Good thing I’m here to help her.
My mouth drops closer to hers, and Coco tips her lips toward me.
Our mouths meet and it feels like the world has slipped away, that I’m falling with everything I have for this woman, no barriers between us, nothing stopping me.
And then just a thought, a flicker flares inside me.Betrayal. Having my life ripped away. Knowing I was lied to and it changed everything I knew to be the truth.
That ache I’ve felt before, the one that felt intimately familiar, threatens to surface inside me, take over, whisper lies in my ear.
But I push it aside because that memory has no right to invade this perfect moment. I kiss Coco deeply, with everything I have, because I know this will be different, this time everything is different, because a past I don’t remember doesn’t equal a future that’s on the rise.
Because this is real.
Chapter 31
Coco
I melt, dissolving, becoming a puddle under Stone’s touch.
His kiss is soft, questioning—no, exploring, telling me everything he said in words, but with his tongue, his hands as they slide to cradle my head, his hips as he shifts forward, and oh, wow—there is his erection, pushing into me.
This is a dream, a strange, upside-down dream where I’m kissing Stone Maddox.
Stone. Maddox.
A man who wants to define himself not by his past but by his future. A man who has chosen me.Me.And with him I can breathe, I can feel, I can shine, because tonight I did shine even when Brittany tried to dim my light.
I flared into a supernova every time he touched my back, my hand, or slipped me a sly smile.
And I’m still flaring now.
I sigh as heat winds into my core. Stone’s lips leave mine and he brushes kisses down my neck to my collarbone. His hands slide down my arms.
I never want him to stop. My fingers entwine in his silky hair and I tug his head up. He looks at me with surprise before rising and claiming my mouth with his own.
The kiss deepens and he moans as I whimper. My nipples are as hard as diamonds, and moisture pools in my panties.
What am I doing? Should we slow this down? Should we stop? But what if in a few hours everything’s different? I just want this one night to be perfect, to feel real, to be as real as it can be with him.
Because let’s face it, tomorrow I break his amnesia, and then Stone will be different.
He’ll hate me, and I’ll return to living my little life.
No.
I don’t want to live like that anymore. I want to be big. Be seen. Feel wanted.
I don’t just want him to forgive me when it all blows up. I want him to see me. The real me. And still want me. But I don’t think that’s how my story will go.
Stone’s kisses become hotter, heated, frantic, and I feel the same energy.
I reach for his shirt and begin undoing the buttons, but his hands take mine and his kisses slow.
Stone presses his forehead to mine. We’re both panting. Our chests rise and fall in time. I rest a hand over his heart and feel it thump beneath my palm.
My eyes close and I exhale.
“Since we’re relearning each other, we should go slow,” he tells me, forehead still against mine. “This doesn’t mean I don’t want you. Iwant you. But with everything going on, we should pause.”
