Attached At Heart (Wildflower #3)

29. Delaney

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

delaney

B LAKE HAD ME BACKED up against the corner post of the boxing ring within seconds, my legs wrapped around his hips and one of his hands clutching my ass. His lips hadn’t left mine; our mouths were inseparable. Blake kissed me in a way that, until this moment, I hadn’t realized I wanted so badly. Nothing was left out of this kiss. He wasn’t holding a single thing back, and it made me understand how much he’d withheld before.

His kisses ravaged me: rough and tender, quick but slow. He groaned into my mouth, and heat flooded between my legs. All I wanted was to clench my thighs together in response, but they were held open by his broad body, and I almost cried when he seemed to read my mind, grinding up against me to give me the friction I was seeking. His erection hit me just right, even through our layers of clothes, at an angle that might have me coming embarrassingly soon if he kept at it. And God, I hoped he did. My fingers dug into his shoulders, hanging on with desperation as I tried to tilt my hips and match his movements.

“Blake, I—” I started, trying to warn him what he was doing to me and how quickly he was doing it, but Blake cut off my words with a needy thrust against my body, and stars burst in my vision.

“Delaney.” He shuddered my name, kneading my ass like he couldn’t get enough. And then, without warning, he smacked it, causing me to jerk forward and collide with him in such a sweet, sweet way. A pleasure-filled gasp flew out of me, breaking our kiss. But Blake seemed to appreciate my response, his growly voice echoing in my veins. “ Fuck , baby.”

“Fuck,” I echoed, looking up at the ceiling and feeling like I was going to float up to the top of it. “Blake, oh my God.”

“I know, Lane,” he hummed. “I know how you like it.”

“Yes.” My head spun. “Don’t want you holding back.”

“Never again,” he promised, dragging his lips to the curve of my jaw, peppering kisses across my skin. “Going to make sure you know you’re mine every fucking day from here on out. Been holding back for way too goddamn long. Never again.”

He sucked on my pulse point, and I released a breathy “Good boy.”

That was what I wanted. A version of Blake London who didn’t hold back.

“Holy—” Blake choked on the rest of his thought before grabbing at my leggings, trying to find the top of them. “Need more. Need these off.”

I kicked my sandals to the floor and tipped my hips toward him, arching off the post and wrapping my arms around the back of it for support, trying to make it easier. Blake eventually found what he was looking for, ripping the fabric down my legs as I held on and watched him.

Now that I could stare at him, I wanted to stare at him, appreciate him, take in his broad, shirtless shoulders and defined muscles that, to this day, still surprised me. His sharp jaw ticked as he focused on his task, and strands of his wavy hair hung over moody eyes. Lightning flashed through the front windows behind him, casting a magnificent glow, illuminating every perfect inch of him as he threw my leggings to the floor.

When he looked back up, his expression was fierce, telling me he’d be keeping his promise tonight. There was no more holding back. None at all.

My breath vanished.

His lips tilted with a smirk as he realized I’d been watching him, and then he slowly brought his body back to mine, dragging his hands up my bare legs to hitch them back around his hips.

“I love you,” he mouthed, not actually saying the words but making me feel them. His love made my whole body pliant and warm, and I found it difficult to speak.

Blake didn’t wait for my reply anyway, capturing my lips with his again, drugging me with a deep kiss that only made his words feel that much more profound. I wanted this kiss forever and ever.

But the skies intervened.

A sharp clap of thunder knocked us both back, shaking the building and then sending it into darkness a second later.

“Shit,” Blake muttered, swiveling his head around to assess the gym. The current between us momentarily severed as he let me slide down his body and back to my feet. “One second, baby. Don’t move.”

He regrettably walked away, over to the front door to survey the block. It had also grown dark, save for one streetlamp, which cast through the gym’s windows—the only source of light in the building. It shone onto the middle of the boxing ring.

