My hand came up without thinking, fingers weaving into the fabric at his chest, grounding myself in him this time instead of the floor, the wall, anything else I could pretend was steady.
His hand slid from my jaw to the back of my neck, anchoring me there as the kiss deepened just enough to pull something low and steady through me, replacing the sharp edge of panic with something warmer.
Quieter.
Certain.
I exhaled into him, the last of the resistance I’d been holding onto slipping away without a fight. Because there wasn’t one left to give.
Not when I knew exactly what I was choosing. Not when I was finally done pretending I didn’t want this. Didn’t want him.
His forehead pressed briefly against mine as the kiss broke, our breaths still uneven but no longer frantic.
“Bea,” he murmured, softened with something I hadn’t heard from him before.
Whatever was left of my walls—whatever I’d been holding onto out of habit, out of fear, out of necessity—gone.
I didn’t overthink it.
Didn’t second-guess it.
I just… let it go.
My fingers tightened in his shirt, and when I pulled him back to me, it wasn’t reaction.
It was decision.
He didn’t resist. Didn’t hesitate.
One step.
Then another.
The edge of the bed hit the back of my knees before I registered how we’d gotten there, the shift in height, in space, in everything around us happening without breaking the thread that had pulled tight between us.
His hand found mine, as if he knew exactly how much of this I was still processing even as I leaned into it. Even as I chose it.
I met his gaze one last time.
There was no question there.
No doubt.
No hesitation.
Just… him.
And the understanding that this wasn’t something we were walking back from.
Not after this.
I exhaled slowly, the sound softer this time, steadier.
And let myself fall into it.
CHAPTER 21
ALOIS