he says. “Guess I don’t know what to do with you telling me… that you love me.”

I only smile. “You’re gonna have to figure it out, Boss.”

“Guess so,” he breathes. Still holding me, he starts across the living room.

We make it exactly three steps before his mouth crashes to mine again.

“Fuck,” he groans against my lips.

“Bedroom?” I squeak.

He presses another kiss to my mouth. “I’m fucking trying.”

We don’t even make it to the couch.

Instead, he drops to his knees, bringing me down with him. We end up tangled on the carpet, all frantic hands and breathless laughter that dissolves into desperate want and needy kisses.

My clothes disappear piece by piece, while I manage only to relieve him of his shirt. I drink in the sculpted, unyielding planes of his chest and stomach.

“Tell me to stop,” he says, voice rough. “Tell me now.”

“Don’t you dare,” I whimper.

He peels my panties down my thighs.

“You’re unreal, Stormy,” he groans, voice raw and ragged as he presses my thighs open. “So beautiful.”

His mouth trails down my body between my breasts, across my stomach, until he’s hovering there, breath hot against where I need him most.