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It had been almost eight months since he'd stayed at her place that night they'd returned from Lian Yu. They'd arrived back late at night and he had nowhere to go and she refused to take no as an answer. She'd given up her bed, even though he'd put up a fight, not wanting to take her place to sleep.
"You need to be in my bed," she'd insisted. "I can fit on the couch just fine...it'll be like you in the back of my mini again. Just take the bed, Oliver."
His body had betrayed him as images flashed in his head of her joining him, and them decidedly doing everything but sleeping.
He'd barely slept that night and when he'd finally been able to drift off into sleep, he dreamed of her and a life that he wasn't sure he would ever get to have - a dream of a future and her and he woke with an ache in his chest so deep that he braced a hand against his sternum as he took in deep breaths.
Now it was eight months later and he was back in her room and she was standing before him, soft smile on her lips, eyes shining - reflecting a love that had gone through the fire and come out stronger than ever.
They'd made a decision after that infamous first date to move on - his own feelings too much for him to handle. He had to figure out where he stood with himself; how much he could let himself open his heart and his mind because he knew that he'd do anything to protect her - anything. What he failed to realize was that he was seeing it as a weakness - his love for her - when in actuality it was the strongest thing he could have in his life. His love for her grounded him, encouraged him, propelled him to be a better man.
It was simply a matter of time. His love for her hadn't faded over time - it had only strengthened. Watching her with someone else made him realize how much he desperately wanted that for himself and with her. But that more than anything he wanted her happy.
So when she came to him, telling him she and Ray had parted ways, he'd been confused but a long buried hope had fluttered to life deep in his chest. It twisted with the love that had only grown for her and grew into something that was almost too big for his heart to contain. He'd never experienced a feeling quite like that - a love so strong that the hope that grew with it seeped into even his darkest fears and soothed them, overcame them.
When he'd asked her why, she'd stared up at him, eyes watering with unshed tears. She'd opened her mouth to reply and sighed, his heart hanging by a thread, arrow nocked and waiting to be released.
He had seen the moment she made her decision to change her tactic, the words not coming. Instead, she pushed up on her toes, arms fisting in the leather of his jacket and slanted her lips over his. He inhaled and all he could smell and feel and taste was her. And he was lost.
His body responded before his brain could process everything. He'd taken a step forward, an arm sliding around her waist and pulling her flush against him, his other hand cupping her cheek and sliding into her hair, angling her head to take control of the kiss.
And once again, no words were needed. He understood. It was exactly what he'd realized eight months ago and learned to live with in the days and weeks that followed.
They'd ended up here, in her room, and he almost couldn't believe it. There were days he thought he'd never be here again - not with her looking at him like this - maybe not at all.
"You need to be in my bed," she whispered, biting her bottom lip and smiling up at him coyly, fingers tripping up his chest over the thin t-shirt that separated her skin from his.
Her words ran out in the air around them an echo from another time when they stood in this room facing a new identity - a new road.
A low growl rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest, and he reached for her immediately, tired of denying everything he felt. He lifted her off her feet and carried her the three steps to her bed as she gasped, fingernails digging into his shoulders for purchase. The biting pain was a welcome sensation to his body, grounding him and focusing him as he opened the floodgates and all the emotions he’d been holding back came pouring out, washing over both of them.
Gently, he lowered her down, fingers dancing over her sides, squeezing her hip. Her chest moved up and down, her labored breaths drawing his eyes to her neck and lower, cataloging exactly where he wanted to taste. He hovered over her, knee braced against the mattress as he took in the sight of her with her blonde hair fanned out around her, eyes dilated and dark - gazing up at her with desire and love and so much more.
She lifted her hand, fingers scraping through his scruff and he turned his face into her hand, his eyes fluttering closed at her soft touch that sent tendrils of heat coiling through him, making him ache for her in every way.
When he opened his eyes, his face was inches from hers, noses brushing as she framed his face and he brought his lips to hers.
"I'm here," he breathed as he kissed her, hands trailing under her top and lifting it over her head. "I'm finally here."
"We're finally here." Her words filled the room as they filled her bed, two hearts finally full.