His hips moved again, and this time the restraint stayed, but the retreat disappeared. He was still controlled, but no longer polite about it, and every thrust after that made my grip on him less civilized.
“That’s it. Fuck, Juliette. Take it.”
Each stroke pressed me deeper into the mattress, into the heat of him, until the lie of leaving unchanged had nowhere left to stand.
My breathing went ragged first. His followed, which felt like a victory I had earned with my entire body.
If he was going to undo me, I intended to take some of his control with me.
“Juliette,” he said against my mouth.
My name in his voice did damage in places I had no intention of discussing.
I tightened around him.
His breath broke. One hand left the mattress and caught my hip, then stopped there, gripping hard enough to tell me exactly what he was refusing himself.
Need looked different on Nick. Quieter. Worse.
The pleasure built by degrees, each stroke dragging it higher until my thighs started to shake.
“There you are,” he said, and that was what finished me.
I tried to swallow the sound rising in my throat. Nick heard it anyway. The man collected my worst tells like field data.
My hands locked on his shoulders. My body tightened beneath him, around him, through him.
The next breath broke him.
His hips drove deep, a rough sound tearing against my mouth, and for one savage second, I had him exactly where he had me.
Nick followed with a low curse against my mouth, his body going hard and still before the tremor moved through him.
“Juliette. Fuck.”
He stayed there, buried deep, breathing against me like even moving away required more of him than he had left.
Outside the cabin, the reserve held its breath. Somewhere distant, an engine turned over and faded. Inside, his chest rose hard against mine until the rhythm finally steadied.
His forehead rested against my temple. My hand stayed at the back of his neck.
Eventually, he lifted his head. His eyes were damp. Mine probably were too, which was inconvenient and therefore none of his business.
“Hey,” he said, rough and quiet.
A laugh almost broke loose. It came out as breath.
“Hey.”
His thumb moved once along my cheek.
The silence after that had weight.
"You leave at six-thirty," he said into the dark.
"I know."
"I'll take you to the vehicle."
