Page 192 of Star Claimed Omega
His thumb trembled as it grazed the edge of her mouth, then moved upward, over the bow of her top lip with heartbreaking gentleness.
He touched her like she wasfragile, as if she might vanish into smoke or memory.
His fingertips swept over the strong curve of her brow, the slope of her nose, the fall of her lashes.
When they reached the outer corner of her eye, he paused.
Then brushed away the tears slipping from her eyes in silence.
He tipped her jaw up so her mist-filled eyes would meet his own, glistening and unashamed.
They leaned in together, foreheads touching.
Then he kissed her.
Soleil, aching, open, undone, and desperate for it, let him.
Their lips meshed in an unhurried, tender melding that unraveled all the bitterness and distress they suffered all these weeks apart.
They lost themselves in worshiping the other, in sacred re-connection and devotion.
Santi’s hands gripped her like a man afraid she’d disappear.
She held onto him with the same desperation.
Eventually, his eyes fluttered closed.
His body sank into hers with trust, his breathing slowed, and a slight, gentle smile curved his lips, the first in what felt like forever.
He nestled his head in her nape, and her arms cradled him, fingers stroking his hair.
While he fell asleep, Soleil stayed awake.
It was her turn to watch over him, to breathe with him, to rest against the slow, steady beat of his heart beside hers.
At one point, Santi stirred, murmured inaudible words, and shifted closer in his sleep.
She leaned down, kissed the corner of his mouth with the gentlest brush of lips, and whispered into the dark.
‘Santi. I love you so.’
For the first time in so long, her soul quieted, her spirit at peace.
SANTIAGO
Santi woke toher.
To her warmth, her foil, and her beauty.
Soleil, still and quiet, was facing him in the half-light that spilled in from the corridor slit.
Her red hair, cropped close to her jawline, unruly in places, soft in others, suited her, highlighting her sculpted features.
His eyes traced every line of her.
From the slope of her high cheekbones to the lush bow of her lips, and the delicate straight nose he’d once kissed the bridge of in the dark.
Her lashes lay against her porcelain skin, dusted with tiny freckles.
