“Why now? Is this yer way of getting me to stay?”
“Erica, I wouldnae say that if I didnae mean it.”
“Ye have yet to answer me question.”
“What do ye want me to say?”
Erica sighed. “The truth. Ye never hid how much ye despised falling in love. In fact, ye once told me ye would never marry again. So, what changed yer mind?”
“Ye did, silly.” His response shocked her to the core, such that her knees weakened. “Ye’ve shown me what love is—what ittrulyis—and I daenae ken if I can live without it. Or withoutye.”
Erica felt a lump form in her throat, and she swallowed past it almost immediately.
“And what happens later, when ye decide ye were wrong?” she asked, the apprehension in her voice more evident than the heat in the room.
“Have ye nae heard?” Alex asked, leaning in. “I am never wrong.”
Erica laughed, a wave of relief rushing down her spine. She got all the confirmation needed, and now she was free.
Free to say the words back to him.
And mean them.
Trulymean them.
“I love ye,” she said, and it sounded like surrender and home. “I have from the moment ye stood up to MacGee and pretended ye didnae care about the rules.”
“I wasnae pretending.”
“Oh, I am certain ye werenae.”
He laughed once, a quiet broken thing, and pulled her in as if he had been waiting his whole life to do only that.
The last hard piece of pride between them cracked. They kissed again, closing the distance their fear had built.
Without thinking too hard about it, Erica took off his shirt. Alex reached for her thighs and lifted her off the floor. They found their way to the edge of the bed, and he slowly laid her on it, loosening her dress.
Then, his weight settled over her, the bed creaking beneath them. He kissed her even more fervently this time, as if she would be taken away from him forever and he needed to get as much of her as he could.As if he had been starving for ages.
Erica felt his length, hot and hard, between her thighs, and they parted almost instinctively. Her breath hitched, and he looked at her, nothing but desire in his good eye.
“Are ye certain?”
She nodded, curling her fingers around his neck. “More than anything.”
His mouth twisted into a smile, and he pushed into her. She gasped against him, a shudder racking her body.
“Easy…” he whispered in her ear.
She tried to grab onto something, but she ended up raking her nails down his back. She tried to relax as he slid into her to the hilt.
His hips ground into hers, and another gasp escaped her lips. Then the rhythm started to build. At first, it was slow and electric, then he went faster, thrusting in and out, and sealing his mouth over hers.
She moaned against him.Hear burned low in her belly, and her body tightened further every time he drove into her. Her thighs locked around his waist, and she drew him deeper, asking for more.Beggingfor more.
He was deep.
God,he was deep.
