Page 182 of Legacy
So I lower my head, lean close, let my voice stroke the shell of her ear.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “You’re safe with me this time I promise.”
A long pause.
Then she turns.
Slow. Like the moment deserves its own gravity.
Her back presses to the railing now. Her body is facing mine, her chin tilted just slightly so we’re eye to eye. Close enough to taste her breath. Close enough that if I leaned in just a little more, we’d be past the point of no return.
She glances at my mouth.
That flick of her eyes is lethal.
“You mean it?” she whispers, her vulnerability cracking me wide open.
I nod. No hesitation.
“I swear it on my life,” I tell her, voice low and firm. “All I want is you and after what happenedtoday— to make sure you’re okay.”
She swallows. “I am.”
Her hand rises, tentative.
Then her fingers brush along my jaw.
My breath shudders.
That touch, gentle, reverent; undoes me more than the sharpest knife. No one’s touched me like this in years. No one has dared. But she does. Like it’s natural. Like it’s hers to do.
I close my eyes.
Then I feel it.
Her lips.
Soft.
Warm.
Testing.
And that’s all I need.
I cup her jaw with both hands and press in, no hesitation this time, no restraint. I take the kiss she offers and deepen it—claim it, own it,like I should have every damn time she let me close.
Her breath catches.
Her hands find my chest.
And even though we’ve kissed before—rushed, broken, bleeding through anger and need—this one is different.
This one saysstay.
This one saystry again.
This one saysI remember.