I decided to follow it while I waited, feeling drawn to the spotlight. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, still coursing from the run here, the heart-pounding confessions, the kiss before the crash, and I just—I needed to move. Blake told me not to, but I didn’t know how to just stand here and wait while my emotions felt so trapped by my body. So I climbed through the ropes of the boxing ring onto the padded arena.

By the time Blake turned back around, I was experimenting with the feel of the floor beneath my bare feet, wondering what it would feel like to dance on. The sound of my old ballet instructor, Ms. Sylvia, rang in my ears, yelling at me to “feel the floor!” as I spun across it. I dragged my toes over the soft, elastic material, testing it out before settling in first position.

My feet had never completely healed from the damage that had been done to them at my mom’s insistence. And I think that resentment caused such a resistance to ever acknowledge the dancer in me. There were parts of ballet that I missed; there was connectivity, there was expression, and that all felt so integral to being human, being alive.

I learned that in Amsterdam. And I felt it right now, too.

When Blake and I had been at that club, I thought my desire to dance, to move, had been caused by the atmosphere, something to do with the ambience, the music, the lights.

But here I was, standing in the middle of a dark room with only a streetlamp for light and only the sound of the rain as my backdrop melody, and I still felt that urge.

It had nothing to do with where I was or what was going on around me.

And everything to do with the man watching me with heat in his gaze.

Blake was my muse.

And I didn’t just feel the need to dance; I felt the need to dance for him.

I transitioned from a tendu into an arabesque, catching how Blake’s gaze darkened out of the corner of my eye. Vaguely, I remembered that I was half-naked, with only my bra, underwear, and his alumni T-shirt covering my body.

It was all I could feel against my skin—this half-soaked shirt, the one I wore to sleep night after night because it made me feel more attached to the man who gave it to me all those years ago.

I’d been frustrated with Blake for never telling me the truth about his feelings for so many years, but why hadn’t I known? I should have realized the strength of my attachment for him, should have come to know it for what it was.

That was on me.

I played a part in this, too.

And like him, I’d do my best to make up for it. I didn’t want to take another day for granted.

I was still reeling from his confessions, still absorbing them and fully realizing them. I felt them move through me as I moved, balancing my foot up on the top rope of the boxing ring as I faced my best friend, my husband. Even in the darkness, I caught the way Blake tracked my movements. Then, he started toward me, climbing into the ring and sinking into the chair in the opposite corner, draping one arm over the rope in a slight mimic of what I’d done.

“I told you not to move,” he said without a single ounce of irritation. He didn’t care.

“Had to,” I breathed as I leaned forward in a stretch. Blake’s eyes traced my body, and my eyes remained glued to his gaze, wanting to see his reactions. I only took my attention off him for a moment, spinning to stretch the other leg, giving him a nice view of my backside.

When I checked over my shoulder, I found Blake staring at me hungrily.

“I know.” He sounded starved. My lips curved. He caught it, his brow raising at my expression. “You like having an audience, don’t you, Lane?”

“I like having you as my audience,” I corrected.

“Only me.” It was a soft promise. “I’m the only one allowed to see you like this.” His eyes flicked around the building before returning to me. “The power outage made sure of that. No security cameras. No lights. Doors are locked. Just you and me, baby.”

“I like that.” The way he was looking at me made me shiver. He was half-covered in shadows, and I wasn’t used to seeing a side of Blake that could be a little bit dark, but I liked it. God, I liked it so much. “I think if I had you to watch me, maybe I never would have quit ballet.”

“I could watch you forever, Lane.” He ran his hand over his jawline, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“I think you just have a thing for this T-shirt,” I teased before leaning down to stretch the other side of my body.

“I definitely have a thing for you in that T-shirt,” he said. “But I think the T-shirt itself would look even better on the floor.”

I glanced back at him. “You think so, huh?”

“Yeah.” His eyes flared as I lowered my leg and faced him, toying with the hem of the shirt and pretending to debate, even though I knew what I was going to do. “I think so.”

