The Sea & The Storm

"I have no one, nothing to rely on-" I didn't back down, I didn't step back. My throat hurt from yelling, but I didn't care.

"Yes," he growled sharply. "You do."

And with that, there was something in him that possessed him. Something that came over him that wasn't Aidan at all and yet, it was him, a piece of him I already knew was there. His arms closed the space between us, catching around me and tugging me closer. I stumbled with wide eyes to find his lips pressed against mine.

And I melted. There was a moment when I didn't know whether I should have reeled back or fallen closer. My head spun too wildly to tell. It held the same rush as drinking a decanter of whisky or walking across the cliff edges by the water. I was dizzy and drowning at the same time that I was so sure that I had wanted him to do this, that maybe all along I had wanted all of Aidan's compassion to keep greedily to myself.