His Secret Kiss

Chapter Eight – The Truth Between Us

The night pressed softly against the windows, and the world outside was nothing but rain and shadows. I could still feel the warmth of his touch on my skin, even though hours had passed since the last time I saw him. Every heartbeat still whispered his name — Austin.

I told myself to forget, to let him go, but how could I forget the man who made my pulse lose rhythm with one look?

The storm had slowed, the air heavy and damp, when the door creaked open. I didn’t turn at first. I didn’t have to. I already knew it was him.

“Couldn’t sleep?” His voice was low, a soft rasp that wrapped around me like a secret.

I shook my head slowly, staring at the soft glow from the lamp. “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

He stepped inside quietly, shutting the door behind him. “I didn’t think I could stay away.”

Something in the way he said it made my chest tighten. I turned then — and there he was. His hair was damp, his shirt clinging to his chest, eyes darker than midnight, watching me like I was something fragile and dangerous at once.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. The air between us was alive — heavy, trembling.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.

He smiled faintly, a sad, beautiful smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s the problem, Vera. You’re the only place I want to be.”

Before I could answer, he crossed the room, slow and deliberate. Every step made the air warmer, my pulse faster. When he finally stopped in front of me, his hand came up, brushing a strand of hair from my face. His touch was gentle, almost reverent, as if he was afraid I’d fade away.

“I tried to stay away,” he said softly, “but every night, every second, I kept hearing your voice. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

My breath hitched. “You’re lying again.”

His hand moved to my jaw, his thumb tracing the edge of my lip. “Then tell me to leave,” he whispered.

I couldn’t.

The words wouldn’t come. My body betrayed me before my voice did, leaning into his touch, melting under the warmth of it. His breath brushed my skin, slow, careful, testing.

“I can’t,” I whispered back.

That was all it took.

He kissed me.

It wasn’t the kind of kiss that asked for permission — it was the kind that claimed, that remembered, that burned through every wall we’d tried to build. My hands found his shirt, clutching him closer, my heart beating too fast to understand what was right anymore.

His lips moved with desperation, with need, with the kind of hunger that came from too many nights of pretending not to care. I could feel the tremor in his fingers when he held me, the way his breath caught when I whispered his name between our kisses.

When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested against mine. We were both trembling — not from fear, but from the storm we’d created.

“You drive me insane,” he murmured, his voice barely above a breath.

“Good,” I said softly, smiling against his lips. “Now you know how it feels.”

He laughed quietly, that deep sound that always made my stomach twist. But his eyes — his eyes were still haunted.

“What is it?” I asked, my hand tracing his chest, feeling the steady beat beneath.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” he said.

I froze.

His fingers brushed my cheek again, tender, apologetic. “When I disappeared… I didn’t just run. I was protecting something — someone.”

“Who?” I whispered.

He hesitated. “You.”

My heart stuttered. “Me?”

“I knew they’d come for you if they knew what you meant to me,” he said. “So I had to make you hate me — I had to make you believe I was gone.”

I shook my head, tears threatening to spill. “You think lying protects me?”

“I think love does,” he said simply.

And in that moment, I couldn’t argue. Because looking at him, standing there with his heart in his eyes and guilt in his voice, I realized something — I didn’t care about the lies. I only cared that he was here, breathing, alive.

He cupped my face again, his thumb wiping away a tear that hadn’t even fallen yet.

“You deserve a normal life," he said softly.

“Maybe I don’t want normal,” I whispered. “Maybe I just want you."

The silence after that was soft and full — like the pause before the world begins again.

He kissed me again, slower this time, tender and deep, like a promise he was too afraid to speak aloud. I melted into him, my hands sliding into his hair, pulling him closer until there was no space left to breathe. His arms wrapped around me, lifting me gently as if he was afraid I’d break.

The world outside disappeared the rain, the fear, the danger everything vanished in the warmth of his touch.

When he finally drew back, his voice was rough, quiet. “If we do this, Vera, there’s no going back."

“Then don’t go back,” I breathed. “Stay."

He didn’t answer with words this time. He kissed me again, and the room filled with the sound of rain against glass, of breath against skin, of hearts finding each other in the dark.

Time didn’t exist anymore. Just us. Just this.

When I woke later, the rain had stopped. Dawn filtered softly through the window, painting his face in gold. He was watching me, eyes softer than I’d ever seen.

“What?” I whispered sleepily.

He smiled. “You talk in your sleep."

I blushed. “What did I say?”

“My name,” he said.

I hid my face in the pillow, and he laughed quietly, brushing his fingers over my hair. For the first time in weeks, I felt safe.

But beneath that safety was something else — a knowing. That this peace wouldn’t last. That love and danger had never really let us go.

He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “Whatever happens next,” he whispered, “I’ll find you. Always."

And somehow, I believed him.

The morning light wrapped around us like something holy the soft golden warmth spilling across the sheets his skin glowing against it I didn’t move afraid that if I blinked too long he’d disappear again just like before His hand found mine fingers sliding together perfectly as if they’d always known the shape of each other

“I used to dream about this,” he said quietly his voice low and rough “Waking up next to you with nothing chasing us no lies no danger just this"

“Then let’s stay here,” I whispered “just for today"

He smiled that slow dangerous smile that made my heart race “If I stay I might never leave"

“Good,” I said “then don’t"

He laughed softly pulling me against him his lips brushing my hair “You don’t know what you do to me Vera"

“Tell me," I murmured against his chest

He hesitated only a moment before whispering “You make me want to stop running"

Those words hit deeper than any kiss ever could I looked up at him my heart trembling “Then stop"

He leaned in close his breath hot against my ear “You don’t know what that means I’ve done things things I can’t undo"

I shook my head " I don’t care about your past I only care about you now"

He closed his eyes like he was fighting something inside himself then kissed me again slower this time deeper like a man finally giving in The world outside didn’t exist anymore not the secrets not the danger only the sound of our hearts finding rhythm together

When he finally pulled away he whispered “You have no idea what you’ve just done to me"

“Maybe you should show me," I said softly a teasing smile playing on my lips

He chuckled that dark low sound that always made my stomach twist “Careful Miss Lane you might not survive me"

“Try me,” I whispered

He kissed me again his hands sliding around my waist pulling me closer until there was no space left between us everything slow everything burning everything right

In that moment the world could have ended and I wouldn’t have noticed because for the first time since the rain that started it all I wasn’t lost anymore I was home

Home in his arms.