The moment Edward's jealousy settled, the silence between us transformed into something else entirely.
Something hotter.
Denser.
Electric.
We stood in the middle of the living room, facing each other, neither of us speaking, but both of us breathing too hard for it to be innocent.
He still looked ruffled…
Possessive…
Restless with the leftover fire he hadn't fully burned through.
And I
I was still feeling the way his jealousy had wrapped around me like hands.
"Leah," he whispered softly, like he was trying not to touch me but failing already.
I stepped closer.
"Edward?"
His breath hitched just one quiet sound but it carried so much want that it made my knees weaken.
"You have no idea what you do to me," he murmured.
I placed my hand against his chest. His heartbeat thundered beneath my palm.
"And you have no idea," I whispered back, "how much I want you right now."
That was all it took.
Edward moved first.
In one swift motion, he pulled me against him, his hand sliding around my waist with a tenderness that contradicted the raw hunger in his eyes.
His forehead rested against mine, breath mingling with mine as he whispered:
"Tell me you're mine."
"I'm yours," I said without hesitation.
"Only yours."
His lips brushed mine light, trembling, like he was savoring the moment before the fall.
Then he kissed me.
Deeply.
Slowly at first… almost reverently.
The kind of kiss that says:
I could live off you.
I could drown in you.
I could worship you.
My fingers slid into his hair, pulling him closer. He groaned softly a sound that vibrated straight through me.
The kiss shifted, grew hotter, hungrier.
Like all the jealousy he tried to swallow was pouring out through his mouth.
"Leah…" he said against my lips, voice rough.
"You undo me."
He lifted me effortlessly, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carried me toward the bedroom.
But halfway there…
He stopped.
Put me down gently.
And cupped my face like I was something fragile and priceless.
"Before anything else… I want you to hear this."
His thumbs brushed my cheeks.
"You matter to me more than you know," he said quietly.
"More than I've allowed myself to admit. You're not just someone I'm attracted to, Leah."
He swallowed hard.
"You're someone I feel for."
My chest tightened.
Not with fear.
With something warm.
Deep.
Terrifying in a beautiful way.
I touched his jaw.
"And I feel for you too."
His eyes darkened with emotion and heat as he whispered, "Then come here."
His mouth found my neck, trailing slow, deliberate kisses downward each one sending a shockwave through me.
My breath hitched.
"Edward…"
"Say it again," he murmured against my skin.
"Say you're mine."
I tangled my hands in his hair.
"I'm yours."
His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer, deeper into him.
The heat between us thickened, spreading like wildfire.
Every touch felt amplified.
Every breath felt shared.
Every second felt like a countdown.
His lips moved to my shoulder, my collarbone, returning to my mouth with a fierceness that made my heart race.
He pressed me gently against the wall, his forehead against mine.
"I want you," he said softly so raw it made my breath tremble.
"But more than that… I want us. The real us. Not hidden. Not running."
"Then take me," I whispered.
His breath shuddered.
And he did.
He lifted me again this time with certainty, desire, devotion and carried me into the bedroom as though he were carrying something sacred.
The door closed behind us.
The room filled with soft breaths, whispered names, hands searching, mouths meeting again and again.
And then
The heat pulled us under.
Together.
Fade to black.