His palms pressed against the wall on either side of my head, the muscles in his arms flexing with the effort of holding himself back.
“Tell me you feel this.” His voice cracked. “Tell me this isn’t just me falling apart. Tell me you’re drowning too.”
“I feel it too.” I pressed my hand over his racing heart. The skin was fever hot beneath my palm, his heartbeat so fast and hard that I could count each desperate thud. “I feel everything, Ryker. And I’m terrified of it. Terrified of how much I need you. How much of myself I’ve already given to you without even realizing it.”
Something fierce flashed in his eyes. He dropped to his knees in front of me, the movement so sudden and graceful that it stole my breath. From this angle, I could see the way his shoulders rose and fell with each labored breath, the tension in his jaw. He looked up at me with worship in his eyes, his hands sliding up the backs of my thighs. His fingers hooked into my shorts anddragged them down slowly, inch by torturous inch, his knuckles grazing my skin the entire way. When they pooled at my ankles, he helped me step out of them, which was a little tricky on the leg with the monitor. Then his hands lingered on my calves before sliding back up to grip my thighs.
“So beautiful,” he murmured, pressing his lips to the inside of my leg. “Every inch of you.” Another kiss, higher on my thigh. “I want to worship you.” Higher still, his breath hot against sensitive skin. “Want to show you exactly what you mean to me.” Another kiss.
Then he stilled.
“I need you to understand something.” He rose slowly, his hands skating up my sides, fingertips tracing each rib like he was counting them, leaving trails of ecstasy in their wake. “You are not what happened to you. You are not your past. You are not guilty of anything except surviving. Except being so strong, so fierce and beautiful, that, sometimes, I can’t believe you’re mine.”
Mine.The word soothed my heart like a medication healing the disease of rejection.
His palm pressed flat against my sternum.
“You’re everything good I never knew I needed. You walked into my life, and suddenly, everything made sense. Every lonely night, every failed relationship, every moment I wondered if I’d ever find someone I cared more about than anything … it was all leading me to you.”
The words shattered something inside me. I reached for him, pulling his mouth back to mine, pouring every ounce of feeling I couldn’t name into the kiss. It was messy and desperate and perfect. He responded instantly, groaning against my lips.
He spun me around, and I barely had time to brace my hands against the wall before his body covered mine from behind, the heat of his bare chest against my back making me shudder. I could feel every ridge of muscle, the way his abs contracted with each harsh breath. His hand slid around to splay across my stomach, holding me against him while his lipsfound the curve of my shoulder, shooting a sharp sensation to my core.
“I need you,” he said, his voice wrecked. “Need to feel you. Need to know you’re real. That this is real. That tomorrow, when I wake up, you’ll still be here.”
“I’m here.” I arched back into him, feeling the hard length of him pressing against me through his pants. “I’m yours.”
The sound of his zipper, teeth releasing one by one in a rhythm that seemed to match my heartbeat. The rustle of fabric. The soft thud as his pants hit the floor. Then his hand was on my hip, his skin burning hot against mine, pulling me back as he kicked my feet wider.
“Hands on the wall,” he commanded.
I shut my eyes, so utterly turned on that I swallowed loudly. But seriously, bent over, palms against the wall, after he kicked my legs apart? Was hot as hell. It was taking everything I had to be patient because I needed to feel him inside me. Now.
As I adjusted my stance, anticipation coiled tight in my belly. He paused at my entrance, the blunt head of him just barely pressing teasingly against me. Every muscle in his body was taut with restraint, his breath coming in short pants against my neck.
“Say it again.” His voice was rough velvet.
“I’m yours, Ryker.” I looked over my shoulder, meeting his eyes. They were wild now, almost feral with need, but underneath the desire was something deeper. Love so profound, it made my chest ache. “And you’re mine.”
He surged forward, filling me completely, stretching me in the most delicious way. The feeling of him inside me, of being so intimately connected, made stars burst behind my eyelids. And the cry that tore from my throat was half relief, half adoration. This wasn’t like before. This was two souls trying to merge into one. Every thrust felt like a vow, deep and measured and purposeful, every touch a promise.
He set a rhythm that bordered on desperate, but even in his urgency, he was careful with me. One hand slid around to mystomach, holding me steady, while the other gripped my hip hard enough to bruise. I wanted the marks. Wanted proof tomorrow that this moment existed.
That we existed.
“So perfect,” he groaned against my ear, his voice rough and broken. “The way you feel. The way you take me. Like you were made for me.”
His hand slid up from my stomach to cup my breast, thumb circling my nipple, and the sensation made me cry out. I pushed back against him, needing more. Always needing more.
“I love you,” I gasped, the words ripping out of me. “God, Ryker, I love you so much, it scares me. So much, it feels like I might die from it.”
He froze. Just for a heartbeat. I felt his whole body go rigid behind me, his breath catching audibly. Then he pulled out and turned me around so fast, the world blurred. My back hit the wall again, but gently this time, his hand cradling the back of my head to cushion the impact.
His hands cupped my face, tilting it up so I had nowhere to look but into his eyes. They were glassy, intense, burning with something that made my chest ache.
“Say it again.” His voice broke completely, raw emotion bleeding through every syllable.
He knew this was hard for me to say. To feel. To admit. To be vulnerable enough to let him in deeper than I’d ever let anyone else.
