Page 109 of My Real Love Affair

I obliged, drive after slow drive, until sweat beaded at my temples and her pulse fluttered wild under my lips. She was close again. I could feel it in the way her muscles tightened. The tremble that started in her thighs and rolled up her body like I was riding a wave. I slipped a hand between us, found where we joined, circled my thumb gently around that sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Come for me once more, baby,” I said, voice like gravel. “I want to feel you.”

Her back bowed beautifully off the mattress and a soft cry escaped her lips. The contractions around me pulled me towardthe edge, but I held on, riding through it, kissing her deep until the last pulse faded.

When her eyes opened, blown wide and liquid, she cupped my cheek. Her thumb brushed along my lip, and something in my chest cracked open. She was in ecstasy. I did that. I made her feel like that. It made me feel like I was the king of the world standing on the bow of a massive ship.

I shifted, rolling us so she was on top, legs still straddling me. Surprise flickered in her expression, followed quickly by a mischievous sparkle that told me my feisty influencer was loving being the one in control. “I can work with this,” she said, palms flat on my chest.

I let my hands roam up her thighs to grip her hips, giving her control. “Show me, Melody.”

She sank down slowly on me, biting her lip, eyes locked on mine as she began to move. I groaned, fingers flexing against her skin. She felt like hot silk around me, squeezing in all the right places. She leaned forward, hair falling like a curtain around us, kissing me slowly.

I slid a hand between her breasts, splayed fingers wide. The other moved to knead her gorgeous ass and guide her pace. She set one that built friction fast, whimpers turning into husky moans each time she ground down. The coil tightened. My vision tunneled.

“You feel so fucking good,” I managed, voice breaking. “Absolutely perfect.”

She pinned my wrist to the pillow above my head, surprising me. Melody changed the angle, rolling instead of bouncing, every roll brushing the spot that had my hips jerking up involuntarily. My free hand jumped from her hip to her breast, thumb and forefinger finding her nipple and teasing it gently. Her breath hitched. She sped up, chasing it. I rocked up to meet her, the rhythm getting sloppy.

“I—I can’t—” My control snapped. The words tore out of me. Pleasure twisted upward, sharper, faster. She leaned down and kissed me. It was sloppy and messy and completely out of control. I tumbled over the edge, groaning her name into her mouth. She stayed right there, hips rolling lazily until the last tremor left me boneless.

She collapsed forward on my chest. Our breathing was labored. I wrapped my arms around her pillowy softness, holding her close like I had never been so sure of anything in my life.

Eventually she rolled off, flopping to the side. I disposed of the condom and grabbed two chilled bottles from the bar fridge. We drank, still breathing hard, sharing lazy little smiles that felt massive.

And then we climbed under the covers and snuggled close.

“This is nice,” I said quietly.

“Which part?”

“This. Being alone with you. Not being perceived.” I paused, trying to find the right words. “I’ve spent my whole life with people looking at me. Thinking they know me. Making judgments about who I am based on my last name or my reputation or whatever I did last week. It’s exhausting.”

She propped herself up to look at me. “And this is different?”

“This is refreshing. When it’s just us, I don’t have to be Austin Bancroft, the son that disappoints. I’m not the professional screwup my family has to be ashamed of. I can just be me. Whoever that is.”

“I like whoever that is,” she said softly. “For what it’s worth.”

“It’s worth everything.” I pulled her closer, needing her warmth. “What about you? How are you feeling about all this?”

She was quiet for several long seconds. “Confused. Happy. Terrified. All of it at once.”

“That’s fair.”

“I’m not sure what this means, Austin. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We had rules in place for a reason, and now we’ve gone and broken the biggest one.” She looked up at me. “Does this mean we’re a real item? Like, actually dating? Or is this just—I don’t know—a natural conclusion to the arrangement?”

The vulnerability in her voice made my chest ache.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’ve never been good with labels. Relationships. Defining things.” I ran my fingers through her hair. “But I know I’d rather be with you than anyone else. I know that when I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. I know that the idea of you with someone else makes me want to put my fist through a wall.”

“That’s very caveman of you.”

I kissed the top of her head and then grunted, pounding my chest with my other hand. “All I know is this feels right. Real. And I want more of it.”

“More?”

“We should go away somewhere. Just us. Away from New York and my family. Away from the cameras and the gossip and the pressure.”