Page 35 of Losing Hope

He lost himself in the kiss, savoring her taste as his tongue swept against hers, inhaling each breath she panted out through her nose. When he felt her body finally relax and give in to what she was feeling, instead of pushing in fear against it, he closed his mouth around hers one more time and gently pulledaway.

She looked up at him, eyes blazing with desire, little pants coming from her kiss-swollen lips as her chest rose and fell in quick bursts. He nipped her lips one more time and smiled broadly ather.

“So, you’re completely sure it’s just about baseball?”

She rolled her eyes, a smile breaking out across her face as she looked up at him. “Well, mostly.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, the smile never leaving his face, then turned and picked the movie up off the bed. “Let’s put it in then. I love baseball.”

Gage blinkedawake as Hope turned and nuzzled herself deeper into his chest. He moved to pull the blanket up over her shoulder and furrowed his brow as he noticed green waves bouncing off her golden hair. He looked up to see if they had fallen asleep with the television on and gasped when his gaze landed on the scene unfolding outside the full-length windows. “Holyfuck!”

Hope sat straight up, bleary eyes trying to open as she shook herself awake. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He pointed to the window, his eyes still locked on what he saw, his mouth open in awe. “Look.”

Her dainty hand was rubbing at her eyes as she turned in the direction he pointed. A smile appeared on her face and grew wider as she turned and looked at the awe on hisface.

“It’s the Northern Lights. You’ve never seen them before?”

He shook his head back and forth absently, still unable to look away from the spectacle before him. “The Aurora Borealis?” His voice was laced with wonder.

She slid out of bed and stood up, walking over to the front of the windows. “Yes. It’s early for them to be out. We usually don’t see them until later in the winter.”

“You’ve seen them before?”

“Yes, lots of times.” She turned back to him and was overwhelmed with emotion at witnessing the wonder in his face. “Come. Let’s go outside so you can seethem.”

Not breaking his gaze from the view outside, he moved out of the bed and walked to stand next to Hope. “It’s amazing. I’ve read about them and seen photos, of course, but this isjust…”

She smiled up at him. “I know. It’s something you have to see in person.” She bent and picked his sweats and t-shirt up off the floor. “You may want to put theseon.”

He finally tore his gaze away from the window to look at what she was holding. A grin broke across his face. “Sorry. Butwow!”

They both laughed as he quickly pulled his clothes on and sprinted out of the bedroom. “I need my camera.”

She pulled on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a sweater over the t-shirt she had on, following in his wake. She found him in the living room, changing a lens. He looked up when she walked into theroom.

“Can we go out on the deck? Is thatokay?”

“Of course.” She walked closer to him and giggled at his excitement. Kid in a candy store came to mind when she thought of him in this moment. “Do you want to go down to the dock? It might be even better because you won’t have any shadows or lights from the house, and the colors may be clearer.”

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “You totally getme.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “You’re an artist. I getthat.”

He walked over to her and grabbed her face. “You are going to have a really hard time getting rid of me.” Then he kissed her hard and quick before turning walking back to his equipment to grab it. “Let’sgo.”

They went outside and walked down to the docks. She watched as he set his camera on a tripod and took what seemed like a thousand pictures. She didn’t mind, though. Everything about this night was beautiful—his words, his passion, the lights. When he seemed to be satisfied with the number of photos he had taken, he came over and sat beside her on thedock.

“All done?” She scooted closer and pressed herself against him. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

“I’m sorry. You must be freezing.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm to try to warm her. “I get caught up sometimes.”

“I’m fine. Really. I can’t complain about anything when this is what we have to look at. It’s so absolutely beautiful.”

He rested his chin on the top of her head as he continued to watch the green, yellow, and blue lights slide across the sky. “I can’t believe I finally got to see them. It only took thirty-two years.”

“They are rare in the states, that’s for sure. Some people never seethem.”

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