Page 97 of Forever Touched

I couldn’t help but melt at his words. Couldn’t help but desperately cling to them, wishing with all of my heart that they were true.

But maybe theycouldbe true. Maybe I could stop pretending, if only for a moment. If this was to be my last moment with the man who made me feel things I hadn’t dreamt were possible, then I was going to make each second count.

Besides, what could they do? What couldanyonedo? It wasn’t midnight yet. This time was mine. Mine and Everett’s. This was our happily ever after, however short it ended up being. And like hell would I let anyone, including Mistress, take that time away from me.

So I did the unthinkable. I grabbed Everett’s face and kissed him full on the mouth. In front ofeveryone. Staking my claim. Making one last defiant stand.

Screw you. Screw you all!the kiss shouted, echoing across a room that had suddenly gone deathly quiet. Even the music had stopped. I didn’t care. I kissed Everett harder. More urgently. Pouring into it the fear, desperation, and helplessness I felt. The need and desire I had for him. The hopes and dreams that were rapidly slipping through my fingers.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Destiny clawed at me, threatening to tear us apart. I clung to him with all of my might, whimpering when he crushed me against him and returned the kiss with equal force. Time drifted away, our passion eclipsing everything else. Nothing mattered butthis. This kiss and my feelings for him. Feelings that flooded our bond, feelings I no longer tried to hide. I wanted him to know how I felt. Hedeservedto know.

It was the only thing I could freely give him, and no one could stop me.

I gave him everything, holding nothing back. I gave and gave, allowing him to know without a shadow of doubt my feelings for him.

Tears slid down my cheeks, but I didn’t wipe them away. Showingweakness didn’t matter anymore. I was at the end of my rope, and this was all I had left.

This final moment with the man who held my heart.

This perfect moment with the man that Iloved.

31

EVERETT

I couldn’t breathe.

Her kiss was destroying me. Tearing apart everything I once was. Everything I’d believed in order to protect myself. To keep me and my family safe.

The person I used to be was unraveling by the second, disintegrating to ash as she poured her entire being into the kiss. A kiss that rocked me to my core, leaving me stunned and shaken.

She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t have to. I felt everything, each emotion more potent than any word she could utter. All I could do was hold on and return the kiss that was drowning me. That was wreaking havoc on my senses. That filled up my heart so completely I thought it would burst.

I had no idea that it could be like this. That I could share a connection with someone so deeply that our emotions were one and the same.

Wewereone. One being. One heart. One soul.

What she felt in this moment, I felt as well. I didn’t have the courage to tell her before. To evenfaceit. But I did now. I opened up the floodgates of our bond and sent back a deluge of my own emotions. I didn’t even have a name for them all, but I made sure she felt every single one. Everything I’d been feeling from the moment I’d seen her dangling from that silver hoop above the dance floor.

As salt from her tears slid onto my tongue, I cupped her face andgently wiped them away. A sob caught in her throat, but she didn’t pull away. The kiss slowed, each press of our lips a soft caress. We’d stopped dancing, but our emotions continued to dance around each other. Twirling and swaying, coming together again and again until I couldn’t tell them apart.

Her emotions were mine, and mine were hers.

They were one, our hearts and minds wholly in sync.

This was magic. Perfection.Right.

Needing to voice out loud what I felt in every fiber of my being, I broke the kiss to breathe, “I’m in love with you.”

Several gasps filtered around us, but I paid them no heed. Neither did she.

The most beautiful, radiant smile bloomed on her lips, and she whispered back, “I’m in love with you too.”

My heart swelled, and I thought for sure it would explode. I kissed her again, our masks shifting as I rested my forehead against hers. Still trying to catch my breath, I said in hushed tones, “I want you to marry me.”

She huffed a quiet laugh. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

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