Page 129 of When Hearts Ignite

Suddenly, my world is filled with color once again, and everything seems sharper than before—the warm sunlight streaming in from the windows after Grace pulled back the thick curtains to let in some much-needed light into the dark space. The apartment smells of an intoxicating mix of jasmine and leather, our scents intertwined like they belonged together all along. The carpet feels soft against my bare feet and my body is filled with bone-curling warmth.

I feel alive for the first time in almost thirty years.

I feel enough.

Setting the plates on the nightstand, I chuckle under my breath as Grace stirs awake after another bout of sex. This time, I edged her five times before I gave her an orgasm and she spewed out a thousand expletives in the process. Our clothes litter the floor, books and papers scattered all over the place as we fucked on every available surface, but I don’t feel the urge to clean, to organize, to put everything in its proper place.

I just want to spend every waking minute with her next to me, teasing out her smiles, making her come against my fingers, my mouth, my cock, having whole-hearted discussions with her about everything from finances to why penguins are monogamous.

And apparently…eating hot dogs.

As much as she loves the fine dining I’ve taken her to before, she’s still hung up on the Central Park hot dog we had almost a year ago. She claims it was a fluke that we got a stale hot dog from the wrong vendor that day, because a good street dog is a New York City staple and classic.

“Steven.” She doles out a lazy smile as she stretches her arms over her head and sits up against the tufted headboard. She winces as she adjusts into position.

My eyes drift to her full tits peeking out of the covers and my cock twitches again. I’m fucking insatiable for her.

She notices my perusal and narrows her eyes. “We haven’t gotten out of bed this entire weekend, Steven. This is getting ridiculous.” She pretends to glare at me, but her lips curve up and an endearing pink flush crawls up her neck, settling on her face.

Laughing softly, I climb into bed with her and lean over, pressing a soft kiss on her plump lips and she melts against me as she always does. “I can’t get enough of you.”

She moans as I press down, letting her feel my hard cock over her pussy. She winces again and I ease off her. “Did I make you too sore, darling?”

“You beast.”

“Your beast.”

We smile at each other and she bites on the plump bottom lip, a teasing glint appearing in her eyes.

My heart can burst from all the heat and love inside me, an emotion I apparently have bottled up so long I didn’t know it was there and now that it’s been uncorked, I can’t stem my feelings any more than I can stem my need for her.

“I got you proper hot dogs.” I wink, pointing to our perfectly plated gourmet hot dogs. “The one on the left is Jefferson’s famous umami hot dog. It’s one hundred percent Angus beef and has caramelized onions, roasted seaweed, sesame mayonnaise. The one on the right is his interpretation of the Manhattan Street Dog, and has the Angus beef sausage, honey Dijon mustard, homemade ketchup, spiced relish, and caramelized onions.”

She grins, her brows arched high on her forehead. “We’ll see about that. Sometimes the simpler the food, the better they taste.”

I bite back a smile as I put our plates in front of us and we dig in. She makes a cute moaning sound that makes my blood heat and I smirk. “Good, right?”

She nudges me and purses her lips. “You may be on to something here. I hate to admit it, but I may actually be wrong in this case.”

I laugh, the sound echoing in the spacious room, and she stares at me with those beautiful gemstone eyes. She whispers, “I love that sound from your lips.”

My face softens, and I dip my forehead against hers. “You gave me that gift. The gift of happiness. I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying you.”

Grace flushes as she ducks her face and returns her attention back to her food.

Suddenly, a tension fills her tiny frame, almost imperceptible, but I know her better than anyone else. A small twinge—a phantom ache—enters my chest. Perhaps after everything, our souls are indeed connected now because I know exactly what she’s thinking.

“You’re thinking about your father?”

She nods. “I’m scared about our meeting tomorrow.”

Heaving out a sigh, I nod. “I’m the same way about my family.”

Father called me the night we heard the truth from Emerson. After resting and taking it easy, he was given the all clear to go home. He told me Grace isn’t my sister, and I misunderstood him, but he’ll explain to us in person. Jess and Emily somehow rounded up the entire family last night and are now flying over in Adrian’s private jet. They’re probably due to arrive at any minute and we’ll be meeting at The Menagerie within the building for afternoon drinks and a much overdue talk.

It’s time to air out all the secrets, reveal all our scars, so we can put the past in the past and move on, because there are so many beautiful things waiting for us in the future now that I have Grace by my side.

“I’ll be with you, Steven.”

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