“Really?” Her voice was a little shaky.
He nodded even though she couldn’t see him.
“Smartphones help a lot. I don’t have to memorize phone numbers. And my passcode, I just remember the pattern, not the numbers, like you said.” What else? How else had she helped him figure out ways to navigate a world of numbers? “I can’t tell you how many centimeters deep you should dig a hole for a tree, but when I used a ruler, I could actuallyseeit. And I can plant a hundred trees an hour now because my hands know how deep to dig after all those years.”
Her fingers brushed against his, and it took all his strength not to grab them and hang on forever.
“William understands a little. He helps me keep track of how early I need to leave for meetings and things, kind of like you used to.”
“I got so mad when you were late to pick me up until I figured out that something else might be going on.” Her voice was thick with memories. Memories of him that she’d hung onto.
“At least directions have never been a problem for me, thank God.” Little mercies that the points of the compass made sense to him.
“Good thing for me.” She shifted a little closer, robbing him of his breath. “I’d have been screwed without you today.”
He inched closer too, sliding his hands along her jaw and into her hair. He held on to her as if she might disappear now that they’d both shared those enormous truths, and when his thumbs brushed her cheeks, they came away wet.
Tears. She’d been crying.
“Don’t.” He leaned forward in the dark to press his lips again the damp tracks.
She gave a little sob-laugh. “Okay.” And then she kissed him. Just a soft press of her lips against his. And he was undone.
“Faith,” he breathed, tightening his hands in her hair before kissing her back.
Never dreamed. He neverdreamedhe’d be here again with her. She tasted the same, smelled the same. She’d always smelled good to him but not because of any particular scent. It was like the chemical makeup of her skin called to him. And her lips still fit against his like they’d been created just for that purpose. He pressed kiss after kiss against her mouth, along her jaw, down her neck. They were sweet kisses, almost chaste, but she made a noise deep in her throat and pressed up against him, returning those soft brushes of his mouth with her own.
He trailed his lips over to her ear. “I’m kissing you, duchess.”
“Yes.” She rolled her hips against his, the contact electric. “Keep going.”
“I will.” He kissed her hairline. He kissed her chin. He kissed her mouth again. “But only if you agree that the hallway was our first kiss.”
“What do you…?” She fell back against her pillow with a disbelieving laugh. “No tongue. You have me this hot for you, and you haven’t used your tongue.”
“Not yet anyway.”
“If I agree to the hallway”—her fingers crept under the hem of his sweatshirt—“will you?”
He bit back a groan as her touch swept over his ribs. “Yes.”
“Okay. Hallway was our first kiss.”
Her last word ended in a squeak when he grabbed her hands and lifted them over her head, pinning her to the ground as he rolled on top of her and plunged his tongue into her mouth, seeking her heat, her sweetness. He nudged her knee open so he could rock against her core, and she tangled her fingers with his and kissed him back.
Leo lost track of how long they stayed locked together like that, open mouths, hot breaths, small moans. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted her begging. He wanted her as mindless as he was right now.
He broke their kiss and shifted to the side so he could trail his hand down her stomach before dipping his fingers below the waistband of her pants. “Can I?”
“Yes. Anything.” She shifted restlessly against him, and he wasted no time sliding his hand under her layers.
His touch was light at first, a gentle up and down stroke, but after a few passes, his fingers were as wet and slippery as her pussy.
“Tell me what feels best.” He circled her clit with the tip of one finger, and she jolted.
“That. A little slower.” She grabbed a handful of his hair and kissed him into compliance, not that he wasn’t already willing to do anything she said. He circled and teased and lived and died with every soft gasp that spilled from her lips, but it still wasn’t enough.
He propped himself up on one arm and shifted slightly downward so he could slide two fingers inside her while he pressed circles onto her clit with his thumb. “Good?” He bit down semi-gently on one of the diamond-hard nipples poking through her shirt.
