Page 29 of Eternally London

“Thank you,” I answer, feeling suddenly lighter than I did only moments ago.

“I have stuff planned for you.” He shoots me a sexy smirk.

“You do?”

“Yes. Paige will be here shortly.”

“Really?” I shriek.

Loïc laughs. “Yes, really. And I’ve made some spa appointments for the two of you. You have a day of pampering ahead of you.”

I giggle, genuinely happy. I place a succession of quick kisses on Loïc’s lips. “Thank you so much. I’m due for a spa date and girl time.”

“I know you are.” He chuckles.

I let out a content sigh. “I’m going to feel like a new person.”

“That’s the plan.”

I bring my palm to Loïc’s cheek and cup his face. “How did I get so lucky?”

“I ask myself that every day.”

Dropping my hand, I playfully smack his chest. “Hey!”

Loïc’s smile widens. “I meant, how did I get so lucky to get you?”

“Mmhmm.” I press my lips together in a smirk. “Good comeback.”

Loïc’s face goes serious. “I love you more than anything in this world, London Berkeley.”

My heart swells. “And I love you the same, Loïc Berkeley.”

Loïc’s lips find mine, kissing and pulling gently. He takes the kiss deeper. His tongue enters, entwining with mine. An involuntary groan escapes me, and I can feel Loïc harden against my pelvis. I push my hips up against him, needing to feel him.

Our tongues dance together. The kiss, it’s simply magical, as if we’ve been preparing for this kiss our entire lives. My heart pounds within my chest where so much pent-up desire resides.

God, I’ve missed this.

Loïc and I have sex regularly, trying desperately to conceive. But I can’t remember the last time we made love. My soul longs for that intimacy again. I yearn for the connection that can only be found through Loïc.

“Oh, London!” Loïc cries out when he enters me, his voice almost pained.

I moan in response, my breaths equally as heavy as Loïc’s. The sensations are so good that I can’t formulate words. I feel everything though. For the first time in a long time, Ifeel, and it leaves me breathless.

There’s nothing in the world that could top the emotions that Loïc alone can bring me. He’s my utopia in a world of uncertainty. He’s my other half, completing me in a way that I can barely find the words for. In the dictionary of my life, when I look up the wordsoul mate, Loïc is the sole definition.

Somehow, he brought me back to myself—even if just for a while—and that’s the greatest gift he could have given me today. This, right here, is about us—connecting, making love.

Just us.

I don’t want to hear it, and I try to block it out. Yet…it chants just the same,Maybe this time, it’ll take.And, just like that, I’m consumed with hope, and I don’t want to be.

Hope is the predecessor of despair. And I just want to be happy.

I close the car door with my pampered hands, complete with freshly painted nails. “You know”—I glare across the hood of my Jeep to Paige—“you’re being weird.”

“I am not,” Paige protests. “I don’t know where he’s taking you for dinner. He didn’t tell me everything.” She dramatically rolls her eyes.

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