I lifted the shirt over my head with a single swoop of my arms, tossing it to the side, over the boxing ring ropes, and Blake’s pupils widened. His breathing quickened, his chest visibly rising and falling as he leaned forward to rest on his knees, watching me with an intensity that made my heart pound in my chest like I was preparing for a performance at Carnegie Hall and not nearly naked in a boxing ring on a tiny side street in Boston.

Blake lowered his voice and ordered, “Dance for me.”

So I did.

I danced for him like this boxing ring was my stage, and he watched, enraptured by a truly sub-par show. My movements weren’t fluid, and my limbs weren’t capable of half of what they used to be, but it didn’t matter. I felt connected in a way I never had before. I felt every beat of Blake’s gaze. It radiated through me, causing my skin to flush and my nipples to harden against the lining of my bra.

When I paused with my leg raised and smiled at Blake, he rasped, “What is that called?”

“This is just a leg extension.”

“One day, I’m going to fuck you in that position, Mrs. London. I don’t think all that flexibility should go to waste.”

“One day?” I questioned.

He shook his head. “I’m enjoying the show too much right now to interrupt it.”

I lowered my leg and raised my hands above my head instead, letting my fingers trail my arms as they raised in a sensual, slow exploration. “I thought you wanted me, Mr. London.”

“Oh, I do,” Blake said, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he surveyed me. “I want to worship you from head to toe, Delaney. Appreciate every fucking inch of you. Right now, I’m doing it with my eyes. Soon, I’m going to do it with my hands. And then my mouth. And finally…”

He leaned back in the chair, leisurely throwing one arm back onto the ropes while he used his other hand to stroke his cock through his shorts.

My breath caught in my throat.

“You like that plan, don’t you?” he asked, his lips cocking to one side.

“I’m a little impatient for the last part, if I’m honest.” My attention remained fixed on his hand as it moved up and down his length. My mouth watered. “Maybe you should give me a sneak peek.”

Blake’s mouth transformed into a wicked grin as he yanked the waistband of his shorts down to let his cock spring out.

“This what you want, Lane?”

I bit my lip, transfixed by how he stroked himself. My arms fell limply back to my sides. “It’s a good start.”

Suddenly, things were moving too slowly for me.

“Delaney…” Blake stood, and my stomach flipped as he closed the distance between us, kicking his shorts to the ground and off to the side. “How long have I wanted you?”

“For a long time.” My voice shook as I heard myself say that truth aloud. For a long time. Blake had wanted me for a long time. My head spun at the notion, but at the same time, it was so comforting .

When Blake got within reach, he rested his hands on my hips, his touch branding me. Hot. I was so hot.

“Be more specific.”

His fingers found my hip bones, his thumb rubbing in tantalizing circles. I arched forward, wanting more of his touch, wanting to feel him. His other hand reached around my back, expertly undoing my bra. It loosened around my body, the straps sliding down my arms. My nipples brushed against his chest, and he moaned. I gasped.

“Since the day we met,” I breathed, still dazed by those words.

I let my bra fall to the floor, forgotten.

“That’s right.” His hands wandered up my sides and then flattened on my abdomen, smoothing over my skin until he had my breasts in his palms, squeezing gently. I melted into him, and he stepped forward like he’d known I would need more of his support, like he’d known his touch would turn me into a puddle. “I’ve been a patient man, waiting for this day. It’s your turn now, sweetheart.”

Abruptly, he reached down and ripped the sides of my underwear in two pieces. Then, he dragged the fabric from my body, throwing the discarded material behind him. We’d littered the boxing ring with our clothes and stood naked in each other’s arms. And God, I shook from how much I wanted him.

So much that relief flooded me when Blake tilted his hips and the tip of his cock nudged between my legs. Instinctively, I parted my thighs, and he wedged between them, sliding his cock against the outer lips of my pussy. I widened my stance further, and Blake pressed upward, making sure his length dragged over my clit, just like he had on the plane. My jaw dropped, my hips flexed, and I braced my hand on his chest before dragging it down, lower and lower. His muscles rippled beneath my fingers, and I wanted more of that, more of him.

