I didn't even have time to change out of my sweatpants.
The knock came around 2:00 AM. It wasn't a polite tap, it was the sound of a man who had driven like a maniac and probably broken several aviation laws just to get to a shitty apartment above a bakery.
I opened the door, and there he was. He looked a mess, his hair was windblown, his coat was wrinkled, and he looked like he hadn't slept since the last time I saw him. He didn't say a word. He just stepped inside, kicked the door shut, and grabbed my face like he was checking to see if I was actually real.
"You're late," I whispered.
"I had to fly against the wind," he panted.
He didn't wait for me to say anything else. He kissed me, and it was like the last three months had never happened. It wasn't gentle, and it wasn't a "start over" kind of kiss.
It was the same desperate, obsessive hunger that had nearly ruined us in London.
He didn't care about the small kitchen or the creaky floors. He pushed me back against the wall, his hands fumbling with the hem of my shirt.
I felt the cold air hit my skin for a second before his hands, warm and steady, were all over me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer, my fingers digging into the hair at the back of his neck.
We didn't even make it to the bedroom at first. We ended up on the small, worn-out rug in the living room, surrounded by half-packed boxes and the sound of the ocean crashing outside.
He had ripped off my clothes, unbuckling his belt and lowering his pants enough to get inside of me with a sharp thrust and a loud groan.
It was intense. It was a lot of skin and heat and Julian whispering my name against my neck like it was a prayer.
There was no talk about contracts or fathers or the ridge. It was just the two of us, finally letting out all the frustration and the missing each other that we'd been bottling up in letters for months.
His hands held my hips before flipping me over and folding me on the rug. His hips pistoning against my ass like he wouldn't see tomorrow. I dug and clawed at the cheap material, feeling it dig into my cheek.
I forgot about the salt air. I forgot about the bookstore. I just felt him, the weight of him, the way he moved, and the way he looked at me like I was the only thing on the planet that mattered.
It was the kind of sex that leaves you feeling completely hollowed out and brand new at the same time.
By the time we actually moved to the bed, the sky was starting to turn that weird, pale purple color it gets right before the sun comes up.
I woke up a few hours later to the smell of sea salt and Julian's breath against my ear. The room was bright with morning light, and the "
vicious edge I usually carried felt like it had been smoothed over.
Julian was already awake, propped up on one elbow, just watching me sleep. He looked different in the daylight of St. Ives, less like a shark and more like a guy who had finally found where he was supposed to be.
"Morning," he murmured, his voice even raspier than it was on the phone.
"You're still here," I said, stretching under the duvet. "I thought you might have realized how small the bed is and bolted for the nearest five-star hotel."
"I'm not going anywhere, Alina."
He leaned down and kissed me. It wasn't a heavy, passionate kiss this time. It was just a slow, lingering press of his lips against mine, then my forehead, then my nose. It was the kind of morning kisses we used to have in London, but they felt different here. They felt like they belonged to us, not to the Vane name.
"I missed your mouth," he whispered, pulling me back into his chest. "Even when it's being bratty."
"It's always bratty," I reminded him, closing my eyes and listening to his heart beat. "Get used to it."
"I've been used to it for a long time," he said.
We lay there for a while, just drifting in and out of sleep, the sound of the seagulls outside the window the only thing breaking the quiet.
For the first time since I left , I didn't feel like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was just a girl in a small town, with a man who had crossed the world to kiss her awake.