Emily was still looking at me, and I wondered if she too was having a hard time closing her eyes, needing instead to witness every second of this long-awaited moment. Keep your eyes open, my heart whispered. You’ve missed far too much already. “God you’re stunning, Em.” I wanted her to know that, to feel it. To understand that to me, there was no one more beautiful than her. There never had been. That truth had haunted me, even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself. But now it brought nothing but joy.

Her smile melted into a sigh as I lowered my face and licked at her nipple. I worshipped her breasts for long minutes as her pants grew louder and her hips came up off the bed, her core seeking mine. She ran her hands through my hair, her short nails scoring along my scalp.

“And you light me on fire,” I grated. Sometimes my instinct was to draw away from the burn, but fuck I craved it too. I was hot and throbbing again, desperate to feel her clasped around me, to make her mine. Finally.

That fate again, pulling, driving my need.

This—us—could only be destiny. It felt so damn right. A certainty, but also a return of some sort, a rewind that I’d never imagined was possible. How many times had I wished I could go back to those bright, beautiful days with her when life made perfect sense? It felt like I’d somehow miraculously managed to do that, even if this was the future, not the past, an astonishing paradox of time.

Our eyes met and held, expressions becoming serious as if we both suddenly sensed the intense gravity of this moment. I knew I did. And though the paradox was miraculous, it was also startling. And scary too because it demanded a surrender, and lowering my guard had never been a strong suit of mine. I felt a strange tumbling, a reeling inside as though I’d both snapped back into place and found myself in a distant land. I let out a breath and gripped her, her eyes softening as she gripped me back. The next kiss was slow and long, our mouths and tongues exploring leisurely even as my blood pumped swiftly and my heart quickened. I needed it, the pause, the anchor that was her mouth and her hands and the soft press of her skin. Needed to come to terms with this dreamlike reality after weeks of fear and hardship where hypervigilance was a necessity. Relearning how to sink into a moment and get lost in this newfound pleasure.

She met my eyes again, searching them before she smiled and flipped me over. I laughed with shocked surprise before she leaned up, a wicked smile tilting her lips. She took my hands and held them over my head. “Say uncle,” she said.