Page 18 of Merrily Ever After
It’s more than I’ve ever felt before. All the pleasure doubled. All the feelings like … I don’t even know how to describe it. Onlythis.Thisis what it should be like. Nothing compares to it. To her. And I knew it wouldn’t. I knew all this time. All this time we’ve wasted made up for only with all the time still to come.
It’s a little disjointed, a little clumsy. But neither of us seem to mind. We trade smiles, we explore, and we tell each other what feels good. And when the pleasures spirals, we come down together, as close as two people can be.
A few minutes later, skin still flushed, but heart rate a little more normal, I press a kiss to her shoulder and brush back a curl.
“You know I’m in love with you,” I say. “In case I haven’t made that clear.”
“I know.” She runs a hand through my hair, just like I always wanted her to, and nestles into my chest. “I’m in love with you, too.”
*
A few hours later, when the sun begins to rise, Lara remembers the power bank in her suitcase, and I’m able to charge my phone. A neighbor knocks on the door a few minutes later – probably to update her about all the new crime in the area – and I’m reading through my messages when she comes back.
“Who was that?”
“Mr Kumar. Turns out it wasn’t just us who had a blackout last night.”
I wince. “Are you saying we should invite him into our pillow fort?”
“He just wanted to check on me. There’s an electrician working further down the road so we should be up and running any minute.”
“A minute, huh?” I lounge back on the couch, flashing her my most charming smile. “Guess we’ll have to be quick.”
She doesn’t answer, tucking a curl behind her ear. Sometimes, she’s too easy to read.
“You’re not going to get all shy on me, are you?”
“No,” she mumbles, sitting a little too primly. And that won’t do at all, so I reach over and haul her onto my lap. Noone step forward, two steps backwith us. I simply refuse. And thankfully, she seems to think so, too, because she settles immediately, her hands on my shoulders. Like she belongs there. Like she always has.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she breathes, her eyes trailing down to my lips like they’re the most fascinating thing she’s ever seen. And, though I’m more than willing to let her explore them to her heart’s content, I suddenly remember the most important part of all of this.
“I got you a gift.”
“You said you didn’t want any gifts,” she protests as I nudge her off me.
“And I meant it,” I say, rummaging under the tree for the present I’d put there the other day. “This is just a small thing.”
“But I didn’t get you anything.”
“I can think of a few things you can give me,” I say, waggling my eyebrows until she huffs. “Open it,” I say, passing it to her. And despite her obvious reluctance, she does, carefullyunwrapping the tissue paper to reveal the small glass bauble inside. It’s simple as gifts go. But I thought it was pretty. I saw it and I thought of her.
“So you can put it on the tree,” I explain in case it wasn’t obvious. “You get the finishing touch.”
She smiles, cradling it in her hands. “Thank you. I’ll—”
She breaks off with a gasp and I may or may not jump as the room suddenly comes to life around us. Every fairy light. Every tiny waving snowman. The radio starts in the middle of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and you can actually see the bunting I draped over the doorway. But best of all is the tree. Even if it did fall over. That’s the Fitzpatrick touch right there. A festive work of art.
“I might be wrong,” I begin as the miniature train set starts choo-chooing its way around its adorable circular track. “But I think the electricity is back.”
I glance at Lara when she doesn’t answer, only to find her gazing in wonder at the scene before us.
“Told you it was a good surprise,” I say, feeling pretty damned pleased with myself. But she doesn’t smile or laugh or even roll her eyes at me.
She just stares. Stares long enough that I get a bit worried.
Crap.
