“There was angst all up in here,” she says, eyes sparkling as she waves her hand over my head.
“Because I care about you so, so much too, Dahlia Granger. If you knew how much, you might run.”
“Yeah, right next to you,” she says. “We’re sprinting together, you know. I think we have been from the start.”
I stare up at her and nod, in awe and relief. “Yes, we have.”
She leans in and kisses me, slowly at first, then with that hungry edge that makes everything inside me tilt and flare. I slide my hand into her hair and pull her on top of me, loving the way her body presses into mine.
“You’re mine,” she whispers.
It’s intoxicating.
“And you’re mine,” I murmur, brushing my thumb over her lower lip.
Her cheeks flush. And her smile lands right in the center of my chest and stays there. The hope feels solid. Something I can hold on to.
I kiss her again, and when she pulls back and sits up, my breath hitches. She positions herself over my cock and eases down on me, making us both groan. She’s warm and wet and utter perfection. She moves above me, her hips rolling in an unhurried rhythm that makes my vision blur at the edges. My hands slide up the curve of her back, fingers tracing her spine, memorizing every inch. She shivers slightly, and I feel it everywhere.
“Dylan,” she breathes, a whisper against my lips.
I answer by pulling her closer, deeper, until there’s no space left between us. Our lips and tongues collide. I want to inhale her. I can’t get close enough.
I flip us slowly, because I want to watch her face when I sink back into her. Her eyes flutter open—dark, a little wrecked—and I think this must be what drowning feels like. Except we don’t want to be saved.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I say, my voice raspy. “God, Dahlia. The way you feel around me. I want to be buried inside you until the end of time.”
“Never stop,” she gasps. “Never ever stop.”
She arches up to meet me, her nails digging into my shoulders, and I lose whatever fragile control I was clinging to. We move together like we’ve done this a thousand times and like it’s the first time all at once.
There’s no rush. Every thrust is a promise, every gasp she gives me knocks away all doubt, and every kiss confirms what I already knew—I have fallen in love with this woman. She is my person, and there is no going back now.
When she comes, it’s quiet—just my name broken on her lips. Her body clenches around mine like she’s trying to keep me forever. I follow a breath later, buried deep, forehead pressed to hers, swallowing the sound she makes when she feels me let go inside her.
We don’t say the words, but it’s never been louder. She talked about seeing my thoughts, and I know what she meant because it’s evident with every look and every touch.
She stays wrapped around me, our legs tangled together, my hand cupped possessively over her ass. The ceiling fan spins lazy circles above us. Outside, the waves and wind sound tumultuous, but in here, everything has calmed. There’s only the thud of our heartbeats. She presses soft, reverent kisses to my collarbone, and my fingers trail over her skin, unable to break contact for even a second.
“Sometimes l can’t quite believe you’re real,” I tell her.
“I am. And I’m not going anywhere,” she says. “Except in whatever position you tell me to get in.”
My laughter bounces off the walls. “The fucking mouth on you, Doll.”
She buries her head in my neck, laughing shyly. “I’ve had an excellent teacher.”
When we finally break apart to go to the bathroom, I feel so much lighter than when we went to bed.It’s going to be okay, I think as I look in the mirror.
I freshen up and go back into the bedroom, half expecting her to be asleep. But she surprises me yet again. She’s on her stomach, ass up. She looks at me with a seductive smile over her shoulder, and my dick jerks to attention.
Yeah, we’re going to be just fine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE COUNTDOWN
DAHLIA
