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There wasn’t anyone else I wanted to dance with more. To lay my head against, to curl up with. I ached for him in a way I never had before.

My throat was dry, parched from sweat and all the laughing and shouting. My feet were throbbing, my toes taking the brunt of a few misplaced stomps and steps. I wanted to gobble down the cool night air outside and let the steam rise from my skin and disappear up into the sky.

I finished my dance with Cedric, finally pulling away from him after an hour on the floor.

“I need to get some air!” I called. “Thank you!”

“Are you staying here long? I’d love to take you to dinner.” His eyes fell to the Claddagh I wore, heart pointing out.

“That’s so kind but I’m—” I shook my head. Pressed my hand to my heart.

He nodded. “I understand. If you change your mind…”

“I know exactly where to find you,” I teased.

His smile was lopsided and endearing, but it wasn’t the one I wanted.

I wanted only one set of hands, one red-brown pair of eyes, and that infuriating smirk that made it hard to think straight. I darted to the corner for my shoes then closed out my tab. Wolfe tracked the motion, pushing up from the wall he leaned against. I gathered my jacket and led the way back outside.

He was behind me every step of the way, hand once more against the small of my back.

The moment I stepped outside, I felt like I could breathe.

The sweat on my arms and back dried instantly and I shivered, leaning back against the front door. My ears were ringing from the loud music and the shouting, but I’d never been happier.

Maybe ever.

“You look like you enjoyed yourself,” Wolfe commented.

My smile was dreamy, tipped in exhaustion. My legs felt like jelly.

“I did. I don’t think I’ve ever—well, it’s been a long time.”

“Watching you…” He exhaled long and slow. “I’ve never seen such joy, grá. You were radiant.”

I blinked, locking eyes with him. His hands curled into fists and his chest heaved with another breath.

“Can we go home?” he asked, voice rough. “Please.”

I nodded, legs trembling for an entirely different reason.

He’d made his reservations about touching me known. He thought it was a blight against me, I thought it would be a balm—like maybe I’d never even been inside my own skin until he touched me.

It didn’t matter to me what separated us. It didn’t matter. His soul and my soul were very old friends and I knew in my bones that this was right—he was right.

I drove us back to Kilmorran, butterflies swooping low in my stomach.

Wolfe was silent, watching the dark hills and valleys roll on in the distance outside the window. The moon was a little more than a crescent lighting the way toward home.

Home.

That’s what Kilmorran had become for me.

What Wolfe had made it.

I commanded myself to breathe slowly, deeply, to steady my racing heart. My skin was sticky with sweat and spilled beer and my hair was wild, curling around my face from the humidity inside the room.

I parked the car and gathered my things. We were silent as I unlocked the door and stepped inside. Wolfe went right to the fire as he always did, focusing enough energy into his hands to grab the poker and stoke the flames. It was short-lived, that burst of strength. The fire crackled and blazed and then he was leaning the poker against the wall, the handle slipping through his fingers.