Forbidden
She cupped Lauren’s face with both hands, her thumbs tracing the line of Lauren's jaw with a frantic, crushing intensity.
"I love you, Lauren Jade," Anne confessed, the heavy, forbidden words finally breaking through her lips for the very first time. It wasn't a calculated statement; it was a desperate, raw surrender. "I love you so much that it terrifies me. I am losing my mind trying to design a way to keep you safe, but the truth is, I don't want to live in a world where I have to deny that you are the only soul who truly knows me."
Lauren’s heart swelled with a powerful, overwhelming rush of emotion. Before she could answer, Anne leaned up and captured her lips in a deep, breathless kiss