Page 68 of My One-Night Heir

‘Because you bring out my playful side. Only with you can I relax. I can let go. Because I trust you.’

Those words break me.

‘You’re beautiful and funny and I want you to stay with me. Always. I was too afraid to admit it,’ he whispers. ‘But I love you, Talia. I love you totally. I don’t ever want to hurt you and I know you never want to hurt me either. But we hurt each other a bit last night.’

My lungs have shrunk. I can’t get enough oxygen to my brain. ‘I was trying to control the ending. I thought you didn’t...’ I start to sob but still try to speak ‘...wouldn’t ever...want me always. Let alone...’

‘Love you,’ he finishes for me, and repeats what I still can’t believe. ‘I love you.’ He lets go of my hands at last and cups my face. ‘And I can’t go through another night like last night.’

I blink but the tears still fall.

‘Neither of us do well with uncertainty,’ he says. ‘So know this. I love you and I will never leave you. We’re always going to be together.’

I finally smile even though I’m crying more than before and he pulls me into a hug and it’s everything I need. I feel the emotion overwhelming him too—his breathing shudders and his body quakes with the intensity of relief. I clutch him and bury my face in his chest.

‘I just want us to be together,’ he mutters. ‘Our little family. And it can be what we make it, right?’

I nod eagerly.

‘I think we were doing pretty well with it, actually,’ he says almost shyly. ‘Not like my parents. Not like yours either. We’re different people. I know I need to open up more.’

‘It’s hard to open up,’ I mumble.

‘It is. But it’s also not. I like talking to you, Talia. I like trusting you. And I’m so grateful for Lukas. He’s our miracle and I give thanks for him every day, especially now. He’s helped speed everything up.’

I can’t help my smile. ‘You want to speed up now?’

‘No.’ He smiles back. ‘I want to go very, very slow.’

Slow is torture. Slow is bliss. Slow is absolutely everything I need.

He kisses me with such reverence that I start to shake. ‘Dain...’

‘Shh. Let me love you. I want to love you.’

I understand. As impossible as it ought to be, this is even more melting than the indulgence he’s given me before because this time the underpinning emotion is given full and free expression. His hands sweep over me and I feel him tremble with restraint.

‘I love you, Talia.’

He’s opened up and it’s heaven. My bruised heart bursts open too and then it just grows like an unstoppable wave made of wonder and warmth and joy. I hold him—half crying, half laughing—admitting all my deep-held, deep-hidden truths too—all the things I adore about him. All the ways he pleases me. I hold nothing back. We’re aligned in absolute honesty. It’s always been fun, always joyous between us. But there’s an essential facet that’s been revealed—a foundation firmly cemented between us, within us. I believe in him and he believes in me. And it is awesome. I’m shaking and breathless and when he finally, fully claims his place inside me we both moan. It’s exquisite and it’s everything. We’re together, as close as any two people can be.

‘There’s a lot to be said for slow.’ I sigh as the gorgeous sensations stream through me.

He looks at me with nothing but love in his eyes. ‘There’s even more to be said for always.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

One year later

Talia

‘WHAT IF WE made another movie?’

Startled, I glance up at Dain and feel my skin heating. ‘Are you serious?’ I squeak.

We still have that movie we inadvertently made in the pool house that time and, yep, we might’ve watched it together a few more times in the last year. It’s always fire. Always.

‘Absolutely,’ he says, not taking his gaze from me.