Chapter 23 \u2013 Won Again\u00a0<\/p>\n
SERA\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s talk about us. About how I want things to be okay between us again and maybe\u2026\u201d His darkened, \u201cBetter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
green\u00a0<\/p>\n
orbs\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDarius-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t shut me out, Sera. Please.\u201d His lips brushed against my jaw, making me shiver. \u201cI know I\u2019ve hurt you. But I want to fix this. I want to fix us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mary\u2019s words from earlier came rushing back to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe she was right. Maybe I didn\u2019t have to give up on us. Maybe we could work through this, find our way back to each other despite everything that had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want that too,\u201d I whispered, and his whole body seemed to relax with relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then his mouth was on mine again, and this time I kissed him back with everything I had. My arms went around his neck, my fingers tangling in his dark hair, and I felt him groan against my lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He backed me toward his bedroom, his hands roaming over my body, reacquainting themselves with curves he probably didn\u2019t remember touching that drunken night years ago. When my back hit the door, he pressed himself against me, and I could feel how much he wanted this. Wanted me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve wanted this, wanted you,\u201d he breathed against my neck, his lips trailing fire along my skin. \u201cGod, Sera, I want you so damn much!\u201d He confessed into my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hands found the zipper of my dress, sliding it down slowly while his mouth worked at the sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder. The fabric pooled at my feet, and I should have felt exposed, vulnerable, but instead I felt safe. Desired. Loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because it was him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I reached for his shirt, my fingers fumbling with the buttons until he helped me, pulling it over his head and letting it fall to the floor beside my dress. His chest was warm and solid under my hands, his heart beating as fast as mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted me easily, carrying me to his bed and laying me down gently like I was something precious. His eyes roamed over me, dark with want, and I felt beautiful under his gaze in a way I hadn\u2019t in so long.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d he asked, his voice hoarse with restraint. \u201cI don\u2019t want to push-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure,\u201d I whispered, pulling him down to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His kiss was slow this time, thorough, like he was savoring every second. His hands explored my skin with a reverence that made my breath catch, touching me like he was memorizing every inch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he moved lower, pressing kisses to my throat, my collarbone, the valley between my breasts, I arched beneath him, my fingers digging into his shoulders. It had been so long since we\u2019d been together like this, so long since I\u2019d felt wanted and cherished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23 Won Again\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
His phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We both froze, the sound cutting through the moment like a knife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIgnore it,\u201d he murmured against my skin, but I could feel the tension creeping back into his body.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ringing stopped, then started again immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDarius,\u201d I said softly, my heart already sinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reached for the phone on the nightstand, his face grim. \u201cIt\u2019s Cathy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something cold settled in my stomach. \u201cDon\u2019t answer it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he was already swiping to accept the call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCathy, this better be-\u201d His face went white as he listened. \u201cWhat? When? How bad?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat up, pulling the sheet around myself, watching his expression change from annoyance to panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be right there,\u201d he said, already getting up and reaching for his clothes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDarius.\u201d My voice came out small, broken. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivienne collapsed at Cathy\u2019s house. They\u2019re taking her to the hospital.\u201d He was pulling on his pants, grabbing his shirt from the floor. \u201cI have to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d The word tore out of my throat. \u201cPlease don\u2019t leave. Not now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused, looking at me sitting there in our bed, disheveled and desperate. For a moment, I thought he might stay. I thought he might choose me for once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Sera. I have to. She\u2019s-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s what?\u201d I stood up, the sheet wrapped around me, tears already starting to fall. \u201cShe\u2019s more important than your wife? More important than what we were just\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s dying,\u201d he said quietly, and the words left me breaking into a million pieces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words burned every inch of me with unimaginable pain, pain I knew he would never understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pain I knew he didn\u2019t care about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched him finish getting dressed, my heart breaking all over again. When he got to the door, he turned back\u00a0<\/p>\n
to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be back as soon as I can. We can talk then, finish-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d My voice was flat, empty. \u201cJust go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hesitated for another second, then left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I lay there in his bedroom, naked, surrounded by our discarded clothes, feeling more humiliated and alone than\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ever had in my life. Once again, Vivienne had won. Once again, I was second choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 23 Chapter 23 \u2013 Won Again\u00a0 SERA\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s talk about us. About how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}