His gaze wheels over to me, eyes darkening for a second before another smile tugs, brighter than the last. “Of course.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He takes my wrist, presses my hand into his chest, harder, deeper. “I’m more than okay. You don’t have to worry about me. I promise.”
His heart thumps, galloping and alive.
I collapse against him in a desperate sprawl, burying my face in the curve of his neck. “I need you,” I say, clinging to his shoulders as I crawl into his lap, straddling him.
His hands trail down my body. When I shift, he surges forward, taking my mouth in a breath-stealing kiss. My tongue meets his on instinct. Wild, hungry, frantic. He squeezes harder, his hips jerking up off the bed.
I grind down, palms braced against his neck, our bodies moving with urgency. Our mouths clash, all teeth and tongues and beautiful ache. He pulls my shirt over my head, and as our lips break apart, he follows the arch of my body, diving to my breasts, licking, tasting, devouring.
A second later, my underwear hits the floor, and I’m ripping his belt open, yanking his jeans halfway down his thighs. I take a moment to trace the jagged scar roped around his thigh, then climb back on and sink down onto him in one hard, quick motion.
Bare. No condom.
I don’t care.
I’m on the pill.
He groans, sharp and guttural, propping himself on his elbows, lips parted, eyes wild as he watches me take his cock, nothing between us. “Annie—”
“Need to feel all of you,” I gasp, moving fast, frenzied, trying to outrun the worry in my chest.
He sits up all the way and pulls me into him, wrapping an arm around my back, our foreheads pressed tight. His thumb skims my jaw, firm enough to guide me back to his stare when my eyes start to slip shut. His voice is low and rough, but tender beneath the strain. A gentle urgency. “Stay with me.”
The words thrum through me, grounding me. I clutch his shoulders, lock onto his gaze, my body syncing to his rhythm.
“Jesus,” he chokes out, guiding my hips. “That’s it. Stay with me, Annie. You feel so good.”
I clench around him, taking every inch, watching his head fall back, throat exposed, body shaking. My hands cradle his face, dragging his gaze back to mine, our lips barely brushing. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“So much.”
“So fucking much.”
An orgasm crashes seconds later, rocketing through me. Embers and tinder and firelight. Everything. All I need.
Him.
Just him.
He hooks my hips with both hands and rams into me two more times before letting go, growling his release against my throat and clutching me tight.
I feel it all. Pulsing, tingling, tangible, alive. Here.
He’s here. I’m here.
We’re okay.
We lie there in the quiet, skin against skin, hearts still beating too fast. I listen to the sound of his breath start to even out, feel his body slacken beneath mine, the adrenaline finally letting go.
Eventually, I slip out of bed, careful not to wake him. I find the hotel’s notepad and tear a page from the top, the paper flimsy and lined with gold.
The pen shakes, but the words come easy. Small and strange and true.
