She looks ruined in the best way. She looks like she’s fucking mine.

I whisper it again into the curve of her jaw. "Mine."

And yet, it still doesn't feel like enough.

I press soft kisses to her cheeks, her shoulder, the shell of her ear.

“You were perfect,” I whisper. “I didn’t know I could feel so many things all at once.”

She hums, threading her fingers through my hair.

“I used to dream about this,” she murmurs.

I pull back slightly, my forehead resting against hers.

“Yeah?”

She nods. “Used to lie in bed and pretend your arms were around me. That one day you’d come back and do exactly this.”

I exhale, the breath shaky. “You never have to be alone again. Neither of us do.”

Finally, I lift my head and look down at her.

“You okay?” I whisper, stroking her cheek.

She nods, eyes dazed and dreamy.

Her gaze falls to my wrist and the bracelet she gave me just before I left.

She smiles and runs her fingers over it, but doesn’t say anything. She knows I’ve kept her with me and that will never change.

“I love you in ways I don’t think either of us will ever understand,” I say.

She blinks up at me, then whispers, “You’ve always been my person.”

She draws in a shaky breath, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight. “I love you, Riven. I’ve always loved you. Even when I felt lost without you. Even when I tried to forget. You were still the only thing I wanted.”

My heart slams in my chest. For a moment, I can’t speak. I just stare at her like I’m seeing her for the first time. She’s vulnerable, open, completely mine.

“Say it again,” I whisper, voice raw. I need to get her off the cold ground and in the warm cabin, but I can’t force myself to do it. I need just a few more minutes of this.

She smiles and then threads her fingers into my hair. “I love you, Riven.”

Her hand moves gently, combing through the strands like she’s memorizing the feel of me. Like she knows what it does to me when she touches me so gently.

I close my eyes and lean into her touch, letting myself sink into her voice, her body, her everything.

“I need you to say it a thousand more times,” I breathe, and I know she thinks I’m kidding, but I’m not. I need this. I need her. “And then a thousand after that.”

I kiss her again, slow and sweet, before begrudgingly pulling out of her heat. I push my half-hard dick inside my pants and zip them up so I’m not tempted to go for round two.