“I have too. I want you, Nate.”
Her arms wrapped around me as we crossed the threshold, the soft quiet of the room settling around us like a secret. I paused for a heartbeat, drinking in the sight of her—hair tousled, cheeks flushed, eyes bright with anticipation. The air felt charged, every movement deliberate, and every glance loaded with meaning neither of us had dared to voice until now. I set her gently down on the bed, the mattress dipping beneath ourcombined weight as she reached for me again, pulling me close and erasing the last bit of distance between us.
I reached for the nightstand without breaking the kiss and pulled a condom from the drawer. She exhaled—a soft, relieved breath that felt like trust.
“Good,” she murmured, thumb brushing my lower lip. “Thank you.”
“I’ll always take care of you. Always, Eliza,” I said, because there was no universe where I wasn’t careful with her.
The rest of our clothes fell away in a quiet blur of warm skin and whispered yeses. There was nothing rushed about any of it. Just the kind of closeness that felt inevitable. Her fingers trailed over my shoulders. My mouth traced the line of her throat, the curve of her collarbone, each touch asking and waiting.
I slipped a hand between her legs, cupping her in my palm, middle finger tracing her slick opening, then up to find her clit.
“Nate.” Her voice was nothing but soft breath in my ear.
“I want to make you feel good. Can I?”
She looked up at me, her eyes bright and unguarded, and for a heartbeat, neither of us spoke. Everything else—the uncertainty, the walls we’d built—had fallen away. I traced my thumb along her cheek and saw the way she smiled, so sweet and so beautiful, the kind you save for moments that feel like beginnings. I felt her heartbeat thrumming beneath my hand, steady and real, and knew this was something we could choose, again and again, no matter what came next.
She nodded, eyes wide, mouth open as she panted softly.
Touching her like this was something I’d never let my imagination get far enough to follow through with. I felt like I was living inside a fantasy. It didn’t feel real. The scent of her blended with her perfume, and it was all I could do not to fall apart.
I kissed her, hard, deep, loving how her lips reddened, and her cheeks flushed when I pulled away. She arched into my touch, her breath catching as I moved with a tenderness that made my own heart ache. Every response from her felt like an answer to a question I hadn't known I was asking. I watched her lashes flutter, her lips parting with a shuddering sigh, and I pressed a lingering kiss to her temple—wanting her to feel cherished, wanted, seen.
I slid down, kissing a trail between her breasts, over the soft curve of her stomach, and lower.
“Open for me,” I said, smiling against her skin as she threw her legs over my shoulders. “Yeah, just like this.” I licked straight up her center, groaning at the taste. She was hot, wet, perfection, and I knew I would never get enough of her.
She clutched my hair and let out a moan as she rocked her hips closer to my mouth. “You’re so beautiful,” I groaned against the heat of her.
“Please. Get inside me, Nate. I need you.”
“You’re sure?” I whispered.
Her answer wasn’t a word—it was the way she dropped her legs to the sides and tugged at my hair.
She nodded, her eyes searching mine for a final moment of reassurance. “I’m sure,” she said, voice low but certain, and any last thread of hesitation unwound between us. We moved together, slowly, letting the trust grow in each gentle touch, every whispered word, as if building something sacred in the quiet dark.
I rose to my knees and slid the condom on. Watching as her lips parted, breath hitching.
I traced a slow line up the center of her body as I leaned over her, my weight on one arm, savoring the way her skin responded to each gentle touch as I settled myself between her legs, rolling my hips to rest between her spread thighs.
“Say the word, Eliza,” I murmured, tucking my face into the side of her neck. “I need to hear it again.”
“Yes,” she whispered, wrapping her arms and legs around me. “Now. Please.”
The space between us felt sacred, charged with anticipation and the quiet certainty that we were exactly where we needed to be. In that small space, every heartbeat seemed to echo with the promise of all the things we hadn't said but deeply felt.
I sank inside her body, hardly believing I was lucky enough to be right here, sliding inside the most beautiful woman I’d ever met in my life.
She writhed beneath me, hitching her legs tighter around my waist, begging me without words to get deeper. So, I did, my pulse racing out of control as I slammed my hips into hers.
“God, you feel so good, Eliza.”
“More,” she moaned, biting my shoulder and digging her nails into my sides.
I propped myself up onto one elbow so I could watch her as I pulled back, then pushed back inside. Again and again, as her mouth fell open and she threw her head back. I ground against her when our hips met, grunting as I held myself back. I’d never felt anything like this before, never been with anyone as amazing as Eliza.
