My vision swims. I bite my lip.
He moves again, withdrawing almost all the way before sliding back in. This isn’t the wild and dirty fucking I expected when he positioned me against the wall. His forehead touches mine as he fills me and retreats over and over again with a maddening deliberateness. My first urge is to speed him up, but then I notice the determination in his eyes and decide to let go and enjoy the ride. He wants to make this good, and it is. So damned good.
It’s then, while he’s methodically driving me to the edge of insanity, that lightning strikes. I see the truth: I’m afraid of him. Of what he makes me feel. By keeping him at a distance, I’ve been protecting myself.
But I’m not a woman driven by fear, so I choose to be fearless.
I open myself to him.
Lowering my walls, I let him see all of me, and I look at him. Really look. Not being afraid of what I might find staring back at me.
He hits that perfect spot inside me again and it’s more than I can take. I come apart, eyelids slamming down, every part of my body squeezing and writhing as a pleasure more intense than any I’ve ever known claims me.
“Oh, hell.” Devon gasps. “I can feel you coming. It’s… it’s…” He trails off, a groan ripping from his chest as he joins me. Somehow, he manages to stagger to the bedroom, supporting my weight without collapsing, and then he sets me down carefully on the bed, as though worried he’ll break me. It’s ridiculous considering how competitive we get on the mats while I practice my jiu-jitsu, but sweet, nonetheless.
He flops beside me, grinning like crazy, and raises himself up for long enough to smooth the hair from my face and drop a kiss on my temple.
“That was magic,” he says. “We’re magic together. You’re really something, Harley.”
“So are you.” In fact, I’m beginning to think he might be the piece I’ve been missing. Is that crazy?
I won’t tell him. It’s too soon for that. But maybe one day, I will.
ChapterFourteen
Devon
This time, when I wake, Harley is still in bed. Her lips curve, and her eyes appear green. They’re clear. Guileless. The same way they were last night when we whispered confidences to each other in the near-dark, admitting all but the most important secret: how we really feel about each other. I could sense her holding back on that front, so I did too, not wanting to overwhelm her.
I’m falling, though. Falling fast.
I could stare into her eyes forever.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Morning,” she murmurs.
“This is how all days should begin,” I say, and brush a kiss over the end of her nose. “You and me. In bed. Morning kisses. Always.”
At first, she smiles softly, but then her expression begins to shutter. A crinkle forms between her brows and even though she doesn’t say another word, she’s emotionally withdrawing. The flow of energy between us has been halted. Did I say too much? Get ahead of myself?
“I’d better get going before Seth wakes up and wonders where I am,” she says. “I can’t be MIA for two nights in a row.”
“Can’t you say you were at a friend’s place?”
She sighs. “What friend? Other than the people I’ve met at the gym and Seth’s ex, I know no one here and I haven’t had the chance to change that. He won’t buy it. I need to go.”
“Okay, then.” I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. “But can I at least get you a coffee?”
“No time.” She throws the blankets off and dresses in the clothes she wore over yesterday. By the time I pull myself together, she’s almost at the door. I have to say, I’m not enjoying the love-him-and-leave-him vibe I’m getting from her right now.
“Whoa,” I say before she bolts. “Hang on two seconds. Are we okay?”
“Yeah.” She flashes me a smile, then drops a kiss on my cheek. “We’re fine, Dev. I just have to go.” A moment later, her blonde hair whips through the exit and she vanishes. I flop on the couch, feeling hollow. Damn. I need to be more careful. But most importantly, I want to know exactly what it was that scared her off so we can tackle it together.
A couple of hours later, at the gym, I ask her that exact thing. Her eyes narrow, her nostrils flare, and she gives me a look that would make a schoolmarm proud.
“Quiet,” she hisses.
