Page 132 of Point of No Return

His hand travels lower, tracing the tattoos down my arm until he reaches my hand. And I don’t realize he’s sliding a ring over my finger until I glance down and see the familiar golden band.

My wedding ring.

My eyes shoot up to his, and in them, I see the answer to the question I wrote in my letter.And he doesn’t have to say the words for me to see them in his eyes:I love you and I forgive you.

I hug him before I can stop myself. His arms wrap around me, and I bury my face in his neck, inhaling his earthy scent.

“Charlotte, you’ve gone soft on me!” I hear Aleks tease from behind us, and I laugh.

“I will still fucking deck you, Aleks!” I call over my shoulder but my attention remains on Skar. Warmth floods through me, and my head falls to his. “I love you.” My voice is a whisper. “And I’m sorry I didn’t say it before-”

“I’m going to want to hear that for the rest of our lives, you know that?” His thumb brushes back the curl that has fallen into my eyes.

“Don’t be cheesy,” I chide quietly, kissing him as I smile. “It doesn’t suit you.”

He hums into the kiss, his hands finding my hips and pulling me into him. “You’re right. All I have to do is touch you… get you panting and begging for me and then you’ll say it again.”

My body flushes at his words, the image making me hot all over. “Bastard,” I curse him, but god knows it’s the truth.

Despite sleeping together all week, he’s kept his hands to himself. No matter how much I’ve teased him. No matter how much I’ve begged. We both know I’m in too much pain to have sex.

“Don’t think I told you I like your hair like this,” he mutters against my nape. His fingers comb through the strands, admiring the new cut that comes to mid-neck.

Then that damn dimple appears, and I know I’m a goner.

I refuse to give him the satisfaction of showing him my blush, so I turn, resting my weight against him as Aleks comes limping back. He yanks out a chair and sits behind us as Skar reaches for his coffee.

Things are quiet, soft, peaceful for a while. My mind doesn’t race with thoughts of what’s to come. I don’t worry about my father and where he might be now. I don’t worry about all the things that wait for us when we get back to Viserion. I don’t worry about Liv and trying to get a text back despite leaving without saying goodbye.

Things aren’t perfect. They just… are. And painfully, it hits me that this is all I’ve ever wanted for myself.Family. Belonging. Time.

Dreams were always mine to have. It was just a matter of taking them.

The End

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