Page 118 of Forever Flames: Padraig & Stevie
She squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath. Looks back at me. “Call it fate. Or maybe a sign. Something deep inside told me the gallery was where I was supposed to be.”
Her words sit and I feel it too. We’ve both lived through hell and somehow ended up sitting here, ready to hear the other out.Looking at her, the years and the lives we lived without each other don’t feel like they’re in the way.
This thing between us is so familiar my chest aches.
“I’m glad you’re doing something you love again.” I can’t bear to misread the situation so I try to navigate to safer topics. “You found your passion when you discovered event planning. You always could see every moving piece before anyone else did.”
Her mouth curves. “I missed it. If I’m honest, I need to create stability for the kids. They need to see I’m steady and hard-working, even when I feel like an imposter.”
“You’ve always been steady, Stevie.” I swallow hard.
Her gaze drops to her hands. “Maybe. But sometimes…steady gets lonely.”
The words sink deep. I’m not imagining what’s happening here.
God, I want to tell her she doesn’t have to be lonely. I’ve been waiting for her since the moment she left.
Instead, I watch her lift her mug, eyes flicking to mine over the rim.
Everything we were, everything we lost is all laid bare.
“You’ve got the kids covered tonight?” I finally ask.
A slow nod. “Like I said. They’re with my mom. Overnight.”
“Rafferty’s at Mara’s.” My voice is rougher than I intend. “So… yeah.”
Her lips part slightly, and the look in her eyes pulls the air from the room. “This is complicated.”
“Fuck.” I bury my face in my hands. “Is it wrong to want you so badly?”
For a moment, we breathe the same charged air.
Then she leans forward, elbows on the table, closing the space between us inch by inch. “No. It’s the most natural thing in the world.” There’s a tremor in her voice, but her eyes are sure. “I want you to come over.”
Hearing the words from her mouth hits like the lyrics of a song I’ve been waiting years to write.
I’m not going to second-guess.
This might be my only shot.
“Lead the way.”
thirty-four
Stevie
Present Day
Thesecondthedoorswings open, it’s all heat and motion.
Padraig’s mouth on mine, his hands on my body like he’s been waiting a lifetime, and maybe he has. I don’t even remember letting him in, only the jolt when my back hits the door and his body presses me into it.
My dress is bunched around my hips before I can blink. He’s already inside me, raw, deep, the stretch pulling a cry from my throat before I can stop it. I cling to his shoulders, nails digging in, not to hurt but to hold on. Every thrust drives out the air in my lungs and drags a guttural sound from deep in my chest.
I’ve forced this fantasy out of my mind more times than I can count. Out of loyalty to Cooper. Out of sheer survival.
In this moment with his cock back where it belongs. Nothing comes close to the way we fit.
