It's different from the other times. Slower. More deliberate.
He watches my face as his fingers move, cataloging every gasp, every shiver, every whispered plea.
When I try to rush him, he holds me down with one hand on my hip.
"Let me," he murmurs. "Let me take care of you."
So I do.
I let him worship me with his hands and his mouth, let him bring me to the edge and back again until I'm trembling with need.
And when he finally slides inside me, it's so gentle it makes me want to cry.
"Okay?" he asks, holding himself still.
"More than okay." I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "Don't stop."
He doesn't.
He moves slowly, carefully, mindful of my injuries but no less intense for it.
Every thrust is deliberate, every stroke designed to make me feel how much he loves me.
His forehead presses against mine, our breath mingling, our eyes locked.
"I've got you," he whispers. "I've always got you."
The pleasure builds slowly, a wave instead of a crash.
When it finally crests, I come apart in his arms, his name on my lips, tears streaming down my face.
He follows moments later, burying his face in my neck, his whole body shaking with the force of it.
For a long moment afterward, we just hold each other.
His weight is warm and solid above me, his heart pounding against my chest.
I run my fingers through his hair, feeling the tension slowly drain from his body.
"That was—" he starts.
"Yeah." I laugh softly. "It was."
He lifts his head and kisses me again, soft and sweet. "I love you."
"I love you too." I touch his face, tracing the lines of exhaustion around his eyes. "Both of us do."
His hand slides down to rest on my stomach, right over the place where our baby is growing.
The smile that crosses his face is unlike any I've seen before—soft and wondering and full of a hope I didn't know he was capable of.
"Both of you," he repeats. "I like the sound of that."
By the time we get back to the compound, the sun has set.
The drive was quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts.
RJ kept one hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh, like he couldn't bear to not be touching me.
