The blinding light coming through my hotel room windows renders me blind for a moment. I can see some sort of figure, though. I put my hand up to shield my eyes to see that Torrin is sitting on my couch. The sight of him makes my heart palpitate in my chest, and the stir of excitement in my stomach makes me nervous.

Torrin still gives me butterflies, and knowing what’s between us? It makes my body yearn to touch him. It’s an immense effort not to immediately cross the room and throw myself into his arms.

“You could’ve at least closed the curtains,” I tell him.

Torrin is hunched over, his arms on his knees, as he looks up at me. I can see the worry crested across his face, his lips tightly pressed together. I see the blood on his shirt.

Somehow, that spec of blood reminds me that while Torrin and I have changed, we are still very much the same. I can’t deny the relief that washes over me like a tidal wave of emotion. The intensity of the moment seeps into my brain, and it takes all I have not to fall to my knees and weep.

“Where were you?” he asks, his voice low.

“Out,” I reply quietly.

“Playing in the dirt?” Torrin questions, raising an eyebrow at me.

I look down at my dress and I can see the cream color of the tulle on the bottom is stained with dirt.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him. “You have no business being here.”

“I was worried,” Torrin hisses.

“You don’t get to worry,” I interrupt him. “You lost that right.”

“Ye’ still belong to me, Aria,” Torrin says, a dark twinge seeping into his voice.

“No, I don’t,” I reply honestly. “And you’re not mine.”

In mere seconds, Torrin sweeps across the room, grabbing me by the arms so hard that it hurts. He shakes me, forcing me to look up into his icy green eyes.

“Don’t you get it, Aria?” he growls. “I can’t live without you, and I don’t want ye’ running off like that when there’s danger lurking. Don’t ye’ think that I wouldn’t be here unless…”

“You can live without me,” I snarl at him, interrupting. “You’ve proven you can more than live without me, actually,” I say, struggling against his grasp. “Remember?” I ask. “Or did you forget you’re engaged to Bria?”

“If ye’ think I would ever willingly choose Bria over you, yer’ absolutely wrong, Aria. I can’t stand that you’d think that,” Torrin tells me, his words hurting even more because I can hear the ache in his voice.

It’s impossible to avoid his gaze. When my eyes meet his, I see it, I see the longing that mirrors my own.

“I know she’s pregnant,” I tell him quietly.

Even if he doesn’t love Bria, they’re tied together now forever. It hurts, even though I’ve never thought about having children, knowing that Bria is pregnant with Torrin’s child almost kills me. Or at least it feels like it. My chest tightens heavily, a sharp pain shooting through my body.

“Aria,” Torrin whispers. “Ye’ have to know I never wanted this.”

“Well, wanted it or not, you’ve got everything you need,” I tell Torrin, almost choking on my own voice.

“No,” Torrin argues roughly, his lips pressed against my ear. “I don’t have anything I need.”

“Why?” I persist fiercely, yearning for the words I know will set my heart free.

“I don’t have you,” he whispers in my ear. “I know I hurt ye, but I don’t regret a thing. Ye’ know why?” Torrin growls, a rumble coming from his throat. “Because it brought me to ye’ anyway, and that’s worth more. I won’t regret it, and I’m not sorry.”

My lower lip quivers as I look up to study his face. Torrin’s eyes are wide, focused on me with one intent: telling the truth. I know the look on his face, the determination evident as my eyes search his. The anger in me recedes, replaced by a deep ache in more core that I have only ever associated with Torrin. I swallow hard, my mouth opening slightly as I try to control my breathing.

These are all the things I need to hear him say, but there’s no way that we end up together. Not now.

“It’s too late,” I whisper. “She’s having your baby Torrin, do you know how much it’s killing me to know you even slept with her? Let alone got her pregnant?”

“I never saw anyone as the mother of my children,” Torrin whispers. “Not until ye’ ripped my life apart,” he says seriously. “And even then, I’d let ye’ rip me apart all over again.”

“No,” I tell Torrin, my resolve wavering. “It’s too late.”

Torrin shakes his head, tugging me towards him. I can’t help but gravitate against him, the anticipation building within my body, ready to crest like a wave as his lips hover near mine.

“Is this too late?” Torrin asks in a whisper.

His lips press against mine softly, and I can’t help but kiss him back for a moment. I don’t have enough sense to pull away as his lips hover over mine.

“No,” I whisper quietly.

“Is this too late?” Torrin repeats, his lips crushing against mine insistently.

My fingers grasp the fabric of his shirt as our lips move together, bound by the electricity that courses between us.

“No,” I mumble, slipping my hand down the back of his shirt as I shake my head.

“This, then?” Torrin wraps his arms around my waist, holding me against him. My hands sink into his hair even before our lips collide in a heated kiss that makes me melt into Torrin’s arms. I cling to him, reveling in the sound of his breath, the sigh of relief as I feel myself give into the crush of Torrin’s lips. A shiver runs down my spine, causing me to tremble slightly in his arms.

How much I ached to be in Torrin’s arms again draws me deeper and deeper into his kiss, dragging me into it like I’m being plunged under water. The refreshing wave of comfort relieving my shattered soul.

“It’s not too late,” Torrin murmurs. “It could never be too late, not for us.”

“Never,” I agree with him, the words barely escaping as Torrin’s lips crush against mine, over and over as I take in every needy kiss. His lips urge me to accept him, tug me back into the grasp of Torrin’s embrace.

I should step away from Torrin now.

But the siren’s call of the darkness, of knowing this is wrong, lights a fire underneath us both.

“I feckin’ missed ye’ Aria,” Torrin murmurs, his hands roaming around my waist, down my ass slightly. My breath catches in my throat at the way his forceful touch makes a shiver snake down my spine. I roll my neck back and Torrin’s lips find their way to my neck.

“Could you ever forgive me?” Torrin whispers against my skin.

“Oh please,” I roll my eyes. “Like you really think I wouldn’t? You know how stupid we are when it comes to each other. You know we’re both reckless,” I whisper. “We won’t stop until we get exactly what we want.”

“And what we want is each other,” Torrin growls roughly in my ear. “If ye’ take me back, Aria…”

“Shhh…” I shake my head, pressing my finger against his lips.

“No,” Torrin shakes his head. “Aria,” he says certainly. “Listen to me, I asked ye’ to be my wife. I promised ye’ would be for real, and I intend on keepin’ that promise. Back in my life, that’s exactly where ye’ belong right beside me.”