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His expression cracks when he sees me. “I love you, baby. I love you so much.”
I freeze. My mouth drops open. I sway slightly on my feet.
He reaches out and slides an arm around me—support rather than an embrace.
“Wh-what?”
“I love you. I should have told you before. I’ve felt it for a long time. But I was... I was scared. I told myself I was being selfless and doing the best thing for you, but it was mostly an excuse. I’ve never been in love before. I’ve never had anyone love me. It’s still hard for me to... to believe this might be real.”
“It is real,” I whisper, clutching at his shirt as the words wash over me.
“I’m finally... I’m finally recognizing that. Accepting it. That I can love someone and they actually can love me back. But I got scared earlier today when you... when you pressed the issue. I was afraid if I made myself vulnerable, you would... you could reject me. You could break my heart. So I was protecting myself under the guise of protecting you. I’m so sorry. I should have told you the truth.”
I could drown in his eyes right now—so warm and soft and deep and tender. “R-really?”
“Yes. When I realized you were gone, it was like my whole world crashed down on me. Everything I almost had was suddenly slipping through my fingers. And there’s no way I can let that happen. Not if there’s anything I can do to stop it. So this is me. Telling you the absolute truth. Stripping myself naked.” He takes a ragged breath and cups my face in both hands. “I love you, Scarlett Kingston. More than I believed myself capable of loving. I’m going to love you all my life. And I do still want you to be free. I want you to be able to make any choices you want for your life even if it means you move and we have to be apart for a while. But I can’t just let you go. Not unless you tell me you don’t want me.”
“I do want you.” I can’t seem to stop shaking. “I... I love you too.”
An awed joy blazes in his eyes, on his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. That’s why I had to leave. Because I needed more than you were giving me.”
“You have it. You have everything. I promise, baby, I’m never letting you go.”
***
TWO MONTHS LATER, I’Mon my hands and knees on the window seat in the library, and Arthur is fucking me doggie-style, thrusting hard and fast against my ass and murmuring out rough encouragements that intensify my pleasure so much I end up coming over and over.
It lasts a long time, but he finally loses control and comes with a choked exclamation and a look of absolute satisfaction on his face.
We end up tangled together on the window seat, laughing and holding each other.
“You know, I still had a little more work to do today,” I say teasingly.
“Then you shouldn’t have taunted me that way.” He nuzzles my hair. “You knew exactly how I’d react.”
I did. Of course I did. He gave me exactly what I wanted.
I beam up at him. “I guess maybe I did.”
He chuckles and kisses me softly. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too. And these past two months have been the best of my life.”
“Mine too. But you already knew that.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” He repositions himself, pulling up his underwear and trousers.
“It’s not a big deal, but I’ve been wondering. When did you... when did you start thinking about me differently?”
“To tell you the truth, when you first came here...” He slants me a quick look.
“What? You’re not going to admit something creepy, are you?”
He laughs softly. “No. Not at all. In fact the opposite.”
