Then there was nothing—no colour, no sound, no people, no light, not one thing in the entire universe bar Rafe. The glint in his dark eyes. The way his fingers gripped hers. The way his eyes drank her in, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was real.
He lifted his hand, this time sliding it behind her neck, cupping her, owning her. His words were a blur amongst the sensations taking her over at his nearness, his touch, the rumble of his voice, the heat of him. “Then stay, Sutton. Be with me. No rules, no promises, no transactions. Because you want to. And because you know that I want you to, too. Stay. For ever.”
Sable threw herself into Rafe’s arms. He rocked back as he caught her, the car rocking beneath them too. Sable scrambled to find purchase, the heels of her boots scraping against the windscreen.
“I’ve got you,” Rafe murmured into her hair. “I’ve got you.”
And the words hit so deep, she could have sobbed till she was nothing but a husk.
“Well, I’ve got you too,” she said when she could finally find her words. Holding onto his shoulders, she leaned back. Heart fierce, throat tight, filled with such certainty she barely recognised herself. And yet felt more fully herself than she had in years.
“I love you, Rafe,” she said, the words she’d held back for fear she’d made it impossible to ever hear them back falling from her lips with ease. “I always have. Being away from you, I was only ever half of myself. And I thought that was enough. But now... I’m back. And I love you. And it’s everything. No matter our luck. No matter our timing. No matter where we live. No matter if we are blessed with a baby. Or not.”
When she stopped to take a breath, Rafe pressed her hair away from her face, and held her cheeks and looked deep into her eyes. His voice gruff as he said, “Ditto.”
Man of few words, her guy, but the words he said, he meant.
She pressed forward and kissed him. Lips to lips. Eyes slammed shut. A promise. And a thank you. Everything she felt releasing on a rush of breath. A rush of realisation. Of admitting something she’d always known.
He pulled back. Said, “I wasn’t done.”
“Oh. Right. What else is there to say?”
Rafe laughed, the move lighting up his whole face. “Just that I love you too. Loved you since the first moment I saw you. Loved you more every day you let me near. I loved you when I first kissed you. Loved you even when it pained me to give you time—to grow up, to be sure that you really wanted a lug like me. I loved you as you glared at people who dared hold their bags tighter when I walked by. When you stood up for me against my father. When you took to Janie like a sister. I loved you even as I lost you. Twice.”
Sable felt the tear fall that time. And the next. For she’d been more than forgiven. She’d been seen. Understood. And given the space to figure out what Rafe had known from day one.
That she was his and he was hers and they were more together than they could ever be apart.
Sable was ready, aching, by the time his lips met hers.
It was a slow-burn kind of kiss. The kind that lit a fuse, trickling deep, burning heat through every part of her until she was alight. Melting. Desperate for the heat to be quenched.
She threw her leg over his, gripped his glorious hair, moaned into his mouth—
A cheer woke her from the dream, to find it wasn’t a dream.
Sable’s eyes snapped open to find herself sitting on top of a dented black VW, in the small alpine town of Radiance, Victoria, surrounded by strangers—cheering strangers—and classic cars as far as the eye could see. The scent of wet leaves and damp dirt and petrol filled the air. The scent of home.
“We have an audience,” she murmured.
Rafe glanced out over the crowd, looking far less discombobulated than she felt. Until he ran a hand through his hair, a shaky hand. Big, strong and in demand, he was a quiet small-town boy at heart. One who needed few and loved fiercely. It made her smile.
Till he said, “You stood on top of a car, waving me down like an idiot. What did you think would happen?”
She thumped him on the arm. Then flapped her hand towards the crowd. “I didn’t think that would happen.”
Only it didn’t make her stomach churn the way it had when people stared at her in LA. Or when she walked through town. Because she knew she had nothing to be ashamed of.
Then, seeing his gaze was on her mouth, hungry and intense, she sank back into another kiss. A warm kiss. Lingering. Full of promise. And forgiveness. And lots of lovely, fresh, blooming new feelings.
People cheered a little more, clapping and catcalling, before they eventually moved on. The cars beckoning their attention.
“You taste like cinnamon,” Rafe said eons later.
“And cloves,” said Sable, in between kisses she now rained over his cheeks, his jaw, his neck. “And pepper. And pumpkin. And vodka.”
He shook his head. “Ah, Pumpkin Festival. You do bring out the crazy.”
Right on cue, a cheer split the air. Sable tipped her head to follow the sound. A tunnel of people in the Mustang aisle whooped and clapped. And between them came flashes of bare skin as Carleen McGlinty ran stark naked through the crowd.
“No two guesses as to who else has been into the
