Author's note: When I completed On the Way Down at the end of July, I hinted at adding a bonus chapter after the Wattys were over and I could update again. I was working on one when this story was added to a reading list featured on Wattpad's homepage. (BEST Valentine's Day surprise ever, so thank you HQ!) To readers old and new, here it is: the scene that happened next.
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Like all the best moments that should be suspended in time, our kiss also has its natural end. My eyelids flutter open the instant our lips no longer touch. Phoenix's eyes open, too, and there's a depth to his gaze that feels like he's staring straight into my soul. The shift in our energy is seismic. One move, one breath, one touch, and I'm certain the air will spark into flames. The pull between us is an electromagnetic current, pulsing with an intensity beyond anything I've experienced before.
His index finger tracing my bottom lip is all it takes to ignite the embers. If our transition from serious to sensual is inappropriate in the middle of grief and forgiveness and heavy conversations, then let us both be wildly wrong. The weight of only minutes ago is lifted and forgotten for now as my hands tangle in Phoenix's hair and he lowers his head over mine for a second time.
But his lips pressed against my lips, and his tongue exploring my mouth, doesn't satisfy me for long. I gently pull away from him so I can bring my mouth to his neck and work my way down, with a kiss here and a nibble there. My hands glide over his body and slip under his shirt, and he helps me remove the garment as I trail kisses over every inch of his exposed skin. It still isn't enough. I need to melt into him, until he ends where I begin and I begin where he ends. I want another dimension, an escape from this world to one that's only us, and to stay there until long after the sun dips below the horizon and the constellations come out to play in the night sky.
"I know a better place for this," I murmur. My lips find his neck again, and then his ear. His breath hitches when my teeth graze his earlobe.
Phoenix covers my hands with his, stopping their movement. "I think I know where you mean. Let me take you there?"
He's off the sofa and on his feet in a series of admirably swift movements, and then he scoops me up in his arms. The ease with which he carries me into my bedroom and lowers me onto the bed makes me wonder if my body has become filled with air alone. The thought is fleeting. Phoenix takes over where I left off when we were on the sofa, and his remaining clothing and mine are soon in a pile on the floor.
His hands and mouth roam my bare skin, but he takes his time, setting my body ablaze. He moves from my navel down to my thigh, chuckling at my whimper when he skips right over where I most crave his touch.
"Not funny," I say. "I don't want to take this slo--"
I lose the ability to finish my sentence when his hand slips between my legs and finds exactly the right spot. His mouth and tongue follow, caressing me in ways that soon have me incapable of anything but gasps and sighs while I clutch the duvet that's beneath us. But he knows me, and he knows just how far he can go without sending me straight into orbit. Arouse and retreat, give and receiveâit's an artful dance we perfected years ago that takes me to the edge of a supernova waiting to explode. And while it's the most human of acts, it's also like being elevated above the clouds and amongst the gods while time and space morph into myths.
After, it's the sanctuary of Phoenix's arms, our slowing breath, and him nuzzling my hair, that are somehow everything to me. It's our lazy conversation, our spoken stream-of-consciousness and comfort with saying anything, and the way he makes me laugh. It's how our love shines through the cracks of what we've been through together and apart, and the inner knowing that all roads led us to where we're meant to be now.
It's the cadence of us, and it's the most beautiful melody I know.
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Keep reading for a bonus epilogue added on March 1, 2025!