“My turn to touch you?” I asked breathlessly.

But he shook his head. “To be patient.”

“But Blake…” I tipped my head back as my body responded, fluttering to life with the feel of him as he gave a tiny thrust. “Oh my God .”

“I’m not God, baby.” Blake’s breath flirted with my ear. “I’m your husband.”

I clutched his shoulders with a sigh, urging my hips forward to try to chase more of him. “Please,” I begged.

“Please what?”

I could hear his smirk but didn’t even care enough to comment on it. He could be cocky about what he did to me because fuck, did he do things to me.

“Just…more. I want more.”

Blake nibbled on my earlobe before murmuring, “If you want more of this cock, you can get on your knees.”

Maybe I should be mad that he was denying me, but I was too eager to please, too giddy at the thought of exploring more of him. As long as I got to experience him in some capacity, I didn’t care.

“It’s going to be worth it, Lane,” Blake promised, as though I needed encouragement. “The wait will be worth it. Just like it was worth it for me when I finally got to taste you for the first time.”

“The kiss at our wedding?” I asked as I dropped to my knees in front of him, bouncing on the rubbery material beneath us.

Blake nodded, his gaze blazing as he watched me.

“That was a real kiss, Delaney.” His voice was raw as he cupped the back of my head, fingers gently playing with my hair. “It was as real as I dared to make it.”

“I know,” I confessed. I’d always known. “It felt real.”

Blake stilled at my response, and he looked like he wanted to ask more. But then I pressed my lips to his stomach, and he zeroed in on my mouth. On how I traced a path down his abdomen with my tongue, savoring the slightly salty taste of his skin. The heat of his body, the pulse just beneath his skin, I reveled in all of it, in all of him. And then when I fisted his erection without warning, a violent shudder ran through him, and I reveled in that, too. In what I could do to him. I licked at his tip, and Blake made a deep, guttural noise, causing that satisfaction to sink deeper inside me.

“Suck, Lane.” He looked down at me with reverence in his eyes despite his brusque command, which was punctuated by another boom of thunder. “See how good my cock tastes with you all over it.”

I did as he directed, looking up at him through my lashes as I sucked him slowly into my mouth, inch by inch. I could taste the muskiness of his scent combined with a hint of my own arousal, and there was something about it that made me feel tortured, made the agony of want and desire flow faster through my veins.

“Oh, hell.” Blake pushed his fingers through my hair in an almost compulsive way, like his hands needed the reassurance that I was real. “You have no idea how satisfying it is for me to know, after years of having to sit back and watch other men flirt with you, that no one else will ever get to see you like this.” His lips parted in awe as he looked down at me. “Isn’t that right, Lane?”

I nodded, feeling more confident about that fact than ever, and then slipped his cock out of my mouth to answer him, even as he groaned at the pause. “The only man I get on my knees for is my husband.”

Possession spiked in Blake’s eyes. Lightning flashed across his face. “And who is your husband, Delaney?”

My lips curved. “You.”

“That’s a good little wife,” he praised. It shot right through me.

I sucked him back into my mouth without delay, using one hand to twist around the base of his erection while the other reached between my legs, desperate for something to ease the ache, the unrelenting pulse that kept growing stronger and hotter.

“You can touch yourself,” Blake grunted, watching me with his own brand of desperation. “But you can’t finish.”

I whimpered around his cock.

“I know, sweetheart,” he soothed. “But trust me. Don’t you trust me?”

I nodded.

More than anyone.

“That’s my girl.” He tipped his head back with a groan. “Fuck, you feel so good, Delaney. You’re so, so good. And God, I need to come. I need to come so when I fuck you, I can take my goddamn time. Your pussy always makes me lose it, but today, I need to—” I took him all the way to the back of my throat, and Blake choked on air, unable to speak until I popped him back out of my mouth again.

