Page 135 of All Too Well
I didn’t know it was possible for a heart to shatter, but here it is. Breaking off into tiny shards, cutting the inside of my chest open.
“I promise I’ll wake up early tomorrow and we can make pancakes and a surprise for your daddy,” I tell her.
She bobs her head and then walks off toward her room. Lachlan calls after her. “We’ll come in to say good night in a few minutes.”
“That was hard,” I admit.
“You did great. She isn’t wailing, so that’s something.” He pulls me close, kissing my nose. “I think I’ll be a bigger baby tonight and tomorrow.”
I wrap my arms around his middle. “You will, huh?”
“Probably.”
“You’ll miss me that much?”
“More than I’ll care to admit.”
I smile at that and nip his chin. “I’ll have to be extra nice tonight, then, so you’ll be a sobbing mess thinking about how much you wish I was still in your bed.”
Not that I won’t be sobbing every night I’m away from him, but hopefully we can talk and find a way around this.
He kisses me softly and then heads to Rose’s room, and I start to form a plan on how to make this work.
We walk hand in hand down to the falls. Hazel came over at my request, and there was sadness in her eyes when I explained I had to leave tomorrow.
I’m going to miss this place. I’m going to miss the people—and most of all Lachlan.
When we reach the water, he turns to me, his lipsfinding mine almost immediately. There’s a hunger, passion, and urgency that steals my breath. After one of the most frantic kisses I’ve ever had, he pulls me close, resting his forehead against mine. “Give me tonight, Ainsley. Don’t try to find a way or get in your head, just give me tonight. Please.”
“I’d give you forever.”
His mouth is on mine in a heartbeat. I lean back, tilting my head to allow him better entry. He kisses me deeply, pouring all his emotions into this moment. Lachlan’s hand moves to my back, guiding me down to the blanket laid out at our feet.
I use all my strength to shut my thoughts off. I want tonight to be all about us and this moment, because I don’t know whether I’ll ever find a love like this again. So I’ll give him tonight and pray that when I get in that car tomorrow, I still have a heart left to mend.
His mouth moves with mine languidly and ardently. All I want is more. I want aggression and roughness, because the tenderness is breaking me. I want to forget the fact that tomorrow I’ll drive away. I need to get lost in him, in us, in this moment.
His lips leave mine as he kisses from my neck to my collarbone. “I want you more than the air I breathe.” Lachlan pulls my shirt over my head, bringing his lips to my shoulder. “I’m going to memorize every inch of you so I can recall you anytime I need you.”
“You don’t have to remember. I’d come to you if you needed me.”
Lachlan turns me to him, cups my cheeks, and waits for me to look at him. “I need you, Ainsley. I need you to give me all of you tonight and don’t think about tomorrow.”
My heart pounds. “You have me. You’ve always had me.”
He pushes my pants down and I kick them off.
“God, you take my breath away,” he says as he tears off his shirt.
“Let me,” I say, moving toward him.
My fingers go to the button on his jeans,undoing it. Our eyes stay on each other as I move the zipper down, feeling like I’m exposing myself more than him in this moment.
I love him.
Slide.
I need him.
