-puremature- -nicole Aniston- Nighttime Romance... -

The night deepened around them, the only romance that mattered unfolding in the space between two people who had finally stopped holding their breath. Outside, the city roared. Inside, there was only the soft sound of discovery, and the quiet, profound beginning of forever.

He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. “I’ve spent a lot of nights alone in this room,” he confessed, his voice rough. “I thought I liked the quiet. But I was just waiting for a quiet I could share.” -PureMature- -Nicole Aniston- Nighttime Romance...

“Or maybe we’re just listening too closely,” she replied, finally taking a sip of the wine. He watched the bob of her throat. The night deepened around them, the only romance

“Couldn’t sleep either?” she asked, her voice a low, smoky murmur that didn't quite reach a whisper. He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes

She heard the soft click of the bedroom door behind her.

He stepped into the moonlight, barefoot, wearing only the loose linen pants he’d slept in. Leo. He was older, a photographer whose eyes had seen too much and whose heart had been locked away for years. He’d met Nicole at a gallery opening six months ago, a collision of his weary cynicism and her vibrant, guarded grace. She was an enigma he’d stopped trying to solve, and that, he realized, was why he’d fallen for her.

“Now,” he said, taking her hand and leading her away from the window, back towards the rumpled sheets of the bed, where the city lights became a distant, forgotten galaxy. “Now, I don’t want to sleep at all.”