He followed with a roar, jerking into me hard, emptying himself with one last vicious thrust.
He held me there, chest to my back, both of us trembling in the aftermath. I could feel the moment his dominance melted, replaced by that quiet, aching tenderness onlyIever got from him.
He kissed my shoulder, softly this time, his breath shuddering.
“Too much?” he asked, pulling out slowly, reverent now. “Did I hurt you?”
I turned in his arms, cradled his face between my palms. “You healed something I didn’t know was broken.”
Relief flooded his expression. Then he kissed me, soft, lingering, with none of the desperation from before. Just love. Raw and real.
Skin still tingling, heart still full, he whispered, “The only thing that settles me lately is the sound of your voice. I don’t know how to be without you now.”
“You don’t have to be,” I whispered back, kissing the curve of his jaw.
Later, tangled in the sheets, Gunner traced lazy circles on my hip, his other hand curled around my back like he still couldn’t let go.
The contrast from the storm in the shower was jarring in the best way. Here was the other side of him, the quiet, steady kind of love that came not in words, but in gestures. The kind that stayed.
“I love you,” he whispered into the silence, like a secret he’d kept too long.
My heartbeat thudded, breath catching. “Not falling?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not falling.Gone.Head over fucking heels, Cassidy. There’s no coming back for me.”
I pressed a kiss to the center of his chest, right over the place I knew his heart beat strongest.
“I love you too,” I whispered, my voice shaking with truth.
“I know,” he said with that cocky little smirk. “Hard not to, with a dick as beautiful as mine.”
I burst out laughing, full and unfiltered. It felt like something broke open in me. Something healing.
When he laughed too, I knew we were okay. We weremorethan okay as we held onto each other, the sound of joy filling the room.
“Oh, I have something for you,” he said after our laughter died down. “Wait there.”
He got out of bed and moved his gloriously naked body across the room to his closet and opened the door, taking something out. When he turned around he had a box in his hand. The box he handed me wasn’t just any laptop, it was the exact model I’d talked about during a casual conversation with him the week before.
“Gunner,” I gasped. “That’s for me?”
His eyes shone with excitement but there was a blush to his cheeks. “I know you’re having problems getting your laptop fixed, so I thought…”
Looking down at the box my stomach swooped like I was on a rollercoaster. “Baby this is just too much.” It was top of the range, and I knew exactly how much it would have cost him. “I can’t accept it.” Tears pricked my eyelashes at the level of generosity and thoughtfulness.
“Yes you can.” He placed his hand on top of mine on the box. “You deserve it, and I want you to have it. Take a look. I charged it up and created a temporary password for you.”
“What is it?” I asked, lifting the lid on the box and marveling at the sleek silver laptop inside.
“Gunner is a sex god,” he announced with a crooked smile. “The e’s are the number three and the I is a number one.”
Shaking my head with amusement I keyed it in, watching as the screen came alive.
When I saw what he’d already installed my throat went tight. Teaching software that I’d mentioned wanting, specializing in math applications and a folder labelled ‘Camp Curriculum’. Holding my breath, I clicked into it to find a template based on my scattered notes. He’d been listening to every word, even when I hadn’t realized.
“Gunner,” I whispered, breath catching in awe. “This is incredible.”
“Glad you like it.” When I leaned in for a kiss, he met me halfway, his lips soft and sure.
