I can see her waking up here and making breakfast. She wouldn’t even make it to flipping a single pancake before I’d have her pinned against the counter. I’d be tasting her, worshipping her, losing myself in her until her breath was punched loose—my hands locked onto her hips.
The thought of her. The idea of her. The sounds of her moans. It’s enough, barely, to give me everything I need for my release.
And then it happens. And the sound that rips out of me is rough and unfiltered as I come—hard, wrecking—every muscle locking and releasing like I’ve been split open from the inside and there’s no putting myself back together afterward.
Because she’s still there. Like a drug. Threaded through my veins like something I never agreed to take but can’t stop needing.
The way she looks at me.
The way she moved without hesitation, ready to shield me when she thought Vanessa had landed a hit.
The way I want to throw her into traffic one minute and pull her leg over my shoulder and feast on her the next.
I still want her.
Too much.
God…Eli, what the hell do we do now?
Careful, Bear. You Might Mess Around and Get Some of this Honey
Max
Iwake to the sound of my phone vibrating so violently on the nightstand, I’m convinced it’s about to launch itself into another dimension.
For a moment, I just lie there, blinking up at the ceiling, wrapped in warmth and softness. My brain tries to reboot, but everything feels… still. Quiet. No alarms. No late-night crises. No anxiety about the emails waiting for me.
And then… “Oh, shit,” I say to myself. “I slept. All night.”
I can’t remember the last time that happened. Normally, something always yanks me awake—work emergencies, system alerts, a family situation, or my mind racing through everything I still haven’t fixed. Rest, for me, is usually something I negotiate with, not something I’ve ever been allowed to fall into.
But one night here with this man and it feels like my body went heavy. My thoughts went quiet. And the night passed without demanding anything from me.
It feels strange. Tender. Intoxicating, even.
I turn my head and finally register the buzzing phone. I don’t remember grabbing it from Eli’s truck. I definitely don’t remember plugging it in to charge.
Because I didn’t.
He must have come in here while I was asleep.
Since I’ve met him he’s been thoughtful in that annoyingly sweet way he pretends isn’t his kink.
And for the first time in a very long time, the idea of a man like him, the thoughtfulness of him, makes me realize how much peace I’ve been living without.
Careful, Bear. You keep creeping in here like this, you might just mess around and get some of this honey.
Groggy, eyes half-shut, I fumble for my phone and unlock the screen to what can only be described as a digital ambush—group texts.
Timantha:You alive? Why aren’t you answering? If this man has killed you, I’m going to feel like absolute trash for missing it because of date night. And after-date night.??more on that later. Please respond before I call your mom.
Eslin:What. The. Hell. Maxine Palmer.Are you with him?! I thought you were gonna get a hotel? Did he touch you? Touch you emotionally or biblically?BOTH?!
Timantha:If I find out you’re dead I will never forgive myself.
I groan, falling back into the pillow. My friends are having a meltdown, and it’s barely 7 a.m.
I shoot off a quick group reply.
