Page 38 of My Bodyguard Neighbor
"That this is real.That it's not just adrenaline and trauma bonding."Holly tugged at his shirt."Make love to me.Not because we might die tomorrow.Just because you want to."
Jonah's hands cupped her face, his thumbs tracing her cheekbones."I want to.God, Holly, I want to."
He kissed her again, slower this time.Tender.Holly melted into it, letting herself feel everything she'd been holding back.The fear, the relief and the bone-deep exhaustion that came from two weeks of running.
They undressed each other slowly.No urgency.No desperation.Just the quiet intimacy of two people learning each other's bodies.Jonah's scars.Holly's freckles.The way they fit together like puzzle pieces that had been waiting to find each other.
When Jonah entered her, Holly gasped at the fullness.The rightness.He moved slowly, his gaze locked on hers.This wasn't about survival.This was about choice.
She was choosing him.
"I love you," Jonah said, his voice raw with emotion."Whatever happens next, I love you."
"I love you too."Holly arched into him, taking him deeper."And I'm scared and tired and I don't know what comes next.But I know I want you in it."
They moved together, slow and sweet and achingly tender.When Holly came, it wasn't explosive.It was gentle.A wave that washed through her and left her feeling clean.Whole.
Jonah followed soon after, burying his face in her neck as he filled her.They stayed like that for a long moment, neither wanting to break the connection.
Finally, Jonah rolled to the side, pulling Holly against his chest.She traced patterns on his skin, mapping the scars that told the story of his life before her.
"What do we do now?"she asked.
"Now we go home.You paint.I figure out my next move.We have dinner sometimes.Go to movies.Do normal couple things."
"And if it doesn't work?If we realize this was just crisis bringing us together?"
Jonah pressed a kiss to the top of her head."Then at least we'll know.But I don't think that's going to happen."
They fell asleep tangled together, and for the first time in two weeks, Holly didn't dream of Russian accents and broken door frames.She dreamed of turquoise paint and coffee in the morning and a man who looked at her like she was worth choosing.
When she woke, sunlight was streaming through the curtains.Jonah was already up, packing their few belongings.He looked over when he heard her stir, and the smile on his face was open and genuine.
"Ready to go home?"he asked.
Holly stretched, feeling muscles protest."Ready."
They drove back to the city in Jonah's truck, windows down, morning air rushing past.Holly watched the landscape change from rural to suburban to urban, feeling like she was traveling back to herself.To the life she'd built before everything went sideways.
But different now.Changed.
When they pulled up to their building, Holly stared at the familiar facade.A few days.That's all it had been.But the person who'd lived here before felt like a stranger.
"You okay?"Jonah asked.
"Yeah.Just weird to be back."
They carried their bags inside, taking the elevator up to their floor in silence.When they reached Holly's door, she turned to Jonah.
"Do you want to come in?"
"Do you want me to?"
Holly considered.Part of her wanted to cling to him, to not let him out of her sight.But the other part, the part that had spent three years learning to be alone, knew she needed space.Needed to remember who she was outside of the crisis.
"Not tonight," she said."I think I need to be alone for a bit.Process everything."
Disappointment flickered across Jonah's face before he smoothed it away."I understand."
