The Space Between

The rain hammered against the windows of the cabin, but inside, the only sound was their breathing—uneven, expectant.

She stood by the fireplace, still wearing his shirt from earlier, the white cotton catching the amber glow. When she turned to face him, something had shifted in her eyes. No more pretending this wasn’t inevitable.

“We should talk about—” he started.

“No.” She crossed the room in three unhurried steps. “We really shouldn’t.”

Her fingers found the buttons of his collar, and he caught her wrist—not to stop her, but to feel her pulse racing against his thumb. They’d been dancing around this for months: stolen glances, accidental touches that lingered too long, conversations that left them both breathless.

“Are you sure?” His voice was rough.

Instead of answering, she rose on her toes and pressed her mouth to that spot just below his ear. He inhaled sharply, and she smiled against his skin, discovering her power.

His hands found her waist, then slid beneath the shirt—his shirt—fingers spreading across her bare skin. She was warm. impossibly soft. The small sound she made when he pulled her closer went straight through him.

They tumbled onto the sofa in a tangle of limbs and half-formed words. She whispered his name like a question and a answer both. His hands mapped territory he’d only imagined: the curve of her hip, the small of her back, the place where her neck met her shoulder that made her gasp.

Clothing became an obstacle, then a memory.

“Look at me,” she breathed, and when he did, the vulnerability in her eyes nearly undid him. This wasn’t just physical—it was every conversation, every almost-kiss, every might-have-been condensing into this single, trembling moment.

The rest was thunder and lightning, give and take, the discovery that two people could fit together so perfectly it felt like coming home.

Afterward, wrapped in blankets and each other, neither spoke. There were no words for the way the world had just shifted on its axis. She traced lazy patterns on his chest, and he pressed his lips to her temple, both of them knowing that everything had changed.

Outside, the storm began to clear.