I groan and kiss down her neck, then up to her mouth.
Violet sucks in a deep breath, and I move my hands up her back, pulling her against me. I slow the kiss, taking my time and savoring every second of it.
She fits against me so perfectly, and everything feels like a damn dream.
Violet pulls back and our eyes lock, both of us questioning a million things, but not her.
I never question us.
I push my hand into her hair, gripping the silky brunette tresses. “Do you want me to stop?”
She shakes her head. “No, not ever.” I pull her mouth back to mine, and she moans. I let her lead, giving her the control I know she’s searching for. Everything in life has been happening to her—she needs to determine this.
To decide what she wants.
“Everett.” Violet’s voice drifts over my name.
I grip her hips, and her hands move to my chest. Her head drops back, giving me access to her neck. I kiss the skin there, then run my tongue down the smooth column of her neck.
“Anything you want, I’ll give you,” I promise.
“You, I want you. I have always wanted you.”
I am hers, and I always have been.
I bring my mouth back to her ear. “Then come with me upstairs. Let me love you.”
This pause is going to determine whether we do this or she pulls away again.
When her lashes flutter closed, I tense, awaiting her rebuke, but then her hands slide down and she laces our fingers together.
She climbs the stairs, and I allow her to lead me to my room without a word. When we’re inside, I quietly close the door.
Violet turns and walks to me. Her hand goes back to my chest. “This is going to change everything.”
I want to tell her that happened a long time ago. “Why?”
Her amber eyes bore into mine. “Because I won’t be able to lie to myself after this.”
“I think we’ve been lying to ourselves from the first minute we saw each other in the coffee shop.” I move my hand to her cheek. “I think we’ve been lying to ourselves for years that we didn’t feel anything, that this was over, that we were happy. But I haven’t been happy for a long time.”
Tears well in those beautiful eyes and then slide down her cheeks. “I’ve tried to forget you.”
“So have I.”
“When I close my eyes, it’s you I see.”
Her confession breaks me, so I give her one of my own.
“I’ve tried to forget you, to erase you from my mind so I could love another, but no one has ever come close to you, Violet. You stole my goddamn heart when I was fourteen.”
She tightens her fingers into my shirt. “Now what? How do we do this?”
That’s the easiest question she’s ever asked. “We stop fighting.”
Her eyes find mine, and we move toward each other slowly, my hand cupping her face, guiding her back to me.
When our lips meet this time, it’s soft, gentle, and unhurried. It builds like a song, the tempo moving to the chorus, and then the bridge hits. I kiss her deeper, my hands moving down her body, and grip the edge of her dress.
