“I’m close,” he groaned. “You don’t have to—”
But I did.
I wanted all of him.
Every last bit.
Nix’s hips lifted, his legs tensing as he came, sexy little moans falling from his lips. I wanted to see him, to see his brows drawn together and the look of ecstasy on his face. I wanted to imprint it to memory, to keep it forever.
I swallowed, surprised at how natural it felt.
His hand slipped free of my hair and came to cup my cheek. “You are fucking amazing,” he praised me.
Moving back beside him, he leaned in and kissed me, tasting himself on my tongue. But it didn’t seem to bother him in the least.
“I wish I got some of your firsts too.” A soft sigh left me, my old friend insecurity rearing her ugly head.
Nix curved his hand around the side of my neck and held me. “You get the most important one, B. My heart. No one has ever come close to touching it. How could they when it’s always belonged to you?”
“Nix, I…”
“Shh. I get it. And I fucking hate that we wasted so much time. But we’re here now. We’re here, B, and I’m never letting you go again. I can’t. I won’t. Because losing you last year, it was like losing a part of myself. I can’t exist without you, Harleigh Wren Maguire. You’re the other half to my soul.”
Nix dropped his head to mine, inhaling a shaky breath. We lay there, still and silent, nothing but the sound of our beating hearts and his declaration between us.
“Nix, I….”
I realized then, he’d fallen asleep.
I brushed the hair from his eyes, marveling at how soft his skin felt under my fingertips. My beautiful broken boy who carried the weight of so much on his shoulders. I feared that one day, it would crush him. The expectation, the disappointment, and heartache.
Nix was a fighter, a survivor. He had always been so strong. But what if Zane was right? What if he was losing himself in the process? And now I was back, and things were so uncertain regarding our future, I didn’t want to hurt him again.
But I couldn’t walk away, I wouldn’t.
Because how did you walk away from the one thing you needed more than anything? The thing you loved most in the entire world.
Our love was fragile, precarious, and new. But it was also strong, unyielding, and consuming. It had survived the worst nine months of my life.
I had to believe it was all for a reason. That our love was bigger than circumstance.
That it would survive anything.
Even a world that wanted to chew us up and spit us out.
I woke to flutters in my stomach. “Wh-what?”
“Shh, Birdie.” A voice rumbled. Right. Over. There.
Nix had me pinned to the bed, one of his arms anchoring me in place as he licked me. A slow drag of his tongue that made me cry out.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” I breathed.
“Good morning to you too.” He chuckled, spreading me open with his fingers and licking me deeper.
Heat flooded me, light streaming in through the blinds and illuminating my flushed skin.
“You look like an angel,” he murmured, flattening his tongue against my clit.