“So you get to finish, but I don’t?” I challenged, lifting a brow.

“You will, Lane.” He raised a brow right back. “I thought you trusted me.”

I rolled my eyes and then returned to lavishing my tongue around the tip of Blake’s cock. He swallowed a moan and then started speaking in a softness that made my body crawl with need.

“Roll your eyes all you want, Mrs. London. I’ve never told you, but I think that attitude you give me is hot as fuck. I want it all .”

“Is it attitude?” I flicked my fingers between my legs faster, feeling like something was clawing at my insides, needing to be released. “Or have I just been secretly flirting with you all along?”

“Wasn’t secret to me, baby.” Blake’s lips were soft as they curled. “Glad you finally started to see it for what it was, though.”

“Have you always known about my feelings?” I asked, pausing all of my movements, too stunned by what he’d just said. “Even when I didn’t?”

He cupped my chin. “I always knew we had chemistry that went beyond friends. Knew you acted on that chemistry from time to time. But also knew you didn’t see it for what it really was.”

“Not anymore. Now I know. Now I see it.” I drew him back into my mouth, and Blake cursed roughly, raking a hand through his hair before it flopped back down over his forehead.

“That’s it, sweetheart.” His words were like velvet, but his body was taut, like steel. “I want to feel the back of your throat.”

I introduced him to it without a second thought, blinking through the tears that sprang to my eyes. When he hit deeper than he ever had before, I choked a bit, and Blake seized up, gasping for air, same as me.

“ Shit , Lane. I’m going to—” He couldn’t even finish his sentence. I nodded anyway, as if to say I was ready, but he shook his head. “Want to—” A groan interrupted his thought, and then he tried again. “Want to see how good your tits look with my cum on them. Can I?”

My brows shot up, but something bloomed inside me. Something that made my fingers crawl back between my legs, massaging the ache that suddenly had intensified.

I nodded again, and Blake released a hushed “ fuck ” like he hadn’t actually thought I’d say yes.

A second later, he pulled out of my mouth with a grunt, stepped back, and shot his release across my body, coating me with it. His cum dripped down my chest, exactly the way he wanted it to. It was obscene, the way I loved it, loved him like this. I fought to catch my breath while obsessing over, well, Blake—the way shadows emphasized the lines of his body, how intoxicating his expression was while taking in the sight of me, getting drunker and drunker off it by the minute. His eyes devoured me, and he seemed unable to look away. But I didn’t really want him to.

“Marking you as mine is never going to get old,” he rasped. “I want you like this all the time.” He swiped his fingers across the tips of my breasts, spreading his cum around my nipples. They tightened in response, pebbling from the desire that continued to bloom inside me, deeper, stronger. “Unbelievable,” he breathed, barely audible.

His slow, hot perusal finally made its way to my face, and I lost my breath at the depth of his gaze. He looked ruined . And utterly delicious.

Blake began to trail his fingers up my body, and I instinctively opened my mouth. His eyes sparked, his lips curved, and he gave me what I wanted, sliding his fingers between my lips so I could taste him.

“It’s so fucking hot the way you always want more of me, Lane.”

He sounded disastrously awed.

I sucked around his fingers, and he moaned as he drew them out of my mouth.

“But now it’s my turn, okay? Let me see those fingers that have been buried in your pussy.”

I slipped my hand from between my legs, swallowing a needy noise as I grazed my clit one final time. Blake watched eagerly, hungrily, gripping my wrist as soon as I held it out for him and bringing my fingers to his lips. Without another word, he sucked them into his mouth, licking each finger clean with a moan of appreciation that I felt deep in my bones.

“ God yes .” His grin made my stomach flutter when he flashed it at me, his eyes hooded with lazy desire. “Thank fuck it’s my turn to get you in my mouth, baby. Because that taste is so fucking good.”

