Page 128 of Mommy

Ivory’s wide eyes stare at me unblinking for what feels like eternity before she finally decides.

“Up,” she whispers.

Thank fuck.

I help her with her knees until I’ve got one on each side of my head. She smells like heaven above me and the seconds stretch out into hours as I wait for her to lower herself.

My first kiss is chaste. My first taste of her, barely a stroke of my tongue against her center.

She moans anyway, grabbing for the hem of the shirt and removing it without needing me to ask her for it.

Too far away.

I want to growl the words into the empty space between us, but my tongue won’t form a single one. So instead of stuttering, I let my hands do the talking. Fingers digging into her thighs and palms pulling her down firmly.

“But—”

A grumble interrupts her. It’s not the word I was aiming for—which is no—but at least she stops fighting me and instead loosens her muscles. Her weight lands safely in my hands and I hold her up as I devour her.

My tongue paints the words I can’t say onto her skin in desperate strokes. The apology I didn’t have the air for earlier finding its way into her flesh through my teeth.

I don’t stop her, when she detaches herself from my lips though, letting her take the lead and watch her set the pace.

Only once she has settled down on my cock do I allow myself to move. Taking her with me, I sit up, my back leaning against the headboard.

Each slow circular motion of her hips against my pelvis drags a gasp out of her and I can’t help but go along with her choppy breaths as she brings herself to the brink. Without my doing, my hands wander up her body until they reach her face.

Both my palms cup her cheeks, softly holding onto her while she rides out her orgasm.

Fuck, she’s pretty.

More than pretty.

Beautiful.

The word is permanently stuck in my brain, it’s the only one making sense in the presence of her ethereal aura.

I kiss every bit of her I can reach. My lips brush over her cheeks and up towards her eyes. My fingers thread through her curls, until I cradle her skull in my hands and brush the tip of her nose against mine.

I love you.

The afterglow plasters the words all over the ruins that were once a strong wall, protecting my heart.

I want to say it out loud, but all my mouth does is press kisses along Ivory’s hairline.

Chapter sixty five

Ivory

I wake up with sunshine on my face and keep my eyes closed. The pillow beneath my head is soft, and the fabric is so not scratchy that it feels like I’m back home. But that can’t be right. The pillow at my home isn’t soft. And it doesn’t smell like lavender.

Blinking my eyes open, I let out a sigh when I find the familiar view of my clothes—folded on the bed side table.

I’m back at Derek’s.

Yesterday slowly comes back to me, and part of me—a very small part— is looking at me with judgement.

I should’ve made him apologize. Right?