Page 120 of The Muse

“I’m not going anywhere.”

He settled against me. “I love you, Cole. I love you more than I can ever say. But I’ll try. I’ll try every day, to make sure you know…”

“I know, Ambri. I feel it. And I love you. So much.” My voice grew thick. “Forever and always.”

thirty-four

The night’s shadows had stretched and grown long, then faded away with the coming light. I’d remained in his hospital bed, awake and watching. Standing guard.

It took longer than expected, but by late that afternoon, he was discharged. I’d reluctantly run home to fetch him a pair of plaid flannel pants and my bulky NYU sweatshirt. Ambri put on the clothing and scowled at my laughter.

“What’s so bloody funny?

“I’ve seen you in nothing but three-piece suits for months. You are so damn cute right now, I can’t handle it.”

“I’m so glad this is amusing to you. I look like a pile of laundry.” He heaved a dramatic sigh. “I suppose I lost everything in the fire. We’ll go shopping at once and then see about new accommodations.”

“Yeah, about that. Your flat wasn’t the only thing that was wiped out yesterday.”

I explained to him that we were in November of the previous year, and that my fame and fortune had never happened.

“A police officer told me your Chelsea building had been condemned and vacant for years.”

Ambri put his hands on his slender hips. “That’s a pisser. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“You’d just woken up in the CCU. I didn’t want to stress you out. But I think, maybe, the slate’s been wiped clean. For both of us.”

Ambri nodded. “Perhaps. Perhaps, there’s a price to pay for a second chance. I turned to the darkness, and I had to pay my dues to get out.”

I nodded, hoping that was true. That he had nothing left to pay.

He’s suffered enough.

The light was growing dim by the time we arrived back at my little flat in Whitechapel. It seemed even shabbier and danker than before.

Ambri glanced around. “Not quite the Four Seasons, but it will do.”

“Will it?” I asked and rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s not much. And I get what you were saying yesterday. I don’t have anything anymore. It’s just…me.”

“You, who would have followed me into hell.” Ambri moved to me, and his eyes were dark and dilated. “Cole…”

I could only nod because words failed me too. He was here. We were together, and now it seemed that the only thing left to do was prove it to each other.

Ambri’s hands slipped around my shoulders. I pulled his hips to mine, and his lips parted in a gasp. His tongue flicked out to taste me, and I lost any semblance of control. I crushed my mouth to his, devouring him, invading and tasting him, knowing I’d never be satiated.

He kissed me back with equal fervor, drawing me in with the delicious sucking pull of his mouth. Our clothes melted away, and we stood chest to chest, naked, our hands roaming, both of our erections straining for the other.

“You just got out of the hospital,” I said. “Don’t you need to rest?”

“Do youwantme to rest?”

“Good point.”

We climbed into bed, bundled into the blankets, then reached for each other again.

“What do you want?” I asked between breathless kisses.

“I want you, Cole. I want to feel you around me and inside me, so I know that this is real.”

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