Page 195 of When Love Takes Root

Her hand slid up my chest and stopped over my heartbeat. “Then kiss me like that, baby.”

My breath caught.

One word, and she almost put me on my knees.

Baby.

From her mouth, it didn’t sound casual. It sounded like surrender with a pulse; soft, certain, and brave enough to stand in the same room with fear without bowing to it.

My hand moved to the side of her neck.

Her pulse jumped beneath my thumb; mine answered beneath her palm. When she rose on her toes, there was no retreat in her body, no apology tucked behind her desire, no grief trying to drag her backward by the hem. Just my Red choosing me with her whole chest, offering me the truth of her want, and trusting me to receive it with discipline instead of greed.

I kissed her before restraint found another scripture to stand behind.

Her mouth opened for me, and every careful thing I’d been holding back stepped closer to the edge. I kissed her deeper, with one hand at her neck and the other low on her back, anchoring her to me while her body softened and pressed closer. She didn’t shrink from the evidence of my want. She breathed into it, held on to it, her fingers digging into my shoulders like she needed me to feel her choosing.

I broke away long enough to look at her.

“Bedroom.”

She nodded.

I took her hand and led her down the hall. The lamp near my dresser cast warm light over the bed. Celeste turned toward me with swollen lips, shining eyes, and her locs slightly tousled from the neat ponytail she’d gathered them in. She looked nervous, but not uncertain. That mattered.

I came to her, slow enough to be clear, close enough to let her know I was done pretending I didn’t ache for her.

“You’re beautiful, Red.” Her eyes lowered. I touched her chin. “Don’t hide from me.” She looked back up. “That’s a boundary too. No hiding behind fear. No punishing me for wounds I didn’t cause. No making me guess whether you need space or mercy. You tell me the truth, and I’ll meet you there.”

Her breath shook. “Okay.”

I kissed her forehead before my mouth found hers. By the time my lips found hers fully, her fingers were working at the buttons of my shirt with purpose. I let her undress me while I undressed her, and there wasn’t anything timid about the way she touched me now. Her palms moved over my chest and shoulders as if reminding herself I was real.

When her blouse fell away, her arms drifted toward her stomach.

I caught her wrists gently and kissed the inside of one palm. “Don’t cover what I’m trying to thank God for.”

Her eyes filled.

“I love all that comes with you. Your body. Your babies. Your grief. Your laugh. Your fear when it tells the truth. Your past. What you understand and what you’re still praying through. I’m not standing here asking for the convenient pieces.”

“Josiah.”

“I got you, baby.”

I laid her back and followed, bracing myself above her. The first brush of our skin pulled a breath from both of us, and I watched her face as my hand moved along her waist, her hip, the full softness of her thigh. She arched into my touch, and the trust in that movement did something to me the heat alone couldn’t have done.

I reached into the nightstand, then paused with protection in my hand.

Her eyes met mine. “I’m with you.”

I covered myself and came back to her, settling between her thighs with my forearm beside her head. Her fingers slid along my jaw, then around my neck, and I kissed her while my body found the pace her breath already knew.

When I entered her, I didn’t rush, but I didn’t treat her like glass either. Celeste wasn’t breakable. She deserved honor, which meant I handled her with reverence, attention, and enough confidence for her to stop bracing for pain that wasn’t coming.

Her lashes fluttered, and her lips parted as her hands tightened against my back.

“That’s it, Red.” Her nails grazed my shoulders. “I got you.”