I thrust into her again, maintaining a slow pace. By the way she’s squirming underneath me, I can sense her want for more but instead of going harder, I lift one of her legs and hook it over my shoulder. The new position allows me deeper inside her.

“Yes, d-don’t stop,” she rasps.

“Eyes on me, baby.You’re so pretty when you fall apart.”

The gold flecks in her eyes sparkle with the distant flicker of candlelight through the ensuite door. She holds my gaze as her body shatters with pleasure. It’s the most mesmerising thing to watch. Her body coaxes my own orgasm from me and I fall to pieces alongside her.

I lay down, dragging her with me and into my arms. I can feel her mind ticking over. Instead of pushing her to talk, I hold her tighter.

She traces the flowers that cover the left half of my chest when she speaks, “Do any of these have meaning?”

“Each and everyone of them,” I murmur. I wonder if she will ask about them. What each of them means. We would be here for a while, but I would tell her. We have forever, after all.

Kinsley responds with a ‘hmm’ and I kiss the top of her head.

“I’ll go and run this bath for us, okay?”

She nods; her cheeks rosy and a smile on her lips.

Looking back over my shoulder, as I walk towards the ensuite I see her propped up onto her elbows watching me, I give her a little wink and disappear into the next room.

Kinsley

Tanner holds out his hand, steadying me as I step into the huge bathtub. Why haven’t I taken advantage of this tub before? The water rises as I lower myself in, the bubbles coming up to sit just below my collarbone. I look around, taking in his space. It’s elegant, yet masculine; I wonder if he designed it himself?

“Something on your mind again, Pip?”

I let my eyes follow the phoenix which has its wings spread down the left side of his neck to the blooming baby’s breath covering half his chest. They all blend together so beautifully, almost as though the bird is rising up,out of the flowers.

“The flowers,” I ask, moving myself forwards so I’m kneeling between his legs. “Why baby’s breath?”

He shrugs. “It symbolises hope, new beginnings, and everlasting love.”

“And the phoenix symbolises a rebirth, rising from the ashes?”

“Rising from the flowers.” His lips curve into a cheeky grin.

“Choosing to stay mysterious now, are we?”

“I’ve got to keep you around one way or another, can’t give away all my secrets in one go.”