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“Not like you used to.”
His gaze came back to mine. There he was. I’d missed that look, and I’d missed the man who gave it to me. I crossed to his chair before I could talk myself out of it. He watched me come without moving.
“Stand up,” I said.
He stood up.
I put my hands on either side of his face for the first time in sixteen months. There was more gray at his temples and new lines around the same eyes our daughter had.
“I’m going to kiss you. If you don’t want that, say so.”
He made a sound like he’d been hit.
“Wren—”
“That’s not a no.”
“It’s not a no,” he said. His gaze dropped back to my mouth.
So I kissed him.
He didn’t grab me like he used to. After sixteen months apart, his hands came up and stopped an inch from my waist. He waited until I took one and put it where I wanted it.
He made that sound again against my mouth, then pulled me closer.
The first touch of his mouth had been almost cautious, but when I opened for him, he kissed me the way I remembered. Deep and hungry, but still waiting for me to decide how far it went.
One hand slid into my hair. The other pressed against my back and brought me against him. I caught the front of his shirt in both fists and kissed him harder.
I remembered this. The heat of his mouth. The scrape of his stubble beneath my palms. I’d missed him. Not the idea of him or the man he’d become for Sparrow. Him. The man holding me.
When we finally broke apart, neither of us could catch our breath.
He put his forehead against mine and shut his eyes.
“Wren,” he said. Just that.
I loosened my fists in his shirt but didn’t let go.
“Tell me what this is. I’m not going to guess and get it wrong.”
I looked toward the hall, where our daughter slept in the crib he’d assembled for her. My boxes were still against the wall. He was waiting for an answer, and for once I wasn’t afraid to give him one.
“It means I want you,” I said. “I don’t know what happens after tonight. But I want you.”
Chapter 22
❧
— Wren —
“Tonight?” he asked.
“Tonight. I’m taking you to bed, Seb.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Fuck, Wren. Yes.”
I checked on Sparrow first. She was asleep on her back, both arms above her head. I stayed until I heard her breathe, then went back to Seb.
