Page 112 of Forever After All

His lips hovered just above hers. The heart in her chest would burst if he moved even an inch.

“Linc?” she breathed softly.

He pressed his mouth gently against hers. She gasped as he moved painstakingly slow, drinking her in, whispering silent promises.

It was only a second before she came to life, strengthening her hold on him. She tried to hold the slow pace, but his hand tightened in her hair, urging her to follow his every deliberate movement.

She was weightless, flying. Breathless and dying.

He pulled back, gasping for air. She did the same, blinking through the haze in her thoughts. There was nothing there except Linc.

She looked up at him and saw a mirror of the shock running through her own veins. His mouth hung open slightly, and he stared down at her, blinking slowly.

She knew this feeling. It was like she’d been sucker punched and couldn’t catch her breath.

Linc was a force stronger than anything she’d ever been hit with.

His gaze dropped to her lips, and oh how that one little tell lit up her insides.

“Linc?” she asked.

He swallowed hard before giving her a quick, “Yeah.”

“That was… Is it always like that?” she asked, unsure of her words.

Linc shook his head, keeping his gaze locked on hers.

Is every kiss life-altering?

Is it ever like two magnets clicking into place?

Is it something that could cause cardiac arrest?

“No. That was different,” he said.

She followed the trail of her hand as it moved along his wet shirt and up his chest. The cold rain seeped into her clothes, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. It was insignificant when Linc was holding her so close. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Welcome to my world,” he said as he brushed his fingertips over her brow and back into her hair.

Complete. That was the word that kept pushing to the front of her thoughts.

“I know your first kiss meant a lot to you, but it was just as special to me. I want you to know that.”

She nodded. “I do. I can…I can feel it. It’s like seeing color in a world that has always been black and white.”

Linc looked down at her, letting out a slow breath. “I want this. I want us. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, but I didn’t think I deserved you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he kept talking.

“I’ve been stuck in the past with my mistakes, but I don’t have that hanging over me anymore. Whether I deserve you or not, I want to try. And I promise to do everything I can to be good enough for you.”

She’d tried the dating thing, and while she knew those men weren’t right for her, she was sure Linc was different.

“Are you sure I’m the one you want?” she asked.

“I’m sure I want you to be the woman for me. If you don’t think so too, then it doesn’t matter what I think.”

Jess huffed out a quick breath. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

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