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Miranda dug her fingers into Tori’s hip. “Listen.”

Tori squeaked.

“I didn’t want to like you when I met you, and then suddenly you were everywhere I didn’t want to be, and you called to me. You held strong when I pushed you away.”

“You were struggling.”

“Tori,” Miranda warned.

“Right. Shutting up now.”

Miranda pressed a gentle kiss to Tori’s neck. “I tried so hard to push you away, but every day I’ve gotten to know you since, I’ve fallen deeper…” Miranda paused, the words lingering in the air between them. “Deeper…”

Tori swore she knew what Miranda was going to say, she wanted her to say it, hoped she would. Those words had sizzled between them for weeks now, but neither one of them had taken the leap. And it was her birthday. Was this really her present?

“…deeper into an understanding of who you are and what it means to be a parent.”

Tori bit her lip. That hadn’t been what she thought Miranda would say. It hadn’t been what she wanted her to say. Because Tori was in love.

Flat out.

Hands down.

Fully in love.

She’d been convinced for so long that Miranda was her soulmate, and yet they hadn’t talked about it. Miranda had pushed off conversations of the future, neatly avoiding them any time Tori got anywhere near them. But Tori just wanted to talk. She was so future-oriented that to think about only the present was impossible. Tori gasped when Miranda’s mouth was on her neck again, this time with a tickle of tongue.

“As we started a different kind of relationship, a sexual one…” Miranda’s tongue flicked up Tori’s neck, ending with a kiss on Tori’s lips.

This was torture.

Tori shuddered in pleasure. Her nipples hardened in an instant, and she clenched against nothing. Why did there have to be people nearby? Miranda was teasing her slowly into an orgasm that would never come or at least not for hours and hours—probably tomorrow. Fuck, on her birthday. Was that what this was all about? With the blindfold on, every touch, every sensation, every scent was intensified. Tori wanted to reach up and kiss Miranda, but she also desperately wanted to see what exactly was going to happen.

“…I couldn’t get enough of you. Every touch, every sensation, every kiss…”

Was Miranda a mind reader now? Tori dragged in a shuddering breath, digging her fingers into the soft part of Miranda’s waist.

“I wanted more. I craved you.” Miranda pressed their chests together. “I still do.”

“Miranda,” Tori whimpered, unable to formulate any kind of words. What was this?

“And then I got scared, because what you taught me, very subtly, very swiftly, was that vulnerability isn’t a weakness.”

Tori’s heart shattered. Miranda shouldn’t have grown up with that understanding at all. She should never have felt the weight of vulnerability being wrong or undervalued or anything but precious and beautiful. Tori held her arms around Miranda, keeping Miranda close and not letting go. She wouldn’t let go. If there was one thing she could do, it would be to continue to show Miranda that all of her was welcome into their relationship.

“It scared the living shit out of me.” Miranda chuckled nervously, her voice floating through the air to Tori’s ears. “And I ran. Which was expected, but you know what?”

“What?” Tori whispered, her breath quick as everything hinged on this moment.

“I came back.” Miranda kissed her, their lips touching as she continued to talk. “You allowed me to come back. I was so wrong before. I shouldn’t have let you go.”

“You still have me,” Tori murmured, moving to kiss Miranda but missing when she pulled away first.

“I know I do.” Miranda skimmed her hands up Tori’s back, against her arms, over her breasts, on her hips. It was like Miranda touched everywhere at once except exactly where Tori wanted her to touch. “Take your mask off.”

Tori didn’t want to now. She was so entranced by everything that Miranda did. When she didn’t move, Miranda pulled the blindfold off. Tori kept her eyes closed.

“I love you, Tori. I thought soulmates weren’t real. I thought I didn’t believe in them. But if there’s one thing you’ve taught me, and you’ve taught me a lot, it’s that you were right. You’re my soulmate.”