Page 95 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Talk to me," he said. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. I..."

"Sadie." He lowered his eyebrows slightly. "Talk to me. Please. Let me in."

I wanted to. I wanted to be able to tell him everything. He deserved that. "I don't want to talk," I said instead. I wanted to show him how I felt. I tilted my hips slightly so I'd rub against his erection. He said he wanted to go slow, but he was rock hard. He wanted this too.

"Fuck." He grabbed both sides of my face, but didn't pull away from me. "I told you that you weren't like other girls. This isn't about sex for me. Please tell me why you're crying. Please talk to me. I care about you." He wiped my tears away with his thumbs again.

Before I could stop myself, I said the one thing I could say without telling him the whole truth. "I'm in love with you, Miles. I've been in love with you ever since I met you. And no matter how hard I try, I can't stay away from you. It's like I'm magnetized to you." I realized I was holding a fistful of his shirt, keeping him in place. A part of me was terrified that he was going to run away. I needed him to stay for just a few minutes so that I could keep breathing. "It's like you said. It's easier to breathe when we're together."

"Sadie..."

"It's okay." I felt my heart sinking. I quickly shook my head. I didn't really expect him to say it back. He had already told me he still loved Summer Brooks. He didn't know it was me. He couldn't know. But I wanted to know what it felt like to be loved. I couldn't remember. I wanted to remember before I died. "You don't have to say it back. I just...that's why I was crying. Because my feelings for you are all consuming. And for one night I just want to know what it feels like to be loved back. Maybe you could pretend that it's you and me written in the stars? For just one night?"

"Haven't you been listening to me?" He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't need to pretend with you, Sadie Davis."

I imagined him saying Summer Brooks as I breathed in his exhales.

"I've never pretended with you," he said against my lips.

"Then show me what it feels like to be alive." I grabbed the back of his head and kissed him again. My whole world was suddenly in color once more. I clung to him because I needed him to remind me what it felt like to love. To live. To remember a time when we made sense. When I was in his arms, I was complete. There was no ticking clock. There was no sense of doom. I was at peace. Screw what anyone else thought. True love did exist. This was our own twisted love story. And I wasn't going to let it end before discovering everything it could have been.

I swore I heard him groan when my hands wandered beneath his shirt, exploring his chiseled abs. And I know I moaned when his palms slid against my skin, pushing my shirt up. I tilted my head back as he kissed the side of my neck. This was how it was always meant to be. Him and me beneath the stars.

He pushed my shirt up past my ribs and I lifted my arms in the air as he slowly peeled the fabric away. He made short work of my bra too. I knew he was experienced. But to me, it almost felt like he knew we were running out of time too. And that this was our last chance to be together.

"God you're beautiful." He grabbed my ass and lifted my legs around his waist. I breathed in his familiar scent. The only smell in the world that made me feel content. I let the smell consume me as he lowered me onto the cold roof of the building.

"We can go back to my room if..."

"No." I grabbed both sides of his face. "I've never been so close to touching the sky."

He didn't tell me I was crazy. He didn't say he didn't know how to fly. Instead, he leaned down and kissed the inside of my ankle.

God.

He left a trail of soft kisses up the inside of shin and thigh. And then he moved to my other ankle and made his torturous ascent.

"Miles," I panted, catching both sides of his face when he reached the top of my thigh. His eyes landed on my breasts.

My chest rose and fell because of him. I didn't have to say that. He felt it too, right? He had to. It had always been us. His fingers slowly unzipped my jean shorts. I lifted my hips so he could lower my shorts and thong down my thighs. Slowly. So fucking slowly.

"Miles, please."

He placed his hands on the insides of my thighs, slowly spreading them apart. His thumbs traced gentle circles at the apex of my thighs. "I feel like I've been waiting to taste you my whole life."

I knew what he meant. He just didn't realize how true what he said was. I closed my eyes when he thrust his tongue deep inside of me. And I saw the stars brighter than I ever did with my eyes open. He devoured me like he was starving. Like I was the only thing that could possibly sustain him. Maybe I was. Because he certainly was the only thing that could sustain me.

My hips rose to meet him, but he pushed me back down with his strong hands, holding me in place. He rubbed his nose against my clit and the most perfect feeling overcame me.

"Miles!" My eyes fluttered open and I stared at the stars as I shattered into a million pieces. I squinted and saw Sagitta. I saw our constellation. And I knew what it was like to fly. I knew what it was like for my body to be worshipped. I knew what it was like to be truly loved. If I died right now, I'd die happy.

But then my eyes met his. And just from his gaze I knew it was going to get even better. I watched him wipe his mouth with the back of his hand as he knelt before me. He grabbed his t-shirt by the na

pe of its collar and started to pull it off over his head.

He had the body of soccer player. Lean, toned muscles. Skin tanned from the sun. When he removed his shirt completely, I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. There it was. The tattoo that Kins so desperately wanted to see. The one that couldn't be seen in any of his pictures. But it wasn't for her or for anyone else's eyes. I reached out and ran my index finger along the small arrow tattooed on his left peck. Sagitta. It was for me. Because he wanted me close to his heart. Just like I had worn my pendant close to my heart all these years. We belonged next to each other's heartbeats.

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