A beat later, she whispered, “Logan.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I was halfway in love with you before I even realized it.”
“I told you, Darlin’, we don’t do halfway around here,” I replied.
Then, I picked her up without thinking, one hand holding her to me, the other sliding up to cradle the back of her neck, guiding her face to mine. She made a soft sound against my mouth as her legs locked around my waist like she was just as committed to this moment as I was.
The curve of her body fit against me in a way that felt dangerous. Familiar. Right.
I carried her the few steps to the bed. Every instinct I had told me to take my time. To make sure she was still choosing this. Still choosing me.
I lowered her onto the bed and followed, bracing myself over her without crushing her, my forearms on either side of her shoulders. I hovered over her for a second, memorizing the way she looked like this. Her eyes dark, lips swollen from my kiss, chest rising too fast. Then her hands found their way my hair, pulling slightly, as she looked up at me parting her lips just enough to send me over the edge.
“You okay?” I asked, trying to control the desire to take all of her in this moment.
She nodded, then reached up, thumb brushing along my jaw. “I’m perfect.”
When her hands tugged at my shirt once more, I pulled back just long enough to get it over my head, tossing it aside without looking. Her gaze tracked every movement, slow and intentional, and I caught the flicker of something in her eyes—want, yes, but also certainty.
Her hands moved over my shoulders, my chest, tracing lines like she was learning me by touch before her hands grazed my length straining against my jeans.
I shifted my weight onto one arm, allowing the other to pull off her sweatshirt and leggings, soaking in every inch of her perfect skin before allowing my lips to take over. I kissed my way down her jaw, her throat, feeling her breath hitch beneath my lips as I trailed kisses between her breasts and down the smooth skin leading to her core.
“You look real damn good like this,” I said, granting myself another look at her body as it lay bare in front of me.
“Logan, please.” The words almost dripping off her lips.
That was all the permission I needed. I’d been waiting to taste her since the first night I had her in my bed, and I was done holding back. My hands quickly grabbed her hips, pulling her closer to me as my tongue met her wet entrance. I’d sit there forever if it meant I got to be this close to her, to taste her.
And I did just that until she came with my name on her lips. My movements were no longer slow and controlled. I needed to be inside her again, to feel all of her.
Once I released myself from the hold of my jeans and settled between her thighs, I allowed myself to lose control. My hips quickened pace, and I used my thumb to tease her already swollen clit.
“I can’t, again. It’s too much,” she moaned, her back arching into me as her nails dug into my biceps.
“You can. Give me one more darlin’.” I said, eager to push her over the edge. To have her just as crazy as she made me.
A second later, I could feel her spasming around me as we both met our climax.
Every small sound she made lodged itself somewhere under my ribs. I’d spent years convincing myself I didn’t need this, didn’t deserve it. That wanting meant risk. That closeness meant loss, but in this moment, I would allow myself that.
I pulled her into my chest, her head fitting under my chin like she belonged there. I lay there breathing her in as she traced lazy circles against my skin. It was right then that I noticed that my body no longer felt coiled tight.
It felt… settled.
Outside, the ocean rolled steadily, the sound filtering through the open window. Inside, everything was calm in a good way, the kind of calm that holds you instead of hollowing you out. The sheets beneath us were soft and cool, a contrast to the warmth of our entwined bodies.
“You okay?” she murmured, echoing my question back to me.
I smiled into her hair, surprising myself with how easily it came. “Yeah,” I said honestly. “I am.”
Chapter 45
Dani
Morning came peacefully, not with the sharp intrusion of alarms or obligation, but gently—light slipping through the curtains, stretching gold across the ceiling as the world eased into motion. For a moment, I didn’t move. I lay there, breathing slowly, letting my body catch up to where I was.
