Page 59 of Dual

"Not nearly enough," I tease, rising to my feet and following her to the kitchen.

She chatters through dinner, more animated than I've seen her in weeks, filling the room with the music of her laughter. She talks about a book she's reading and a new bakery she wants to try downtown. Normal, mundane things that somehow feel miraculous coming from her lips, as if she's breathing life back into our home with each word.

Throughout the meal, she can't seem to stop touching me. Her fingers brush mine as she passes the green curry. Her foot hooks around my ankle under the counter, and her hand settles on my forearm as she tells a story about Mrs. Abernathy next door and her ridiculous poodle. Each contact sends electricity skittering across my skin, awakening every nerve ending like I'm being touched for the first time.

"Let's go out tomorrow night," I suggest as we clean up, unable to resist pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck as she loads the dishwasher. "Somewhere special. Just the two of us."

She whirls around, eyes bright with excitement. "Yes! Oh,Domhn, yes! Let's go to that new place—what's it called? The one with the rooftop bar that everyone's talking about."

"Elevation?" I raise an eyebrow, grinning at her enthusiasm. "Love, that place is booked solid for months."

She steps into me, pressing her body against mine, her arms winding around my neck. "You're Domhnall feckin' Callaghan," she says, attempting my accent and failing gloriously. "The most powerful, sexy, irresistible man in Dallas." She rises on her tiptoes, brushing her lips against mine. "Surely you can pull a few strings."

God, but she undoes me completely when she looks at me like that—like I'm her hero, her champion, like there's nothing in this world I couldn't accomplish if she asked it of me.

"For you," I murmur against her mouth, "I'll move heaven and earth."

She throws her head back and laughs as I drink in the sight of her.

When she finally looks back at me, a pleased flush spreads across her cheeks. "You're staring."

"Can't help it," I say, voice rough with desire. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She bites her bottom lip. "You wanna watch a movie in bed?"

Fuck. She knows what it does to me when she bites her bottom lip like that.

I nod, not especially sure I'm capable of speaking.

Together, we quickly put away the leftovers, then head upstairs. She nestles against me as we put on some movieshe's watched a hundred times before. I massage her shoulders again, and then down her thighs to her calves, desperate for any excuse to have my hands on her but not wanting her to think I'm trying to get her to switch to Mads. I wanther.

She yawns, snuggling into the pillows as I rub my thumbs deep into the arches of her perfect little feet. "You're going to put me to sleep."

I smile gently and lay her foot down on the mattress, crawling up the bed so I can look down at her, the soft glow of the TV the only light in the room.

She smiles up at me—my miracle. My salvation. My everything.

"I love you," I say, the words inadequate for what I feel, for this bone-deep certainty that she is the axis around which my entire world turns. "More than me own life."

She lifts her arms lazily around my neck and pulls me down for a deep, perfect kiss.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," she murmurs as I drop beside her, her voice drowsy with satisfaction. "Just you and me, nothing else."

I press a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. "We can," I say simply. "This is what the rest of our lives looks like. You and me, together."

She tilts her head to look up at me, and there's something in her eyes—a shadow, a flicker of something I can't quite name. "Promise?" she asks, her voice suddenly small, almost childlike in its vulnerability.

"I promise," I say, tightening my arms around her. "Nothing will ever separate us again."

She settles back against my chest with a contented sigh, her body relaxing into sleep. I stay awake long after her breathing has evened out, watching the rise and fall of her chest, memorizing the peaceful expression on her face.

My Anna is happy tonight—radiantly, incandescently so. And seeing her like this, whole and at peace, fills me with a joy so fierce it borders on pain.

But as I hold her, as I breathe in the scent of her skin and feel the warmth of her body against mine, I can't shake the feeling that something fundamental has changed. That beneath the surface of this perfect night, there's a current pulling us toward something I can't yet see.

I press another kiss to her temple, silently vowing to protect her from whatever comes next. Because one thing I know with absolute certainty: I would tear the world apart with my bare hands before I'd let anything hurt her again.

With that thought, I finally allow myself to drift toward sleep, my arms still wrapped tightly around her, keeping her safe. Mine now, mine always.