Page 126 of Midnight Between Us
I ease out of her carefully, watching the way her body shudders with the last flickers of sensation.Her thighs tense, then release.Her breath hitches.I press a kiss just beneath her collarbone, then another to her cheek—small, grounding touches meant only for her.
I slip the condom off, tie it, and walk to the bathroom where I toss it in the bin.Then I grab the towel dampen it, and go back to her to clean her up carefully.She lets me.She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t pull away.Just lies there, chest bare, legs parted, eyes closed like she’s letting herself feel safe.
When I’m done, I toss the towel aside and climb back into bed beside her.She drapes one arm across my stomach, her head tucking beneath my chin like it’s the place she always meant to return to.
“I thought about this,” she says softly, her voice thick from orgasm and exhaustion.“So many times.What it would be like if you ever came back, until I convinced myself that it was easier to hate you.”
I press my face into her neck and inhale her.“Did it feel like this?”
“No,” she says.“It never felt this good.”
A small laugh catches in my chest.“I didn’t think I’d be allowed to touch you like this again.Didn’t know if I deserved it.”
“You should stop thinking like that.It’s different now.Everything ...it’s in the past.We were given a shitty hand—more you than me.”
I kiss her shoulder, lingering there.“Still, I plan to spend every day trying to earn it—earn you.Making sure you fall in love with me, just like I plan on falling in love with you every day for the rest of our lives.”
We lie there for a while, nothing but skin and breath and the soft, rhythmic beat of her heart under my palm.There’s no rush.No fear.No lingering tension.
Only this moment.
Only us.
“I love you,” I say into her hair.“Still.Always.”
She moves close enough for our lips to meet.A slow kiss.Soft and open and so different from the one that started it all.
“I love you too,” she whispers.“Even when I tried not to.”
I pull her closer.
There’s nothing left to prove.
We’re here.
Together.
Finally.
ChapterSixty-One
Simone
Morning clings to my skin—warmbreath, tangled limbs, and the memory of everything that happened last night.
Sunlight creeps through the curtains in soft streaks, brushing golden rays across the sheets.The room smells like cedar, clean cotton, and him—something faint and warm I’ve come to crave.
Keir stirs beside me, his hand still resting low on my stomach like it wandered there in his sleep and forgot to leave.We’re both tangled in the sheets, our bodies bare, our limbs a quiet confession.His thigh is slotted between mine, our skin warm from hours spent wrapped around each other.
I don’t move.I don’t want to risk changing the rhythm of this.
His breath slows again.Sleepy, content, maybe even safe.And mine ...well, mine joins it.
We didn’t sleep much last night.Every time I thought we were done, he touched me again—softly, like a question he already knew the answer to.My name left his lips like a prayer.His voice low and raw and reverent.I never knew peace could feel like this, like belonging, and safety, and ...him.
The way he cupped my hip without even realizing it.The way his breath hitched when I ran my hands down his ribs like I was reminding myself of his shape.The way we kept coming back to each other like it was muscle memory, but more.
He shifts now, dragging in a deeper breath.His arm tightens around me, his nose brushing the side of my neck.
