“I’m tired.” She ate the chip.
“I thought you’d left. Again.” The words were ripped from a raw place I hated.
She considered me, brushing salt from her fingers. “I’m not leaving you again. Chasing you is exhausting. And expensive. Do you know how much wooing costs? I bought you a watch that could pay off someone’s mortgage.”
“That was your choice.”
“Well, I’m taking a break,” she announced. “Rest days are important.”
“Rest days?”
“I’m working remotely with the girls’ home in D.C. I’m allowed to have a life outside courting your grumpy ass.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You can’t just disappear.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t disappear. I just stopped. You were getting weird.”
“I wasn’t getting weird.”
“Oh, please.” She popped another gummy worm. “Pretending to still be mad for attention and presents is weird for an adult.”
“I was not—”
She raised a brow. I shut my mouth. She grinned, triumphant. Then she dusted her hands dramatically and said, “Why not skip to the good parts?” She pointed between us. “You’re not even mad anymore—your mother told me. So how about we just have sex, make up, get married, and stop pretending this is more complicated than it is?”
My mouth fell open. Closed. Opened again. She tilted her head, smiling sweetly.
“Julian. Baby. I’m here. I’m not leaving.”
I took one step toward her. “You think you can disappear for three days,” I said quietly, “and then tell me we’re getting married?”
“Yes,” she said brightly. “Be a man of action. Find me. The old you would have.”
I stared at her for three seconds—long enough for her smile to flicker, but not long enough for her confidence to crack. Then I grabbed her. Lifted her. Set her on the kitchen counter so suddenly she gasped.
Her eyes widened. “Julian—”
“We are not getting married tonight.” I leaned in, my breath touching hers. “But we are going to finally talk.”
“And,” she whispered, breathless, her hand coming up to wrap around my neck, her nails scraping lightly through my hair, “the sex part?”
My hands slid from her waist to her hips, my fingers digging into her skin. “We’ll do that too.”
Her smile broke out, slow and wicked, and she leaned in, her mouth a hair’s breadth from mine. “Talk first? How, Julian? You’re shaking,” she teased.
Arching her back, her breasts brushed mine, her mouth seeking the pulse point at my neck with a desperation that broke my last thread of restraint. I let out a low, guttural sound I couldn't suppress as I hooked my arms under her knees and carried her toward the bedroom, her legs wrapping around my waist like a vice. Every step I took, she clung against me, her hips grinding into mine, her teeth nipping at my shoulder.
I dropped her onto the mattress. Before she could even catch her breath, I was over her, pinning her wrists above her head against the pillows.
“I’m not ever letting you go,” I whispered against her pulse, my voice vibrating. I ran my fingertips across her lips, then lower, my hand coming to rest on her throat. I applied firm, steady pressure to anchor her there.
I could feel heat shoot through her, warming her skin, saw her pupils blowing out until her eyes were nothing but dark voids of need. She whimpered—a sound of pure surrender that sent a jolt of electricity straight to my gut. A devilish grin washed away my brooding expression as I realized I finally had her right where I wanted her. I let go of her neck, leaned in, and slid my tongue into her mouth, my body slamming down to grind into her middle.
She fought to get closer, her nails scoring the skin of my back through the fabric. Just as the tension became unbearable, I pulled away. I left her gasping, her chest heaving, her eyes searching mine with a desperate yearning.
"This isn't a game we're playing anymore," I rasped. "I’m hooked on you, Elara. You’re under my skin like a fever I can’t break. So understand this… there is no ‘again.’ You don’t get to walk away for a year and expect to find me waiting at home when you get bored. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth if I haveto. You stay right here, where I can see you. You understand?" I demanded, my voice dropping an octave.
She nodded frantically, her gaze never leaving mine. I stood, finally breaking our physical connection to strip. Elara stayed where I’d pinned her, flushed and panting, her eyes tracking every movement as if she were afraid I’d vanish if she blinked.
