I nearly swooned, but I scrambled up on shaky legs and crawled over to him, quickly getting myself into position before I wrapped my fingers around the thick base of his cock. He jolted underneath me as if the touch had shocked him, but the curses that left his mouth on a hiss let me know the involuntary jerk hadn’t been pain, but something else entirely.
God, I love it when he gets like this.
With that thought in mind, I opened my mouth and took him inside. My eyelids fluttered shut as I cupped the underside of him with my tongue. Zach cursed again, but then his mouth was on me, and soon, the only sounds in the room were our heavy panting breaths and wet noises that were driving me crazy.
He slid a finger into me just as he sucked my clit between his lips. I shuddered and suddenly sat up, climbing off him like a shot. Still panting, Zach frowned, his gaze following me as I spun around and straddled his hips instead.
“Condom?” I asked.
He jerked his chin at the corner of the mattress. “Right there.”
I looked over to see the package he must’ve had ready for this moment and I didn’t hesitate, tearing it open with my teeth and rolling it onto him. He watched my movements for a second, apparently fighting for control. Then he grabbed my hair when the protection was in place.
Those eyes were hazy when he looked up, his gaze latching onto mine with the same edge of desperation in it I was feeling too. “Hard?”
“Yes, please.” I braced my palms on his chest, falling into our old rhythm so easily that once again, it was like no time had passed at all. “Don’t be gentle.”
“Thank God.” He tightened his grip on my hair and grabbed hold of my hip when I lifted myself to get into position. I was barely there when he thrust up into me in one sharp, powerful movement. “Adeline. Fuck.”
My eyes nearly rolled back in my head, but I steadied myself by wrapping my fingers around his shoulders. Zach started moving in earnest, seriously delivering on the promise he’d made. It wasn’t long before he took over, flipping me onto myback and hooking my leg around his shoulder, hitting parts of me inside that I’d forgotten I even had.
Loud moans spilled from my lips, but since we were alone in the condo, I didn’t bother trying to hold back and neither did he. Zach could be as loud as me when he wanted to be, and it looked like tonight was one of those nights.
Between bruising kisses and backing off more times that I could count, I finally felt him surrender. Pleasure streaked through me in response. Both of us held on to each other throughout, riding out the waves together. Trembling in the aftermath, we collapsed onto the bed, still not letting go.
Zach pulled me to him, my head on his chest, and dropped a panting kiss on top of my head. “Can we agree to keep making up like that every time we have an argument?”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” I smiled and pressed a kiss to his chest in turn. My heavy eyelids slid shut and exhaustion pulled me under before my heartrate had even slowed down.
When I opened my eyes again, it was morning and rays of sunlight stretched across the bed, painting golden strips on my plain white bedding and catching on the broad line of Zach’s bare shoulder where he lay beside me. He was half propped against the headboard, his blond hair messy and one of his hands resting lazily over my hip beneath the blankets.
He was awake too, looking thoughtful. I started tracing absent circles along his chest, too comfortable, warm, and afraid that I was dreaming to move or even to break the silence. There was still so much unsaid between us that it practically filled the room. Regret, hurt, love, and fear spun my insides into a frenzy.
Zach glanced down at me. The corners of his mouth lifted as those green eyes fell to mine. “You’re thinking way too loudly for a Saturday morning.”
I snorted. “Sorry. I’ll try to keep my musings quieter.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
I smiled up at him, but now that I was fairly certain this was real and that I hadn’t been dreaming after all, nervous energy crept back in. He seemed to be feeling it too, swallowing just a little too often for it to be normal and looking at me before his gaze would suddenly lift away and dart around the room.
It was still odd, seeing him like this. Like he thought he had something to lose and it terrified him. Ever since I’d met him, the name Zach Westwood had been synonymous with confidence and certainty, but these days, it was interspersed with these rare moments of vulnerability that told me exactly what really mattered to him—and that was me. Meandthe girls.
What he and I had was somehow simultaneously strong enough to withstand the test of timeandto keep us coming back together no matter what, but also so fragile that it felt like we were balancing on a knife’s edge.
Zach’s thumb brushed slowly against my side before he cleared his throat. “So, do you still want to come look at the art today?”
I stared up at him and saw the cautious optimism in his eyes, a look he only ever used to get when he wanted something so badly that he became afraid of pushing too hard to get it. Maybe I was just projecting my own feelings onto him, but I couldn’t help feeling like there was a secret clock ticking somewhere in the background now, counting down to some moment neither of us knew how to reach.
A moment when we would either figure out how or when to move forward, or call it quits for good.
“Sure, I’d love to take a look,” I finally answered. “Is that still okay?”
His gaze held mine before he nodded. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll go put on some coffee. At least we don’t have to rush today.”
That was a novel concept these days, for sure, but I suddenly found myself wondering if this was what we’d needed all along.Just one day, alone together, to figure out where we wanted to go from here.
And maybe even how to get there.
