Page 60 of Hollow State

"I'm fine," she managed, tugging him closer.

His other leg slipped between hers, and he eased over her body like a blanket on a cool night.

Spreading his hand flat on her side, he slid it up under her shirt. His thumb dragged across her skin next to the edge of her bra. His teeth caught her bottom lip for a second before letting go. He kissed her jaw and then the soft place under her ear before he sucked on her earlobe. "I missed you."

She shivered. "I believe you."

He laughed into her neck, and her body caught fire.

Lifting his head, he caught her gaze. "You're flushed."

She pushed her hair off her face. "My whole body is catching up to that kiss."

"I've been thinking about kissing you like that for the last hour." He ran his thumb across her cheek. "Which room?"

She narrowed her stare. "What?"

"Yours or mine."

"We're already in mine," she said. "Did something happen out there that I should be worried about?"

He chuckled. "No." He sat back on his heel. "I'm asking about tomorrow, and every day after that. I'm done crossing a hallway at midnight, and I'm done lying in bed listening for the door. Pick a room for us to be in together for the duration."

She rested her hand on the center of his chest while she sucked in a calming breath. She needed a moment to sort out that sentence. "What are you suggesting?"

"I can't give you a window," he said. "But I can give you a door, and I'd like you to pick which side of the hall it's on. You should get to choose something."

Wynn shifted her gaze for a second. It was the same wooden door as his. The same handle. The same everything. But he'd asked her to choose, and nobody had asked her to pick anything in years. Not a room. Not a name. Not a side of the bed.

She turned her head. "This one," she said. "The mattress is better. And the water pressure is better on this side."

"Then I'll bring my things over in the morning."

"All your things? As in permanently move in."

He took her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I'm not making the same mistake twice," he said. "I'm putting the woman I love first."

She stared into his dark brown eyes. Her heart fluttered as her mind digested the words.

"I love you. I want a future with you. Right now, that future is inside a bunker. Hopefully, someday soon, our future will be outside these walls, but⁠—"

"I love you, too," she said, frantically working the buttons on his shirt with shaky fingers. "Now can we stop talking?" She wasn't normally nervous. Some might call her reserved, and she could be, especially when first getting to know people. Trust didn't come quickly.

And since she had never been looking for Mr. Right, her love affairs had been simple, no strings attached, short-lived flings. They’d meant little. Nice men who’d wanted nothing from her but sex and pleasant conversation.

That had been all she wanted, too.

This was different.

He set his glasses on the nightstand and finished taking off his shirt, tossing it on the floor.

"This needs to go." He took the hem of her shirt between his fingertips and yanked it over her head.

She shifted her leg and groaned.

"You okay?" Darwin asked.

"I will be once we get me out of these pants." She hooked her thumbs into the waistband and lifted her hips.