Korbin didn’t answer for a moment as he considered this, but then he sighed. “Jake and I had a pretty goodcome to Jesusbefore I let him go,” he said. “I don’t think he’d have the balls.”
“Who else then?” I asked, annoyed. “He’s the only option I see.”
“I don’t know, Peyton.” Korbin picked up his beer to take another drink, settling down onto one of the stools along the breakfast bar. “Maybe it truly is just some idiot kids. I wouldn’t worry about it unless they keep calling.”
I went to the fridge and took out some of the leftover pizza for him, popping into the microwave to nuke it. “You’re probably right. I think Jake has me all wound up and rattled since the other night.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Korbin said firmly. “You were attacked in your own home, Peyton. We should have had the police over. I regret just letting him go. We can still report it, you know.”
“I know, but I—I don’t want to. I’d rather just leave it in the past. Move on.” I brought the plate of pizza and cheesy breadsticks to him and set it down.
“Hey, thanks,” he said, digging right in. “I’m sorry I didn’t have any groceries.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t have something better prepared for you,” I teased. “I’m not so good at the Holly Housewife portrayal.”
Korbin laughed. “Thank God for that.”
I sat down beside him and reached for his beer, taking a sip of it as Korbin ate. He glanced over at me briefly at some point, then did a double take, frowning at my hand.
“You’re not wearing your ring,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant about it and failing. I glanced down at my finger as the heat rose to my skin.
“I just—I wanted to see how things worked out in the beginning before I devoted myself to it,” I said quietly. “I didn’t want people to just … assume.”
“Assume what? That you’re engaged?”
“Assume that it actually worked this time around,” I said, and Korbin flinched. I thought he’d be angry, but instead he pushed his plate away and stood up, crossing the floor to take me into his arms. For a moment he just held me in silence, holding me close, tightening himself around me.
“I know I hurt you,” he said after a few moments of blissful silence, his lips brushing my ear, making me shiver. “I know I shattered you, Peyton, but that won’t happen again. I won’t let it.”
“I know,” I murmured, feeling a hot tear slip between my lids. “It’s not you, Korbin, it’s me. I just—I just love you so damn much.”
“Almost as much as I love you,” he whispered, taking my hand and walking with me towards the couch. We both sat down, and he leaned over and kissed me, one hand gently caressing my hair, the other hand resting subtly on my thigh. And then, a moment later, I’d pulled him closer until he was on top of me, his body pressing into mine.
My legs tightened around his hips as I pulled him down on top of me, silently begging for his body to mold with mine. I couldn’t pull him closer even if I wanted to, but I certainly tried, rocking my hips towards his until the hard-on he had stiffened, pressing against me in such a way that I didn’t think we could undress quickly enough. Heat rose to my face and neck as my fingers fumbled for the button on Korbin’s pants, so desperate for him that I couldn’t even think, couldn’t function. Korbin caught my hands in his, stopping me, tempting me.
“Don’t make me stop,” I begged. “I can’t.”
His smile irritated me. He knew he was playing with me, and he loved it. He always had. “Shhh,” he whispered, touching my lips with two fingers. His other hand worked at the seam of my panties, as he shoved the sun dress I wore up around my hips, lips traveling from the nape of my neck and down to the inside of my thighs. He took the panties between his teeth and tugged on them, taunting me, and my hips shot in the air, begging for his touch, the flick of his tongue—anything.
“Oh god,” I moaned, squirming beneath him as he slipped the panties off and tossed them aside, revealing myself to him. A low growl escaped his throat, an animalistic growl that made my heart speed up in my chest, aroused and provoked by him, demanding—no,needing—more from him. My fingers tangled themselves in Korbin’s hair as he went down on me, shoving my legs apart until I could no longer see his head as he fucked me with his mouth, driving me with his tongue to a place I didn’t know existed—pure, exotic bliss.
I came a few minutes later with a full-body shudder, panting and squirming beneath him, feeling like my limbs, my bones, myskinwas on fire. I had dated men after Korbin, just a few of them, but not a single one of them held a flame to him in any department—especially when it came to fucking.
“You taste good,” Korbin growled, meeting my lips with his as I used my feet to slide the pants and boxers down his hips until he could kick them off. I kissed him, kissed him hard, and as I kissed him, wrapping my legs around his waist, Korbin scooped me up and carried me towards the loft, tongue exploring my mouth with a low groan, fighting to contain himself as we bumped into walls, so lost in the moment that nothing else mattered. Reality didn’t exist. Pain, hurt, and anguish no longer crept steadily to the forefront of my mind as he kissed me. And for a while, it was just us, the two of us, lost blindly in our own little world of ecstasy. Of love. Of perfection.
Chapter27
Korbin
Peyton and I woke the next morning in each other’s arms, tangled in the sheets of the bed, wrapped in the blankets, held together by the thin fabric. I woke before she did, and for a few minutes I just watched her sleep, restful in my arms, a slight, whistling snore escaping from her nose with each breath she took. What a fucking angel.
Her alarm went off a few minutes later and she groaned and rolled over, shutting it off, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she stretched her arms in the air and arched her back.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said, and she giggled, falling back onto the mattress to kiss me, her hair tickling my face.
“Would it be weird to thank you for last night?” she asked, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “Because it was a pretty good time.”
“Just pretty good?” I sat up, mock offended, and narrowed my eyes at her. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
