Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
It’s soft at first. Reverent. The kind of kiss two people give when they’re afraid the other might disappear again.
But then his fingers tighten in my coat.
And mine fist in his shirt.
And ten years of longing snap like a wire pulled too tight.
The kiss deepens, slow turning hungry, careful turning desperate. His teeth graze my lip, and I gasp into him, pulling him closer, drinking him in, letting ten years of fear and grief and wanting finally melt into something alive.
His breath is hot. His hands are firm. His control is fraying—beautifully, painfully, inevitably.
“Savannah,” he rasps against my lips, dragging his mouth to my jaw, my cheek, back to my mouth like he can’t choose where he needs me most. “Tell me this is real. Tell me you’re mine.”
I frame his face with my hands. “I’ve always been yours.”
A groan breaks from him—raw, guttural, full of every emotion he’s swallowed for a decade.
His forehead drops to mine, breath mingling with mine, both of us shaking.
“No more running?” he whispers.
“No more running.”
“Stay,” he breathes. “With me. Stay.”
“I’m here,” I promise. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Snow swirls around us like the universe is exhaling.
He kisses me again—slower this time, deep and certain, sealing something that’s been broken for too long.
His hands settle on my waist. Mine on his chest. Our breaths syncing. Hearts pounding like they’re relearning each other’s rhythm.
When he finally pulls back, his thumb brushes my lip, tracing where he just kissed me.
“I don’t deserve you,” he whispers.
“Maybe not,” I tease softly, breathless and dizzy. “But I’m choosing you anyway.”
He laughs under his breath—quiet, wrecked, relieved.
Then he pulls me into his chest, burying his face in my hair, arms wrapping around me with a kind of fierce, protective certainty that makes my knees weaken.
I melt into him.
We stand like that until the cold finally sinks through our clothes.
Until his heartbeat steadies.
Until mine matches it.
Until we know—without speaking—that this is the real beginning.
He pulls back just enough to look at me.
“We’re done with ghosts,” he says.
“Yes,” I whisper. “We are.”
“Have dinner with me tonight at my place.”
“Okay, I’d love that.” I stare up at the sweetest, kindest man I’ve ever known.
“Good, I can’t wait to spoil you and have you all to myself.” And then he threads his fingers through mine, squeezes once, and leads me back toward the firehouse—toward warmth, toward light, toward the future we almost never got.
The letter remains in his other hand.
But his grip on me is stronger.
And this time…
I don’t let go.
Chapter Fifteen
Axel
My eyes track her across my kitchen later that night as she stirs heavy cream into a bowl of melted chocolate. She’s making mousse, my favorite dessert. And watching her like this makes me think one thing: I can't deny it anymore.
I’m a damn puppy dog when it comes to this woman.
“I can only imagine one thing sweeter than that melted chocolate you’re stirring.” I push my empty glass away, standing from the table and placing a warm hand on her elbow.
Her eyelids flutter open wide.
My entire body is strung tight and aching for her. Just the thought of bending her over the kitchen island and making a feast of the warmth between her thighs is enough to make me leak like a faucet.
“You’ve been so busy worrying about what I like,” I whisper, hand at her waist, pinning her between the counter and me. “What do you like, Savannah?”
She can’t speak, her round little mouth panting breathless pants and making my erection pound a little harder with the need to feel the woman I love on another level.
“I like spending time with you.”
I grin, pride rioting through me. “Glad to hear that.” I press my lips to hers, gentle at first and then with more fervor. “You don’t know what you do to me,” I breathe between kisses. “I exhaust myself thinking of all the ways I could kiss you.” I nip at the side of her smile. “Make you all soft and warm in my hands…”
My hands travel up her body, discovering all the curvy new territory of her hips and waist. I tighten my hold, pressing her against my hard muscles.
“Do you want me to keep kissing you, Savannah?”
She nods softly, her tongue darting out to trace my own sensitive lips.
She tastes like chocolate and honey and a hint of cinnamon, and every second she’s on my taste buds, I only want more.
“Say it.”
She nods. “Please, kiss me, Axel.”
Her words are all it takes for the animal in me to take over. Hands at her hips, grinding against her, I run my tongue along the seam and then lunge.
Our tongues dancing and tangling together, I scent her deeply through my nose, the cinnamon and fire of her enough to send me into overdrive. I slip my hands under the band of her leggings and slide them down her thighs. “Are you sure you want this?”