Page 80 of When Hearts Ignite

The air thickens with each passing second as another clap of thunder lashes from the skies. Everything feels momentous. Like I’m perched at the opening of an aircraft, about to freefall from the skies and hoping my parachute opens.

I feel achingly alive.

My heart skips another beat as a desperate need tears through me.

Only she can make my soul fly.

Vulnerability. Ryland’s advice whispers in my mind and I swallow the thick lump in my throat and slowly step toward her, every step feeling fated.

After all, we’re magnets that should’ve been pointing toward each other the entire time. It’s useless trying to pull us apart.

“Grace,” I rasp, coming to a stop a few inches from her. “Will you forgive me for whatever I did? Will you let me in? Please?”

My hand shakes as I slowly touch her face, my fingers trailing over her wet cheeks and jaw, wiping away at the water droplets as best as I can.

“I-I miss you, Grace. I was broken before, but with you, I feel whole… I feel alive. I know this can’t be wrong. I don’t care if I’m a bird or you’re a fish. I’ll become a swan so I can swim in the lakes. I’ll be a falcon gliding above the waters, protecting you as you swim below me. I’ll be a penguin who loves diving into the deep seas. Please don’t lock me out.”

Grace leans into my touch, her lips trembling. “I don’t want to be my mom.” Her response is a breathy whisper.

She chokes out a sob. “She spent her life pining over a man well above her station, who left her so heartbroken she spent the rest of her life trying to recreate him in others. Her heart had a hole that never recovered. She was addicted to him, and my sister and I resulted from the bittersweet union, and he never came back for her or for us. And she died heartbroken.”

She squeezes her eyes shut. “I-I don’t want to be like her.”

My thumb swipes at her tears, even though it’s useless with the rain. “I won’t be like him. Your father. I won’t ever abandon you.”

“That’s what they all say…but they leave at the end. They always do. And then I’m left with the pieces.”

I shake my head, my other hand clasping the other side of her face. “Never. I promise you. Never. Grace, I didn’t feel anything before you. My life was only work and even then, my chest was a bottomless pit, a dark abyss no light could penetrate.”

My eyes mist as I lean down and tilt her face up, my voice hoarse and thick. “Then you showed up, with your sharp intelligence and brightness, and your ridiculous notion I need friends. You wormed your way inside me, toppling my walls, breathing light and life back into my heart.”

I grab one of her hands and press it against my chest. “This has never beaten for anyone else before and it never will. Please don’t push me away. Whatever you are going through, let me help you. Let us face it together. Please.”

I swallow and heave out a heavy exhale. “Please, I beg you.”

Her hand presses deeper into my chest, clutching the wet fabric of my dress shirt, as if to feel the drumming heartbeats. I can feel the warmth of her touch through the wet layers of clothes, like a defibrillator shocking my senses alive. I cover her hand with mine as my other hand cradles her face. Her eyes flare, the brilliant purple darkening to almost sapphire at what she sees in my gaze. Her lips part again, the plump, plush lips beckoning me to kiss, to bite, to taste.

“S-Steven,” she whispers, her body trembling. “What if I tell you no?”

“Then I’ll show up every day and convince you until you say yes.” My voice is a low growl as I step in closer to her, so much our bodies are almost grazing each other.

She lets out a soft gasp, the sound inflaming my senses and sends heated blood straight to my groin.

“What if I’m scared?” A pulse flutters in her neck.

“Then I’ll wrap you in my arms and shield you from the elements and anyone who dares stand in our way can go fuck off.” I take another step closer and our bodies press together like they have always belonged to each other.

“What if I tell you I don’t feel the same way?” Another breathy whisper.

A muscle twitches in my jaw as I clasp her face with both hands, tilting it up. “Then I’d call you a liar. Because no one, absolutely no one, can make you feel like this.”

My head swoops in and I capture her parted lips in mine.

His kiss is feral. Dominating. Passionate.

Unlike the kiss during the lap dance, fueled by lust and anger, this one contains his soul and his all-consuming love.

Everything I didn’t know I wanted, but everything I absolutely needed.

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