Page 226 of Fractured Devotion
She stares at me, every emotion flickering across her face.
Her throat works, her breath shaky.
But she says nothing.
Instead, she moves toward me, slowly and deliberately, until her hands rest against my chest.
She looks up, her eyes fierce but shining with something raw.
And then she rises onto her toes and presses her mouth to mine.
It isn’t soft.
It isn’t careful.
It’s desperate.
A claim.
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in and deepening the kiss until there’s nothing left between us but heat and need.
We don’t speak.
Words don’t belong here anymore.
Only this.
Her lips on mine.
Her body against mine.
Her choice.
And I know without question.
She isn’t leaving.
Not tonight.
Not without me.
We break apart just enough to breathe, our foreheads resting together, the air thick with everything we both just gave away.
Her voice is barely audible when she whispers, “Don’t let go.”
I tighten my arms around her, my answer soft but unyielding. “Never.”
We stand there, tangled in each other and surrounded by packed boxes and all the things we thought we could leave behind.
But this?
This stays.
And for the first time, it feels like we finally chose right.
Together.
Chapter 63 – Celeste - The Small Hours
