Her chest rises and falls like she’s running from something, but her eyes never leave mine, and I know that look. I’ve seen it before, just before she fell apart under my hands, just before she broke her own rules for me.
“Say it,” I tell her, and I’m unable to stop my voice from shaking. “If you want me to do something, say it.”
She doesn’t. Her breath hitches as her fingers twitch at her sides. She bites down on her lower lip and shakes her head. “I’ve been an asshole to you, so the fact that you’re still standing here is a miracle. I’m not making the same mistake twice, Ethan. So drop the act, and come home.”
“Do you mean it?” I ask, even as my eyes sting.
Then she grabs the front of my shirt and yanks me forward, and I don’t waste time acting like I’ve got restraint left.
My mouth hits hers with the kind of hunger I’ve been suppressing for three fucking months. She tastes like adrenaline and grief and need, and I swear I’m going to lose my mind if she pulls away.
But she doesn’t. She pushes into me, gasping into my mouth, her fingers tangled in my collar like she’s trying to hurt me.
I let her.
I let her take what she wants. I let her dig her nails into my chest and open her mouth and drag my bottom lip between her teeth until I groan against her and catch her hips. “I’ve missed you.”
She nods softly. “I’ve missed you too.”
I back her up until she’s flush against the wall, her robe slipping off her shoulder. My hand slides up her thigh, slow, firm, testing if she’ll stop me—and she doesn’t.
“Did you think I’d not come once I got the call?” I murmur against her throat.
“I didn’t think you’d show up,” she whispers. “I didn’t think I was worth the effort.”
But she is. She’s always been.
I press my forehead to hers. “You ran because you were scared. You stayed away because you thought it was safer. I’m here now, and we’re not doing this half-measured.”
She pulls in a breath like she might cry, but then she kisses me again. I take time undoing her clothes before I slide my hand between her legs and find her as wet and hot as ever. She begins trembling when I circle my fingers against her. “You’re going tocome for me,” I say, teeth at her jaw. “Right here. I want it all back. Every second you took from me.”
Her nails dig into my shoulder.
“Ethan—”
I curl my fingers again, and she chokes on a sound that turns my spine molten.
“You want me to stop?” I ask.
“No.” She shudders. “God, no. Please don’t stop.”
Her thighs tremble. Her head falls back against the wall. I watch her fall apart with nothing but my hand between us, and I kiss her when she comes, swallowing her moans, letting her cling to me like I’m the only thing keeping her up.
When her body relaxes, I slide my hand away and suck her taste off my fingers.
“You always were mine,” I say. “And you always will be.”
Instead of arguing, she pulls me toward the bedroom, and I follow.
The bedroom’s dim, the sheets rumpled like she hasn’t been sleeping, and it smells faintly like her skin. Something in my chest breaks open the second she reaches for me again. Her hands are trembling. Mine aren’t.
I guide her down onto the bed, not rough but not gentle either. She’s breathing fast again, eyes wild, and I settle between her legs without giving her time to overthink.
“I missed this,” I murmur, pushing her thighs apart. “You didn’t forget how I touch you, did you?”
She shakes her head, lips parted.
“Words, baby.”
