Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Keith moved first to help Ethan out of the van. Meadow stepped out after him and stood there looking at the cabin with quiet curiosity. From outside, there was not much to give anything away. Fresh flowers. Green vines. A softer, more cared-for look than before maybe, but nothing dramatic. Not enough to explain the kind of secrecy Ethan had wrapped around this trip.

Meadow’s brows drew together slightly.

She had started to wonder whether Ethan had only told her there were modifications because he needed more time to finish things before bringing her there. Maybe the work had not been as big as he made it seem. Maybe he only needed an excuse.

“Hello, Luna Meadow.”

Elaine stepped forward and hugged her before Meadow could fully gather herself. Meadow returned the warmth in her own way, then pulled back and signed her greeting. Rashel interpreted for everyone, but Meadow’s smile already said enough.

They all entered the cabin together.

And Meadow stopped.

Everything was new.

Not in a cold, showy, expensive way. Not in a way that erased the place she had come to know. It was still the cabin. Still intimate. Still warm. But everything inside had been changed with care. The furniture. The decorations. The feeling of it. It no longer looked like a place she had stepped into. It looked like a place made with her in mind.

Then her eyes lifted to the fireplace.

A huge painting of her rested above it.

Meadow’s breath caught so sharply it hurt. Her eyes flooded at once. The tears came before she could stop them, before she could even think clearly enough to hide them. Ethan saw it and tensed, suddenly nervous in a way that had nothing to do with his body and everything to do with his heart.

“It would be wrong to have another woman’s picture in our home.”

His voice was quiet when he said it. So quiet that the words felt almost too intimate for anyone else to hear. And maybe that was why Keith, Elaine, and the others excused themselves almost immediately, leaving the two of them in that newness alone.

Meadow stood still, tears slipping freely down her face as she looked at the painting and then around the room again. He had seen her. He had really seen her. Not just the broad things. Not just that she liked beauty or comfort. He had noticed the details. The mix of lilac and beige. Her favourite colours. The softness of the space. The warmth in it. The way it all felt feminine without being fragile, romantic without being silly. Every part of it looked touched by her.

She turned back to him with those tearful eyes and smiled the kind of smile that comes from being overwhelmed in the best

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Chapter 99

possible way.

“How did you know?”

She signed the question, still smiling through tears, and Ethan grinned then, relieved.

“Victoria.”

He confessed it simply, and Meadow laughed soundlessly through her tears before rushing into his arms. She hugged him hard, all gratitude and emotion and disbelief. Ethan held onto her and used the moment to pull her more fully onto his lap. He did it naturally, like it belonged there. Like she belonged there.

Then, while holding her against him, he pressed the automation button and wheeled them toward their bedroom.

Because of his condition, that room had been remodelled downstairs for both of them. The upstairs rooms had been cleaned and

redone too, but he doubted they would use them. Not now. Not when this space had been made for ease, for closeness, for a life that

did not force distance where there did not need to be any.

Meadow remained on his lap as he opened the bedroom door.

She stared.

It was beautiful.

Not just beautiful in the flat way magazine rooms were beautiful. Not just pretty. It felt dreamy in that quiet, personal way she had only ever seen in holiday spreads and interior pages she used to linger over longer than she meant to. Fresh. Soft. Almost like spring had been pulled inside and arranged around them. Beige and lilac fabrics. Gentle green leafy touches. Floral notes without

excess. Warmth without heaviness.

Perfect.

There were pictures of her and Ethan around the room too. Five framed ones altogether. Little pieces of them captured and placed carefully around the space. Then above the headrest of the bed was the largest frame, a picture of the two of them together during a picnic by the lake. Looking at it there, in that room, she felt something settle deep in her chest, Something she had not even

realised was still restless.

This was not just decoration.

This was belonging.

She tightened her arms around him while still sitting on his lap. Ethan kissed her neck in response, slow and hungry in a way that made her body go still before it softened.

Her scent rushed into him and filled his head. Sweet. Warm. Meadow. He wanted too much in that moment. Wanted to pick her up and place her on the bed. Wanted to touch her until she shook for him. Wanted to show her with his mouth and hands what all of this meant to him. What she meant to him. Wanted to drown in her. But his body came with limits, and even in moments like this,

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Chapter 99

those limits did not disappear no matter how much he wished they would.

Still, desire did not care about limitations.

Echo stirred inside him, rising, surfacing, drawn out by her nearness, by the softness of her neck, by the way she melted against him

when he sucked at her sweet spot. Meadow’s body gave her away in the smallest ways. The tilt of her head. The tremor in her breath. The way she held onto him just a little tighter. She liked it. She wanted him too. The knowledge encouraged him more than

he expected.

He moved them closer to the bed.

Meadow lifted her gaze and looked into his eyes with so much admiration, so much open love, that it almost hurt to be seen that clearly. She looked happy. Truly happy. The kind of happy that made people afraid to breathe too hard in case it vanished. And

under all that joy was hope. Fragile. Bright. Dangerous.

She hoped this was not just a phase.

She hoped this was real.

She hoped their lives would remain this blissful.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna