Page 71 of Break Me

“I thought—” Her voice breaks. “I thought I might never see you again.”

I pull back just enough to look at her. “Raven.” She lifts her eyes. “I can’t keep doing this halfway,” I say. “I can’t keep choosing distance and calling it protection. I can’t keep pretending there’s a version of this where I don’t choose you completely.”

Her breath stutters. “Sam⁠—”

I don’t think as I lower myself into the water.

The chill bites as my knee sinks into the mud. Ripples spread outward from me, small and certain.

Raven’s breath catches. Her hands lift then fall back to her sides, like she doesn’t know what to do with them.

“The cabin isn’t finished,” I say quietly. My hands fist at my side, then loosen again. I’m shaking. I don’t bother trying to hide it. “There’s no approval from your father. All I have is this place. This life. And the promise that I’ll spend every day earning your love.”

Her eyes fill with tears, but she doesn’t look away.

“What comes next isn’t clear,” I admit. “I don’t know what the cost is or who it’s going to anger, but I know this. I want to wake up with you,” I say, holding her gaze. “I want to come home to you. I want every hard thing and every quiet thing and every ordinary morning that comes after this.”

The words hang between us, bare and unguarded.

“Marry me.”

She doesn’t answer right away. She smiles instead. Soft and sure. Then, she steps closer, the water rippling softly around her as she lowers herself into the creek with me.

“I don’t need permission or guarantees,” she says, her hands come up steady where mine are not, warm and sure as they close over my shaking ones. “I just need you.”

“Yes,” she whispers. “I’ll marry you.”

I kiss her as the creek keeps moving around us and the sun climbs higher. The night loosens its grip and finally lets go.

The world, for once, doesn’t ask any more of me. And for the first time since all of this began, I believe something might survive.

Us.

Samuel

The door shuts behind us, and something in me snaps. I pull her into my arms, hard enough that she exhales against me. Her mouth finds mine, hands gripping my jacket as creek water drips to the floor from our wet clothes.

I back her up without breaking the kiss, steering by instinct more than sight, until she hits the wall. Her hands slide up my chest, fingers curling tight. I kiss her deeper, slower now, letting the urgency burn into something more demanding.

Her name leaves my mouth before I realize I’m saying it. She answers with a sound that goes straight through me. My hands move over her back and under her shirt. Her skin is cool beneath my palms.

We break apart only long enough to shed our wet clothes. Jeans hit the floor. Boots are kicked aside. Every time I have to let go, my hands find her again, her waist, her cheek, the curve of her back, like I need the reassurance that she's still here. Raven does the same, her fingertips returning to me between every movement, as though neither of us can bear the distance for more than a heartbeat.

“I can’t wait any longer.” My voice is a low growl as I press her against the wall, feeling the heat radiating between us.

“Then don’t,” she breathes, her eyes blazing with a mix of desire and challenge.

Her words send a rush of adrenaline through me. I grip her tighter, feeling her heartbeat sync with mine. Her words send a rush of adrenaline through me. I grip her tighter, feeling her heartbeat settle into the same rhythm as mine.

With one smooth motion, I lift her. Her arms slide around my neck as I guide her against me, her body fitting mine like she's always belonged there. I find her without looking, drawn by instinct more than thought, and sink into her.

The moment our bodies connect, I close my eyes, the feeling of her steals the air from my lungs. A low groan escapes before I can stop it as I hold her close, unwilling to leave even an inch between us.

She clings to me, her body moves with mine as we find our rhythm. Every movement draws us closer, every breath reminding me she's here, she's real, and she's choosing me. I bury my face against her neck, holding her a little tighter, overwhelmed by the simple, impossible relief of finally having her in my arms again.

“Fuck Raven,” I murmur against her ear. “You feel like you were made for me.”

“I was,” she whispers.