I watched wordlessly as he sank to his knees. We faced each other, eye level, on equal ground. Cupping my cheek in his palm, Blake leaned forward and brushed a tender kiss across my lips, making me shiver.

“Blake,” I whimpered.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

“Always?”

“As long as you want me to be.”

“So always, then.”

He looked at me like I was the pinnacle of his existence. “Say it again.”

“Always, Blake,” I whispered. “I always want you to be here.”

“Then that’s where I’ll be. Here.” He raked his gaze over my face and then let it drop, along with his voice. “And right now, more specifically, between your legs.”

He used a single finger to push me onto my back, and I unfolded my legs so they were bent in front of me. Meanwhile, Blake kissed his way down my body, pausing to suck a nipple into his mouth, causing me to arch against his lips with a cry. I’d been dying for this, been aching for this, for the heat of his mouth, for the wetness and the warmth. Then he moved lower, swirling his tongue around my belly button, nipping at my lower stomach, and kissing my inner thighs. And all the while, he was chanting praises about how beautiful I was, how much he loved me, and I wanted to cry. By the time his mouth made it between my legs, I shook beneath him.

“ Please ,” I begged.

“Patience, Delaney,” he ordered like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“I can’t wait any longer.”

“Yes, you can.” He kissed the spot just above my clit before dragging his tongue lower and then stopping. Goddamn him. I chased his mouth with my hips, bucking upward to get more.

“You’re so fucking incredible,” he mused, sounding only half-conscious, like part of him was stuck in a dream. “So fucking responsive. It’s because it aches, doesn’t it?” He traced his tongue in a featherlight pattern, tracing everywhere except where I really wanted him, and sounds came out of me that I didn’t even know I could make.

“So bad,” I panted.

He pulled back, spread me open, and spat on my clit. “I’ll make it better, but you have to be good for me.”

I gasped and repeated for what felt like the millionth time, “ Please .”

He swirled his spit around my pussy and then abruptly sucked my clit into his mouth in response, making me throw my head back with a scream. It echoed off the walls, mixing in with the sounds of the rain pounding against the windows. Blake didn’t stop, either. He tongued my pussy relentlessly, until I was writhing against him, so close to the edge, and then, to my utter despair, he stopped.

As quick as the pleasure came, it left. I looked down to see Blake sitting back on his heels, looking at me with an unreadable expression. His lips cocked to one side before he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, and I’d never felt more attracted to him and frustrated with him before in my life.

“Are you trying to edge me?” I cried.

Blake grinned.

“No, baby. I am edging you.”

I stared at him, momentarily speechless, and his grin simply grew.

“If it’s too much, you can tell me. At any time, okay?” I nodded, and he checked, “Is it too much?”

Slowly, I shook my head, even though I really wanted to tell him it was. It was too much, and my body pulsed in ways that I didn’t fully understand. But earlier, I promised him that I trusted him. And I did. I trusted Blake with everything in me.

“Good girl.” Blake gave me an appreciative once-over before he leaned forward, pressed a kiss to my temple, and nuzzled his lips close to my ear. “On your hands and knees, Lane.”

I hesitated for only a moment before adjusting my position, desperate for a release, needing it, however he wanted to give it to me.

“Fuck, look at you,” Blake rasped, tracing the length of my spine with his fingertip. Goose bumps broke out across my body. “You can grab onto the ropes if you need.”

“If I need?”

“If you need something to hang on to while you sit on my face.”

He gripped my hips before I had time to comprehend his words, tugging me down toward the floor at the same time I felt his breath tease between my legs. And then the flat of his tongue returned to lapping my clit, and I gasped, throwing my head down with an unrestrained moan.

Blake echoed my moan, releasing his own between my legs as he savored me. The vibrations from his throat bounced inside me, creating a palpable effect of how badly we both ached. How intense our connection was. And if the way he was eating me wasn’t enough, that sure did it.

