Page 62 of The Soulmate Theory

He reared back, and I felt painfully empty as he pulled out of me. Shivering as his body became absent from mine. He sat up, peeling the condom off and disposing of it in the trash next to his bed, before he laid down next to me, tucking his arm underneath my neck. I rolled sideways, draping my leg over his thigh. “Stay with me tonight.”

He said it like a statement, not a question. But I answered, “Yes.”

He looked at me, hazel eyes gleaming in the night. “You are perfect, Penelope.” He brought his lips to my temple, kissing it softly. One arm splayed across my stomach, drawing circles around it. “So perfect. Ko’u mahina.”

“What does that mean?”

He smiled against my skin. “My moon.”

My heart leaped.

“Your mom calls you her ray of sunshine,” I responded.

“Kukuna o ka la.” The words dripped like honey from his mouth. “But you, Pep. You are the moon. The stars.”

“How do you say stars in Hawaiian?”

He snorted. “I can’t remember.”

I chuckled as I flipped over more so that I was laying on top of him. His leg in between both of mine, my arms across his chest. I kissed his nose. “I love you,” I said. “How do you say that in Hawaiian?”

“Aloha au ia 'oe,” he whispered into the darkness.

Chapter Twenty Two

Carter

MADNESS.UTTERMADNESS.

The only word capable of describing how it felt to have her. Hold her. Openly love her.

It was an all-consuming, all-encompassing, breath-stealing type of feeling. It was as if I dissolved into her, forged my body and my heart with hers until only our souls were left. She destroyed me. Salvaged me. Ruptured me, and then healed me again.

There would be no recovery from her. She’d infect me for the rest of my life.

For the rest of time.

I’d told her as much Saturday night, long after I’d taken her for the first time. We’d talked deep into the night about everything. About the world. The stars. The moon and sun. How we fit into all of it. Then, that talking turned into so much more. Only when we were spent entirely and on the cusp of sleep did I tell her some ideation of the words I wasn’t even ready to echo inside my own mind, let alone say out loud. That our connection was out of this world.

A connection outside of time and space, created by eternity itself.

She only sighed a simple,yes, before drifting into unconsciousness. I woke Sunday morning with her hand on my cock, followed soon after by her mouth. We didn’t leave the pool house all day, fucking each other on nearly every durable surface. We’d only made it to her house in the afternoon to get enough items to last her through the night again.

By Sunday night, the roaring in our blood finally simmered enough that we were capable of lying next to each other without having me inside her. We talked about nothing and everything. She’d trace the lines of my tattoo and I’d play with her hair. Or we’d hold our hands together and she’d rub her fingers across my knuckles. Or her thumb against my lip. Or her hands in my hair. Never not touching each other, we talked until we both drifted to sleep.

I woke up much earlier than I should have, more interested in watching her than sleeping myself, only realizing how early it was when my alarm began to sound. She groaned and stuck her head beneath her pillow, draping her arms over top of it.

I chuckled, inching the sheets down her bare back and drawing circles down it. She shivered beneath my touch, her groans becoming whimpers. I was tempted to place my mouth there, to move it lower. But with less than an hour before we had to leave for work, I scrambled for any semblance of self-control. I knew if I started kissing her back, if my hands moved below her waist, we surely wouldn’t make it on time.

She must’ve felt the same because she arched her back and grabbed the blankets, yanking them back over her before pulling her head out from the pillow. She turned to look at me, her expression sleepy and irritated. “You can’t touch me right now or I won’t make it to work today,” she said, parroting the thoughts in my mind.

“Ditto.”

She smirked at me as she slowly sat up in bed, stretching and yawning. As her arms came over her head, the sheet fell down her chest, pooling at her hips. That self-control I’d been building was quickly dissolving, along with my sanity. I hopped out of bed and grabbed a t-shirt off the ground, throwing it at her. “Please put this on before I lose my goddamn mind.”

We got ready for work together, moving around each other effortlessly, even in my studio space. We’d decided to carpool this morning, since Penelope had told her parents she was staying the night at Macie’s and it wouldn’t make sense for her to go home to get her car anyway. I thought she was overthinking things– keeping us a secret. But I wasn’t about to argue with her about it either.

After we were both dressed and ready, I peeked my head out and scanned the windows of my parents’ house to ensure all the blinds and curtains were still closed. I stepped out and motioned her to follow me. Our dads already left for work, and our sisters wouldn’t leave for school for another hour. So long as we weren’t spotted by Marlena or Jenna, we’d be in the clear.

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