Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Henry
Fuck it all.
This woman is inside my head.
I can’t remember when I’ve wanted someone this much. Maybe Darlene in our early days, but still, that wasn’t like this. This intensity. This raw desire.
This fucking lust.
She’s beautiful, sure, and her eyes…
But beauty is only skin deep.
So what the fuck is it about her?
Everything.
Everything about Tabitha Haynes.
I want it all.
I grab her again, kiss her, thrust my tongue into her sweet mouth.
She responds, yields, and it electrifies me. Each taste of her lips is sweet fire. I tighten my arms around her. There’s only Tabitha. Her body pressed against mine, her intoxicating scent, the softness of her skin under my fingers.
I break away, catching my breath, looking into her eyes.
Damn, those eyes.
They’re sparkling with mischief now. What is she thinking?
“Tell me,” I say. “What’s making you smile?”
Her smile fades slightly as she gazes back at me. “You, Henry,” she replies, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. “You make me smile.”
Her words hit me like a bowling ball to the gut.
Something melts inside me then, but I turn it to ice as quickly as I can.
She shouldn’t be smiling.
This isn’t a smiling thing.
This is me wanting her. Taking her.
“Does this make you smile?” I demand, moving her toward the bed.
She’s still smiling.
I don’t bother locking the door.
Everyone else is outside at the party. Only the staff members are in the house, and no one would dare barge in.
I pull her to the edge of the bed, lift up her skirt, and tear away her panties.
Her gasp echoes through the room. Her eyes are wide, her lips parted slightly, her breath hitching as she looks up at me. An unspoken question hangs between us.
I don’t wait for an answer.
I free my cock and thrust into her with one aching plunge.
God, she’s tight.
God, she’s perfect.
Just like it was in the barn.
Soft and sleek and sucking my cock deeper, deeper, deeper…
She arches beneath me, gripping my shoulders as I sink into her. The sensation of being inside her, of being engulfed by her warmth, intoxicates me. Her breathless moans fill my ears, spurring me on.
I start to move then, setting a rhythm that has us both gasping. Each thrust sends waves of pleasure coursing through me. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before—a wild, primal desire that consumes me.
She wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper as she meets my thrusts. Our bodies move together in perfect sync.
“Henry!” she gasps, digging her nails into my back.
Even through my shirt I feel the intensity of her scratch.
I love it.
She’s mine.
All mine.
Except that she’s not.
I’m taking what isn’t mine.
What I’m not sure I even want to be mine.
But I can’t stop.
Not now.
Not when every need inside me is pushing into her.
Her eyes are screwed shut now, lips open in a silent scream as I relentlessly drive into her.
She bucks beneath me, each thrust drawing out a new set of gasps and moans. I dig into her hips, holding her steady as I pound into her.
Yes, yes. I feel the waves of pleasure rippling through her body as she nears her climax.
“I’m… I’m…”
“Let go, Tabitha,” I growl in her ear. “Let go for me.”
And she does.
The intensity of her pleasure spurs me on, coaxing my own release as I bury myself deeper. The feel of her tightening around me is all it takes. With a final, desperate thrust, I release. My entire body tingles as I empty inside her.
A growl rips from my throat, and I collapse against her. My heart thuds wildly.
I lift my head, look down at her flushed face, at those beautiful eyes now wide and filled with something inexplicably tender.
Something that scares the hell out of me.
She moves her hands slowly, caressing the back of my neck, fingers running through my hair. The intimate gesture leaves me more unsettled.
I pull out and roll off of her, settling beside her on the bed. I struggle to catch my breath, to process the storm of emotions inside me.
She’s quiet for a long time.
Until—
“What are you thinking?”
I don’t answer immediately. I don’t know how to articulate it all. The desire, the fear, the confusion.
“Nothing,” I finally say, not even convincing myself.
She turns to look at me, her eyes searching my face for answers that are hidden deep inside me. A trace of uncertainty shadows her beautiful features as a pang of guilt hits me.
This isn’t fair to her. She didn’t ask for any of this.
She didn’t ask me to barge into her life with my mess.
“I think we should…” The hesitation in my voice is painfully apparent. I run a hand through my hair.
“Should what, Henry?” Tabitha asks, tracing a finger down my chest.
Her touch ignites a fire in me that I want to stop but can’t.
This is wrong. All of it.
“We should stop this,” I finally say, the words bitter on my tongue.
She pulls away slightly. “Stop what, exactly?” she asks, her tone soft but annoyed.
“This. Us,” I mutter, avoiding her gaze.
“Then you stop it,” she says, moving from the bed and adjusting her skirt. “Like I said, I didn’t start any of it.”
She’s not wrong, of course.
I started all of it. This. Last night in the barn.
This…in the middle of my sister’s rehearsal dinner.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
If only I had the answer.