My question had taken him aback. “You really want to know?”
I grunted. “Believe it or not, I don’t bear her any ill will. I’m sure she’s a lovely person—she must’ve been for you to propose—I just knew she wouldn’t make you happy. Not like I would. Besides, if she was upset, that would upset you too. So yeah, I want to know.”
He’d filled me in then. About how he’d walked in on Kate and Rafe. That she knew he’d cheated too, although he was oddly vague about how that part had gone. He’d concluded the story too fast for me to push him on it. “Really, we both realised what everyone had been telling us all along—that we didn’t truly know one another. We were using one another to try and hide from the fact we couldn’t be with the people we loved.”
“But you can.”
“I don’t think Kate can say the same,” Ryan had mused. “I do feel bad for her. Obviously, I knew there wasa chance of her heart being broken, but I’d assumed I’d be the one to do it. Had no idea there was another threat to it entirely.”
My mind returned to the engagement party and the proprietary way Rafe had behaved towards his stepsister. “Makes sense to me. I suspect their situation’s probably even more complicated than ours.”
“You’re telling me,” Ryan said, his lips twitching. “But if our parents end up married, we’ll catch them back up.”
I’d tickled him then until he was squealing and breathless. Only then had I given him a reprieve, grinning down at where he was pinned under me. “Doesn’t count if we’re already together.”
We’d lost another hour in each other then, our lips never parting as I slid inside Ryan, taking us both over the edge.
That was when our bodies had given up, forcing us both to sleep, whether we wanted it or not.
I woke slowly, still half on Ryan’s chest. His hand was wrapped around my wrist, like he was making sure I didn’t leave him during the night.
My Shadow didn’t need to worry. I wasn’t going anywhere.
For a while, I was content just to lie there. For the first time in years, my mind was quiet. At peace. I’d worked so hard for so long to get to this moment. To Ryan in my bed. In my home. In my life.
Now, I had just that. All that was left to do was enjoy it.
When Ryan started to stir, I kissed my way across his chest. Up to his collarbone. From one side to the other. Along the column of his neck.
But the time I reached his lips, he was smiling at me sleepily. “Now that’s a good wake-up call.”
“Not as good as last week. I promise I’ll wake you witha blowjob again soon,” I said before kissing him slowly. Thoroughly.
“Nah, I think this is even better.” Ryan rolled onto his side and snuggled back into me. “Besides, if you’d done that, we wouldn’t be able to tick off another one of your fantasies.”
I was too distracted by the broad expanse of his shoulders to catch his meaning. “Which one?”
He slid one knee up, opening himself to me. “The one where you slide into me for sleepy morning sex. Where you take your time, because you know there’s no need to rush.”
I didn’t know what swelled more—my heart or my cock. “Shadow… Fuck. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, meeting my gaze over his shoulder. “Because it means the same to me.”
Ryan’s hole was still a little sloppy and soft from our round a few hours ago. I stroked him tenderly, continuing to pepper his skin with kisses. “God, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” He gasped as one of my fingers breached him. “Especially when you do that.”
I grinned against his shoulder. “Are you saying your love is dependent on how good I make you feel?”
“Yep,” he said, wriggling on my finger to get it deeper. I held back, knowing we needed more lube.
“Good thing I plan on making you the happiest man alive.” I withdrew my hand to grab the lube. It took me a few seconds to locate it among the sheets. The bedding was a complete mess, the sheet barely clinging to the mattress. “Unless I’m annoying you. I’ll probably do that too.”
“Your addiction to my irritated face is weird.” The last word dissolved into a moan as I slid a finger back into him. “No one should find that cute.”
“It’s not cute on anyone else.” I crooked my finger,hitting his prostate and making him moan. “But your irritation is beautiful.”
“Only because it ends in sex,” Ryan said, another moan slipping free as I tapped the spongy gland again. “You don’t have to annoy me to get that.”
