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Every fiber of my being screamed for me the close the distance between us, and the tether that I was suddenly more aware of than ever pulled from my chest toward him. My feet moved in his direction against my will, taking me across the room to him at an inhuman speed and my breath caught in my throat.
His head snapped toward me and our eyes met.
We were held in place by shock. Disbelief. Fear. The scenery around us melted away, the music faded and we were the only two people in existence.
His eyes shimmered in the light with tears, the same emerald green I’d dreamt of against my will for decades. I laughed, my vision blurred. His gaze held genuine surprise and pleasure at the sight of me. I could have collapsed on the floor had he not suddenly been standing mere inches in front of me, holding my elbows in his hands.
“Rose,” he whispered, almost as if it wasn’t real but a dream he did not wish to wake from. A glint of tears rolling down his face, he took one hand and pressed it to my cheek gently.
My skin tingled at his touch, tingled in a way it had not done with anyone else. It seemed that every moment since our first meeting flashed before my eyes, from Thanksgiving to the last time we made love. The stolen glances, the back and forth, the fear and the yearning, the complicated mixture of it all. I leaned into him, the aching in my heart more unbearable than ever, almost debilitating. I wanted to feel him against every inch of my body, I wanted so badly to pull him into me and never let him go.
I closed my eyes, taking in his scent, moving my hand up his arm, feeling the shape of his shoulder, his neck. Opening my eyes, he was slowly leaning in, caution in his own. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into me to brush his lips with mine.
He took my mouth in a kiss that scarcely made up for the time without him. A kiss to fill in every moment missed from the thirty years. A kiss to say everything I needed and wanted to say. ‘I forgive you, I’m sorry.’
His lips moved perfectly with mine, heightening every sensation with every touch of our tongues. Our breath mingled, intoxicating the both of us, his hands moved to my hair and mine down his sides and into his jacket.
I did not want to pull away, in fact I ached to strip him of his clothes and take him there. I had missed him more than I allowed myself to realize. William broke our kiss, tears still streaming. A smile danced on his lips as he fervently searched my eyes, taking my hands in his.
“What is this? Are you real? Am I holding you?” he asked, his voice breaking with emotion.
“I’m here,” I murmured, overcome.
“Have you… Have you forgiven me?” William’s eyes, full of the pain I know he carried for so long, had something like hope sparkle in them. I did forgive him, I had long before Horris stumbled upon me. But his words hung in my mind,we can choose now,and holding William, feeling him against my skin…
“Yes, I forgive you,” I whispered, gently wiping his tears from the half of his face exposed by his mask. He laughed in relief, crushing my mouth under his. I hauled myself tighter into him, gripping the back of his waist coat in pure ardor. His tongue was wet and slick across my bottom lip as I moaned in longing for him.
This was what I had been missing since I’d left, the electricity that lit under my skin, the way his body moved so precisely with mine. No one could hold a candle to this, nothing felt like this. This was home. William was home.
“Pardon me, sir, but you seem to be sucking the soul from my date,” Horris’s voice came from somewhere. We simultaneously turned to him, gripping one another for dear life. Horris stood with two glasses of red wine in his hands, a delighted smirk on his face. Filip was behind him, blond hair slicked back, eyes wide in awe behind his navy mask. Looking between the two of them and William, I suddenly felt duped.
“Was this planned?” I accused, taking the lapel of William’s coat in my hand as his arms wound tighter around my waist. Filip guffawed, clapping coming down on Horris’s shoulder.
“Tell me, brother, was this planned?” he asked facetiously.
“Let’s just say, it’s rather serendipitous we are all here tonight.” Horris winked. My gaze found William’s, so much love pouring from his eyes it took my breath away.
“Did you know?” I asked, trailing my fingertips down his cheek.
“No, my darling, I hadn’t even known Horris was here. Filip dragged me out against my will, but I’d no clue you were in London.” William brought his forehead to mine, our bodies pressed together in some scurrilous way.
“I wonder if we are no longer needed, Horris,” Filip said. I’d never known a man to exude such pride in one moment.
“I’m sorry, for everything,” I admitted, “I have spent so long trying to leave all of you behind, seeing your faces makes me feel like a fool.”
“You were hurting,” William said softly, with so much–too much understanding. Horris rubbed his arm with earnest kindness.
“And so were you,” I mentioned.
“I survived.”
“As much as I simply adore the fact that the two of you are in the same room”—Filip brushed by Horris and threw his arm around William’s shoulders—"we must get you a glass of this, wait until you taste it.”
“The wine?” I looked at Filip in curiosity and William laced his fingers with mine. They began to walk us out of the ballroom to the bar where Filip talked up the bartender, securing another red wine special.
Horris handed me a glass, the viscous liquid swirled in my hand. William took his own, and Filip nearly burst with anticipation.
“Go on, try it, it’s the best of both worlds.” He glugged his own. "The drink of the evening he said, for creatures of the night.” Filip waggled his eyebrows, shimmying his shoulders. William and I cautiously sipped the room temperature liquid.
