Page 45 of A Single Soul

And then his mouth was on mine again, and I held him to me, dizzy with… everything. Shock. Disbelief.

The deepest, most profound sense of relief I’d ever known.

I was breathless when I touched my forehead to his. “I love you, Cory. God, I… I have been in love with you for so long, I can’t remember when I didn’t.”

“Me too,” he whispered. “I don’t know what it’s like to not be in love with you.”

My knees almost shook out from under me. “I’m so stupid.”

“Yeah, well.” He laughed. “So am I, apparently.”

I managed a laugh, too, which felt damn good after the last however many hours.

“And for the record,” he murmured, “everything you said about not being good enough for me?”

I drew back to meet his gaze. “Yeah?”

Cory ran his thumb along my bottom lip, and when he looked in my eyes, his were on fire. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”

The laugh that poured out of me felt amazing, but not nearly as amazing as Cory pulling me back in for another heart-stopping, all-consuming kiss.

Somehow it seemed apropos now that an angel and a demon had been involved in shoving our dumb asses together. We were both so damn oblivious, it really had taken some trickster magic and maybe some actual divine intervention to get us to see what was right in front of us.

And not a moment too soon, either.

He was breathing hard when he pulled back, and his eyes smoldered even hotter than before. “Any chance you want to pick up where we left off last night?”

Oh. Hell.

I licked my lips. Then I grinned.

And I was pretty sure he got the message.

Chapter 15

Cory

It was surreal to land in this bed with Matt again. Sinking onto the mattress with his amazing, naked body over mine was like coming home, like redemption, and like making love in a warzone—all at the same time. Last night hadn’t even been that dramatic. There hadn’t been a big battle or a screaming match. No one had said anything they couldn’t take back. We’d both just made assumptions about each other, and when our emotions had slammed us both in the face, neither of us had known what to do, and we’d crashed and burned.

Now, after some of the longest hours I’d ever endured, we were back here. Matt was holding me like a life preserver, kissing me like he’d never tasted me before, and I was overcome with this profound feeling of being exactly where I needed to be. In his arms. In this bed. In this fledgling relationship that had been trying to get off the ground all this time.

Last night, I’d felt stupid for being that crushed after he’d—I thought—rejected me, but now I understood why it had been so hard to take. I’d had the briefest taste of being loved by Matt, and then I’d thought it had just been sex for him. Of course I’d been crushed.

And now…

God, it really had been love, and the taste I’d had last night was nothing compared to right now. Because right now, I knew. He’d said the words, and somehow I hadn’t broken down crying, and I’d managed to say the same to him.

I loved him. He loved me.

This man who could’ve had anyone else he wanted… Who’d turned more heads than he’d realized at the club last night… Who should’ve had men knocking down his door for their shot with him…

He lovedme.

Kissing and touching him now with our feelings out on the table was like nothing I’d ever experienced. It was fireworks, and it was the quiet calm of being home. Like this was the most spectacular moment of my life, but I was also settling into a place I belonged.

If I got through this without crying, it would be a genuine miracle.

And somehow, as I carded my fingers through Matt’s hair and kissed him hungrily, I knew without a doubt that if I did break down, he’d just hold me and love me. He might even cry too.

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