Especially when he tightened his grip on my hips and dragged me lower. “ Sit , Delaney.”

His demand was muffled but clear in its interpretation.

I dropped my weight down, letting my pussy drag over his mouth as he sucked and licked and lapped, and fuck .

“ Yes ,” he grunted, but it was barely audible. Because I’d done what he asked, and I’d sat . Blake’s face was my personal throne at the moment, and I was taking my rightful seat on it.

And God , did it feel good.

One of his hands trailed to my ass, giving it a little smack that sent a jolt of nuclear pleasure through me. And when I whimpered in response, Blake did it again. And again, until I’d undoubtedly soaked his face, and I was so, so ?—

Blake suddenly disappeared, and I collapsed forward with a sob.

Too lost in the ghostly sensations of what I’d been so close to feeling, I was barely conscious of the fact that Blake was flipping me over, not until his handsome face appeared above mine. He breathed ragged reassurances as he gazed down at me, his expression both carnal and tender at the same time. He took one of my hands and anchored it above my head and then did the same thing with the other one until he had me pinned beneath him, our bodies flush.

It was the safest I’d ever felt.

“Please tell me you’re going to fuck me now,” I pleaded, feeling accomplished that I’d strung together so many words.

“Is that what you want?” He swirled his hips against mine, rutting his erection between my legs in a teasing sort of way. “You want my cock in your tight little pussy?”

“Want that.” I spread my legs, just in case it wasn’t obvious. “Please.”

I was so sure that I’d cry if he didn’t give it to me. It was unbearable, the way I wanted him. The way I loved him.

“Oh, baby.” His voice was husky. I wanted to drown in it. “I want it, too. You have no fucking clue the way I want you.”

I tipped my hips up to feel again how hard he was. “I think I do.”

But Blake shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment like he couldn’t look at me like this for too long without losing it. “You asked me before, you wanted to know why I haven’t slept with anyone since med school,” he rasped, his words coming out stilted, like he hadn’t parsed them out first but needed to say them. “It’s you, Lane. It’s because I met you. And I couldn’t imagine ever being with someone who wasn’t you.”

My heart lurched in my chest.

I gaped at him, breathing his name because it was the only thing I could get myself to say. And then my jaw dropped further when the blunt head of his cock nudged between my legs, slipping inside me. I braced myself, feeling the tingle of anticipation, the delicious stretch of my body accepting him. But then he stopped.

I knew immediately that this wasn’t like the other times Blake had left me on the edge tonight. This was different; Blake’s shallow breaths and the tautness of his mouth as he gritted his teeth told me that much. There was no smirk, no gleam in his eyes.

“ Fuck , Delaney,” he swore, hanging his head as he squeezed his eyes shut again.

“Don’t stop,” I begged, inhaling shakily. “Just let go, Blake. You told me you would.”

“I will.” Blake opened his eyes, sending an electric current through me when they collided with mine. He shook his head before dropping to give me a fierce kiss. “Nothing’s stopping us now, baby. Nothing. Just—give me a second.”

I wiggled my hips because a second sounded like a really long time, and I was desperate for friction.

“ Delaney ,” he growled.

“I don’t think I can wait.” I needed to feel him inside me, needed that connection. “I don’t think I can do it anymore.”

He sucked in a breath. “Now you know what it’s been like for me,” he said, and he was right—I could feel his agony. But then he abruptly thrust his cock the rest of the way in, making me cry from the ecstasy of it. He was so deep and so perfect, and it was everything I’d ever wanted. “For so fucking long, Lane.”

I gasped before whimpering, “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck, don’t apologize. Just—” He broke off with a groan as I clenched around him, feeling greedy for the feel of it.

“I love you,” I whispered.

Because that was all I could do, wasn’t it?

I couldn’t change the past, but I could love him fully now, love him out loud the way he deserved.

