Page 57 of Hearts on the Line

“You’re going to fucking kill me, Sloane. Saying shit like that.”

“You like it,” I tease, nipping his lip between my teeth.

Ethan groans, reaching up to trace his hands over my back. “I like you.”

My heart hammers in my chest. It’s not new information. It’s only in this context that I’m starting to think he’s still in love with me too. And that is too big to think about. If my car hadn’t broken down, would I still be here? Would I have continued lying to myself that life was great?

I push all that aside. I’m not running, but I can’t promise any more right now. So I don’t.

He pulls me down for another hungry kiss, momentarily calming the swirling panic inside me until I focus on his lips on me, the feel of his tongue, the swipe of his thumb against my taut nipple.

More, more is the only chorus racing through my head before I realize I’m on my back and he’s helping me out of my shorts. I shimmy my waist against his comforter, sighing when his fingertips dip below the hem of my underwear.

He leans over me, his eyes dark and hooded. “Is this okay, Sloane? Is this what you want?”

I nod, then fist the sheets beneath me.

“I need you to say it. Need to know whatever happens between us means more than a quick fuck.”

I press myself up to take his mouth in mine and kiss him, desperate to show him that he means something to me, even though I don’t know all the boundaries there yet.

Ethan kisses his way down my body, taking his time as if he knows I’m not telling the complete truth and this might very well be the only time we sleep together. That’s a lie, too, because the way he makes me feel, it’s impossible to believe this will be the only time.

“Jesus.” I sigh, greedy for his touch.

His hand runs over my underwear, touching me everywhere except where I want him most. “So, what are we going to do? Fuck one time and get it out of our systems? Think we could stop just once?”

He doesn’t give me a chance to answer before his finger sweeps underneath the fabric and brushes against my clit.

“If you just want to get off, Sloane, I’ll buy you a vibrator. I’m a team player. But if you want me, then you need to understand I’m going to make you feel everything. I want to make you feel so good, but it comes from here.” He taps his chest. “I couldn’t fucking breathe for years with you gone. It’s going to get messy. But we’re going to figure it out together.”

I buck off the bed, my patience thin, my heart still broken but so in love with this man in front of me. I could have sworn we were strangers, but the years apart haven’t changed us.

“You took your belly ring out.” He withdraws his fingers from my underwear, then traces them up to the small scar I have from the piercing I got in high school. His fingers are still slick when he moves them up to my lips. “Can you taste how wet you are for me, Sloane?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl. Now tell me what you want.”

I search my mind for something other than the basic answer of you. But I do. That’s all right now. “I want to go slow, Ethan. I want to remember us. I want to take our time.”

“Hmm.” He draws back and scratches his neck. I’m afraid I said something wrong before he grips my underwear in both hands and rips them off, tossing them aside. “Never thought I’d hear you say that again, baby.”

He nips my inner thigh with his teeth, then slowly teases me, touching me everywhere until I’m almost panting on the bed.

“Please,” I beg.

“I was your first, Sloane. I’m not playing fair now.”

Slowly, he moves his mouth higher up my thigh until I can feel the heat of his breath against my clit.

“Do you remember how good we were?” he asks, slipping his thumb against my clit. Ethan’s fingers trace light circles against that delicate bundle of nerves before he takes them away.

“Yes,” I cry, desperate to chase my pleasure.

I moan when his mouth follows his fingers, his tongue lapping at me like I’m raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. He takes me apart with each touch, each stroke, then inserts two fingers inside me. I swear I levitate off the bed.

“Don’t stop.” That sweet tension burns through me, and I feel that familiar pull. I’m so close.