Chapter 247 247

Chapter 247 247
Nova's POV

I couldn't say it back. The words stuck in my throat, lodged somewhere between my heart and my mouth, and I couldn't force them out no matter how badly part of me wanted to.
But I could do this.
I reached for him, my fingers curling around the back of his neck, and pulled him down to me. The kiss was soft at first, tentative, like I was testing the feel of something I'd forgotten. Then his hand cupped my jaw and everything shifted. Deepened. My mouth opened under his and I tasted the exhale he'd been holding, felt the tension in his shoulders start to ease.
When we broke apart, I kept my forehead pressed to his. "I don't want to run anymore."
His thumb stroked along my cheekbone. "Then don't."
"I'm scared." The admission came out quieter than I meant it to.
"I know." He kissed the corner of my mouth, then my temple, gentle and patient in a way that made my chest ache. "But I'm not going anywhere. I swear to you, Nova. I'm not going anywhere."
I believed him. That was the terrifying part. I actually believed him.
I kissed him again, harder this time, my hands sliding up his chest to his shoulders. He made a low sound in the back of his throat and his grip on my waist tightened, fingers spreading wide like he was trying to touch as much of me as possible. We were both still naked from shifting, skin to skin under the stars, and I'd never felt more exposed or more safe at the same time.
His mouth moved to my jaw, trailing kisses down the column of my throat. I tilted my head back to give him access and he made a pleased rumble against my skin, his teeth grazing the spot where my neck met my shoulder. Not biting, just tasting. Just claiming in the gentlest way possible.
"Are you sure?" His voice was rough against my collarbone. "Because if you're not..."
I pulled him back up to my mouth, kissing him hard enough that he stumbled forward. We went down together onto the soft moss, his weight settling over me, and I wrapped my legs around his hips to anchor him there.
"I'm sure," I breathed against his lips.
He pulled back just enough to look at me, his hand cupping my face. Gold bled into the edges of his eyes, Shadow close to the surface, but Caden was still there. Still watching me with an intensity that made it hard to breathe.
"I love you," he said again, and this time it didn't feel like a confession. It felt like a vow.
My throat tightened. I still couldn't say it back, but I could show him. I could give him this.
His mouth found mine again and I lost myself in the kiss, in the slide of his tongue and the scrape of his teeth on my bottom lip. He caught it gently between his teeth and tugged, and the sensation shot straight through me. I gasped and he swallowed the sound, one hand sliding down my side to grip my thigh.
But he didn't rush. His palm traced the curve of my hip, fingers trailing over skin he'd touched a thousand times before but somehow felt different now. Reverent. Like he was memorizing the shape of me all over again.
I arched into his touch and he groaned, his mouth leaving mine to blaze a path down my throat. He lingered at the hollow of my collarbone, tongue flicking out to taste, then moved lower. His lips closed around my nipple and I cried out, my fingers tangling in his hair to hold him there. He sucked gently, then harder when my hips bucked against his, and the pleasure was almost too much.
"Caden." His name came out broken, desperate.
He lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine in the moonlight. "I want to learn you again." His voice was low, rough with want. "Every sound you make. Every place that makes you shake."
I couldn't form words. Could only nod and pull him back down to me.
His hand slid between my thighs and I gasped at the first touch, at the way his fingers moved in slow, deliberate circles that had me trembling beneath him. He watched my face the entire time, adjusting pressure and speed based on every hitch in my breath, every flutter of my eyelids.
"Look at me," he murmured when I tried to close my eyes. "I need you to look at me."
I met his gaze and held it, even as his fingers slipped inside me and my body clenched around them. He groaned at the feel of me, his forehead dropping to mine, and added another finger. The stretch was perfect, almost too much, and I was already so close to the edge.
"Not yet." He slowed his movements, drawing it out. "I want to feel you come around me."
The words alone nearly undid me. I dug my nails into his shoulders and he hissed, his hips grinding against my thigh in a rhythm that matched the thrust of his fingers. I could feel how hard he was, how much restraint it was taking him not to just bury himself inside me, and something about that control made me want him even more.