Page 82 of Yours, Now and Always
His hand finds my thigh. Not sexual. Just grounding.
Or maybe claiming.
Same difference when it comes to Gage.
Also, his hand is warm. Like,reallywarm. Why is his hand so warm? Is that a normal hand temperature? Am I cold? No, wait, I’m fine. It’s just...differential. The thermal differential between his body and mine is fascinating. Temperature is so weird when you think about it. Like, we’re all just walking around at different temperatures, touching each other, exchanging heat. That’s wild. We’re all just little heat machines?—
Amelia. Focus. You’re having a moment with your husband. Stop thinking about thermodynamics.
Right. Moment. Husband. Romance.
His fingers tighten slightly, and I feel the restraint thrumming in him. I press my hand to his chest, right over his heart. It’s thundering. Mine is too.
We just sit like that. Him holding me. Me trying not to cry again. And for the first time today, I feel like I can breathe.
Finally, Gage runs a finger along my jaw and says, “You look beautiful.”
The laugh that bursts out of me is equal parts overwhelm and disbelief. “Are you blind? I must have mascara smeared all over my face with the amount of crying you caused. The next time you decide to make me a fairy wonderland, give me a heads up to not bother with makeup.”
He doesn’t respond straight away. Just watches me with heat.
Then, he ruins me all over again when he says, “Consider me seduced. Again. Still. Always.”
“Oh my god, Gage. You cannot say that to me when I’m still high and emotionally unstable.” My eyes widen. “And when I have my period!” I gesture wildly at him. “You can’t be this hotandthis romantic...I feel like I’m in heat with zero options. You’re basically edging me.”
He’s unrepentant, and his voice is filthy-soft when he says, “That’s your rule. Not mine.” His thumb glides over my hip. “I’ll always wait. But don’t think for one second I’m not hard just looking at you.”
I swear under my breath. I want to throttle him. I want to fuck him. I want to rewrite every rule I’ve ever made.
“You’re a menace,” I grumble.
“You knew what you were getting into when you said yes to me.” He leans in and wrecks me with a kiss that doesn’t even try to behave. “Now you get to live with the consequences.”
I roll my eyes, but there’s no heat behind it. I’m too in love with this man to mean it.
He chuckles, then reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. It’s a coin.
I frown. “What’s that?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Just keeps his gaze on the coin while he turns it between his fingers.
“I’ve been thinking,” he says finally, lifting his eyes to mine. “About us. About forever.”
The gruff tone in his voice catches all of my attention.
“I know who I am, Amelia. I know I’m not easy. I can be arrogant. I dig in when I should back down. I lead with control when I should lead with trust. And when I feel fear, I grip tighter and try to manage.” His gaze is intense, locked to mine. “I almost lost you once because of that, and I’m doing everything I can not to make that mistake again. But still, I know myself.”
He pauses. And when he speaks again, it’s quieter. Thicker. Full of raw, unfiltered emotion. “If I ever lose you, it won’t be because I didn’t love you enough. It'll be because I didn’t shut up long enough to hear you.”
My eyes sting. Hard.
Gage slides the coin into my palm and closes my fingers around it.
“This is for the days I’m being an arrogant dick and don’t realize it. For the moments when we’ve gone back and forth five times about something stupid and you’re about to kill me. Or when I start trying tofixthings for you even though you never asked me to do that. Or when I start trying to manage things because I’m afraid of losing you.”
He rubs his thumb gently over my hand that’s holding the coin. “When you need to be heard but don’t want to fight, this is what you pull out. This is how you remind me.”
I open my hand and stare at the coin. It’s gold. Simple. Both sides are engraved.
