Page 11 of Lora

‘Then I’ll do whatever you need me to. Even if it means letting you go from here.’ I bend to kiss her and feel the tension she has been carrying melt away as our lips meet. I run my hand up the back of her head and remove the pins that hold her hair in a tight bun, allowing it to tumble around her shoulders. The smell of almonds and honey tickles at the edge of my senses.

‘I don’t know how we can maintain a relationship while I’m there,’ she says once we break apart.

‘We’ll find a way. And I’ll help in any way I can.’

Her brow furrows as she drops her eyes from mine. ‘I can’t ask you to do that.’

‘You didn’t, and that’s what I’m going to do.’

‘Why?’

‘Because when I said forever, I meant it.’ I stroke a finger down her cheek. ‘It doesn’t matter what that forever looks like or starts off like. I’m yours and you’re mine.’

She stands on her tiptoes and moves her hands from my chest to the back of my neck and kisses me lightly.