When she picked up the pace, the sight of her completely unraveled me. She threw her head back, her long hair cascading down her back, the muscles in her throat defined in the moonlight from the window. She was completely lost in the moment, in the pleasure, utterly and beautifully unguarded.
All the noise in my head—the projections, the years of self-imposed rules—it all just stopped. There was only her and pure, unfiltered honesty. This was the real life I’d run from. Not a liability to be managed, but a truth to be lived. And it was the most captivating thing I had ever witnessed.
She leaned down then, her hair tenting around us, her mouth at my ear. “You’re mine, and don’t forget it.”
The words, so fierce and possessive, shot through me. “Always.”
I thrust up, hard, and she cried out, her body shuddering. I grabbed her ass, holding her in place as I took her deeper, harder.
“Brynn,” I groaned, “I’m so close…”
She covered my mouth with hers, kissing me through it, her body squeezing me so tight I almost saw stars. I climaxed inside her, hips jerking, hands clutching her as if I could fuse us together. She whimpered, her whole body shaking in my arms.
We collapsed in a heap, her head on my chest, my arms around her. For a long time, there was only the sound of our breathing.
I traced lazy circles on her back. “This,” I said, my voice husky, “right here is what I was so afraid of.”
She propped herself up on an elbow, her expression soft and questioning. “Being with me?”
“Not just that. Feeling this real. I didn’t think I could handle it.” I smiled, burying my face in her hair. “Turns out I can’t live without it.”
A soft, deep breath escaped her, and she lowered her head back to my chest, her cheek warm against my skin. Her hand came up to rest over my heart, as if she could feel the truth of the words beating there.
We lay in the quiet, the moonlight painting silver stripes across the rumpled sheets. The promise of morning and a thousand new beginnings waited just outside the door. There were still moves to be made, businesses to build, and a lifetime of arguments over whose turn it was to take out the trash. It was weird and complicated and scary.
And for the first time, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
When I dreamed, it was of salt and sunlight, and the taste of her laughter on my tongue.