“Oh my God.” Blake laced our fingers together and gripped tight as he drove his hips home, smacking them against mine. My eyes rolled back, but then I quickly found his gaze again, needing to see the warmth of them, the fervor in them, the glow and warmth. “I love you so much, Delaney.” He thrust again, harder. “So.” And again. “Fucking.” And again. “Much.”

He snapped his hips one more time, and I crumbled, reaching my climax and then falling over its peak in a way that was a shock to my system. The orgasm blazed through me, setting fire to everything I’d ever known about Blake and me and letting it burn into something new. It went on and on, spasms of pleasure reaching parts of me I didn’t know existed. Blake pushed me further, thrusting through my downfall and wringing every ounce of satisfaction from it that he could, until I was spent.

“That’s a good girl.” Lips grazed mine, and my eyes fluttered shut. “Love feeling you come on my cock, baby.”

I tried to catch my breath, tried to slow the heartbeat I could feel in the tips of my toes and pads of my fingers. Blake slowly rolled his hips over mine in a lazy, unrushed way as I came down and found myself again. One of his hands let go of mine and snaked down my body instead, like he wanted to both soothe me and resurrect me. He palmed my breast, kneading it while brushing his thumb over my nipple. A breathy mewl left my lips as I pushed myself up, wanting more of it, more of his touches.

“Beautiful,” Blake breathed. “Just beautiful.”

He made me feel it.

I tipped my hips, experimenting with fucking him back, loving the friction of our bodies sliding against each other, in and out.

Blake swore softly before pushing himself upward and onto his knees. He grabbed my hips to help me find the right rhythm and then increased his pace, letting our bodies slap together as his breathing grew ragged. I watched as Blake dropped his eyes, studying how we fit together, how his cock drove in and out of my body, the perfect two pieces of a puzzle. Each of us tethered to the other. A litany of curses fell from Blake’s lips, a chant that told me this was what would send him over his own edge, seeing this, watching us.

His gaze pierced me when he looked up. I nearly choked on the raw emotion in its depths.

“Are you going to take my cum in your sweet cunt, Lane?” he asked, his voice full of gravel and grit.

I nodded. Yes , yes I wanted that. “I’m still on the pill,” I reassured.

But Blake shook his head and leaned back down over my body, his thrusts hitting harder and deeper and faster as he found my ear with his lips. “I wish you weren’t.”

I groaned. I wasn’t sure why or what was happening, but those words shot straight to my core, and I felt my body tightening around him again.

“You liked that,” Blake muttered, more to himself than to me. He sounded awed, like my reaction was unfathomable. But I could tell the moment he comprehended it completely because a rough “ shit ” left his lips, and he drove into me with renewed passion.

“You’re so fucking perfect for me, Delaney.” He sounded utterly destroyed by that thought, and I understood. Christ, I understood.

Everything about the moment spurred me back into action, meeting each of his thrusts with a renewed desperation. Blake’s eyes rolled back into his head, and I could practically feel his pulse radiating inside me, how it increased, crescendoed with every movement, with each collision of his hard body and my soft one.

“ Again ,” Blake demanded—the only word he seemed to be able to get out as he pounded me against the floor of the boxing ring. But I knew exactly what he meant.

He came violently, and I followed him, gasping for air as I hit an even higher peak than I had before.

My name left Blake’s lips in a stream of words I didn’t fully catch, too busy crying my own vocal cords raw. But I did hear when Blake pumped his hips one last time and murmured, “You take me so good, Lane. You’re so good to me, letting me fill you up.”

All I could muster was a soft whine as a response.

“Yeah?”

I felt his gentle chuckle brushing against the skin of my neck before he kissed my pulse point.

“So good,” I repeated on a sigh.

Blake rearranged us, and somehow, my head was suddenly being cradled against his chest.

I heard distant thunder.

But I wasn’t sure if it was from the storm outside.

Or the roar of Blake’s heart, pounding against my ear.

Steady.

Strong.

An echo of mine.

Forever attached to his.