June moaned, her breath catching every time my hips met hers—as I rocked in, out, in again…each movement an exercise in self-control. Her hands roamed my back, nails scratching little lines on my skin, written like scripture.
She tilted her head back, eyes fluttering, lips parted, and I watched her like a man watches the sun rise, knowing he might never see anything more beautiful.
“Eyes on me,” I whispered, voice rough.
She obeyed, opening those big blue eyes…and God, the way she looked at me.
It split me open, all the way down to my bones. She didn’t look away as I fucked her slow and deep, as I whispered her name over and over again. There was no shame in her face, no hesitation—just that fire, that honesty, that resolute steel I’d come to love so fast.
I shifted my weight, angled my hips—and she gasped, clenching around me, her heels digging into my back.
“There?” I rasped.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Right there. Don’t stop.”
I didn’t.
Couldn’t.
I kept moving, giving her everything I had, learning her body. Our pace increased; she was gasping, aching, fluttering, arching. Jesus, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, blooming in the most unexpected of places.
And when she started to fall apart around me, her cries soft and broken, her body shuddering, I knew this wouldn’t last much longer.
“Come with me,” she said, breathless, pleading.
One more thrust. One more breath. One more look into those wild, celestial eyes…and I wasgone, buried in her, hands clutching, heart wide open and spilling everything I had into the only woman who’d ever made me believe I deserved a second chance.
The aftershocks left us both trembling.
I pulled her into my arms, letting her rest against me even as I questioned if my legs were gonna hold me up anymore. June’s legs stayed wrapped around me, my face buried in her neck, her fingers tracing patterns on my back. I could feel her heart beating against my chest, could feel mine slowing to match it…and I wanted nothing more than to finish undressing her so I could really feel her, skin to skin.
It should’ve been perfect.
And in so many ways, it was…but after a few minutes, June shifted beneath me and winced—just slightly, just enough that it made me pull back, press a kiss to her temple, and murmur, “Come on. Let’s get you off this altar.”
She laughed, quiet and warm. “Holy work complete?”
I kissed the corner of her mouth. “Sanctified.”
She tucked her face against my chest as I helped her sit up, then eased her legs around me, letting me carry her bridal-style back down the hall. It felt funny—like a strange joke, some half-blasphemous parody of a wedding night—but it also felt deeply, deliciously right.
Until I crossed the threshold into the parsonage again.
I paused just inside the door, arms tightening around her instinctively. I could feel June’s energy change as well…the way she locked up a bit, curling her left hand toward her chest, uttering a soft prayer.
“Hey,” I said, pressing my lips to her temple. “We don’t have to stay in here.”
She was quiet for a beat.
Then she whispered, “No. I want to.”
I put her down on her bare feet, slow and gentle. “We can stay out here…sleep on the couch.”
She shook her head. “Take me to the bedroom.”
I tensed—because that was where it happened, where the snake had waited…where I almost lost her. If she’d been bitten somewhere else, if I’d waited even a second longer to get her to the clinic…
She reached up to cup my face, and I found her looking at me, clear-eyed.
