Chapter 19
BENNETT
Ikissed her like a man who knew he had almost lost the only thing that ever made the rest of his life matter. Pouring every apology I still hadn’t found the right words for into the way my mouth moved over hers.
She made a soft sound in the back of her throat and fisted her free hand in the front of my shirt, holding me there. I had spent a month feeling every inch of space she needed. Now she was the one closing the distance, her body leaning into mine.
When I finally lifted my head, we were both breathing harder. Her brown eyes had none of the pain they’d held for weeks. In its place was a warmth I had been afraid I would never see directed at me again.
“I love you.”
The words came out rough, scraped raw by everything it had taken to get back to this moment.
She didn’t hesitate to give them right back to me. “I love you too.”
Awed by her ability to forgive, I rested my forehead against hers and closed my eyes for a moment, letting the overwhelming relief settle into the cracked places the past month had left behind.
We were going to make it. Because she had looked at all of the damage I’d caused and still chosen to stay. “I’m the luckiest bastard in Hollywood, having you for my wife. Thank you.”
She patted my chest with a cheeky grin. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Never.” I kissed her again. “Want you in our bed. Now.”
Her bottom lip puffed out in a sexy pout. “Too bad you have to get back to the studio for the table read.”
“Fuck the table read.” I pulled my cell from my pocket and sent a quick text to Jordan.
Me
Family emergency. Won’t be back at the studio until tomorrow.
“Emergency? Isn’t that laying it on a little thick?” Laina asked.
“Not at all,” I denied before shoving the phone back in my pocket, not bothering to wait for his reply. “Now that I know you’ve forgiven me, it is absolutely vital that I make love to you in our bed.”
“Absolutely vital, huh?” she echoed with a soft laugh.
I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “It won’t feel real otherwise.”
“Oh, Bennett.” She twined her arms around my neck with a sigh. “That’s so sweet.”
“It’s the truth, baby.”
I slid an arm under her knees and lifted her against my chest. She made a quiet surprised sound and locked her arms around my neck, but she didn’t tell me to put her down. I carried her through the kitchen and up the stairs, turning in the direction of our bedroom. Finally.
I set her down beside the bed carefully, like the moment might break if I moved too fast. But she didn’t have the same hesitation. Fisting the front of my shirt, she fell backward onto the mattress and took me with her.
She giggled. “There, much better.”
I braced myself above her on my forearms, taking in the sight of my wife back where she belonged.
Her brown hair was spread across our pillows, her sweater had slipped further off one shoulder, exposing the soft curve of her collarbone, and her eyes were clear in a way they hadn’t been since the night everything fell apart. But they were also filled with heat.
“I think I can make it even better yet.”
I lowered my head and kissed her again. Slower and deeper. Her lips parted under mine, and I tasted the faint sweetness that was purely Laina.
Her hands slid under my shirt, warm against my skin, and I shivered at the contact. It spurred me on to get her undressed, but I forced myself to take my time. I wanted to savor every minute.
I eased her sweater up over her head and tossed it aside. Then I kissed the newly bare skin of her belly, the tops of her breasts above her bra, and the soft place where her neck met her shoulder. She tipped her head back with a quiet sigh that went straight through me.
I moved lower, unbuttoning her jeans and sliding them down her legs while I pressed open-mouthed kisses to the inside of each thigh.
She watched me the whole time, her fingers drifting through my hair and occasionally tightening when I found a particularly sensitive spot.
When she was left in only her bra and panties, I sat back on my heels and simply looked at her.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
A faint flush rose on her cheeks. “You’re biased.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true.”
I reached behind her and unclasped her bra, sliding the straps down her arms with deliberate care. Her breasts filled my hands, and I bent to take one nipple into my mouth, sucking gently and swirling my tongue around the tightened peak while my thumb stroked the other.
She arched into me with a soft, needy sound. “Bennett.”
“I’ve got you.”
I switched sides, giving it the same slow attention until both nipples were wet and flushed, and she was shifting restlessly beneath me.
Then I kissed my way down her stomach, over the soft curve of her belly, and lingered at the sensitive skin just above the waistband of her panties.
She lifted her hips without being asked so I could draw them off.
When she was completely bare beneath me, I stretched out over her again and kissed the spot just below her ear that always made her shiver. “I love every part of you. The ones the world never gets to see. And the ones I was stupid enough to think I could borrow from without consequence.”
She cupped my face and brought my gaze back to hers. “I know. I believe you.”
Those five words nearly undid me. I hadn’t been joking when I’d said I was lucky. Laina was incredible, and I didn’t deserve her forgiveness, but I’d work every day to make sure she didn’t regret giving me a second chance. “Thank you.”
I kissed her again while my hand slid between her legs.
She was already slick against my fingers.
I stroked her slowly, parting her folds and circling her clit with the pad of my thumb the way I knew she liked.
Her breath hitched, and I eased two fingers inside her and curled them, finding the spot that made her thighs tremble.
I kept the pace deliberate, building her higher without rushing while I watched every shift in her expression. When her inner walls started to flutter around my fingers, I leaned down and took her nipple into my mouth again, sucking in time with the strokes of my hand.
She came with a long, soft moan against my mouth, her body tightening around my fingers and her back arching off the mattress. “Bennett, yes! Oh yes!”
I worked her through her release until she was boneless and panting beneath me, her eyes glassy with pleasure.
Only then did I strip out of my own clothes.
She reached for me as soon as I was naked, pulling me down so we were skin to skin. I kissed her deeply while I settled between her legs, the head of my cock nudging against her entrance. But I didn’t thrust in yet.
“Look at me, baby.”
Her eyes opened, and I pushed into her in one slow stroke until I was buried to the hilt. We both exhaled at the same time.
I stayed still, my forehead against hers as the reality of being inside my wife again sank all the way in. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Her legs wrapped around my waist, her heels pressing into the backs of my thighs. “But I need you to move, honey. Please.”
I gave her what she needed. Every thrust was a promise I intended to keep for the rest of our lives. My hands mapped her body like I was relearning her, which in some ways I was. The new version of us that had survived the worst thing I had ever done to her.
“You feel so damn good, baby.” I braced more of my weight on one forearm so I could reach between us and stroke her clit in time with my thrusts.
Her breathing changed, and her nails traced light patterns on my back, then dug in when I hit a particularly deep angle. “Right there.”
I ground against her on every downward stroke, watching the pleasure build on her beautiful face. When she started to tighten around me again, I lowered my head and kissed her through it, swallowing the soft, broken sounds she made as her second orgasm rolled through her.
The rhythmic clench of her body pulled me right to the edge. I held on as long as I could, but when she cupped the back of my neck and whispered my name like it was the only word left in her vocabulary, I lost the fight.
“Laina, fuck yes.” I buried myself deep and came with a groan that felt pulled from the center of my chest, holding her tightly as the pleasure wrecked us both. Wave after wave, her body continued to pulse around me.
We stayed locked together for a long time afterward, neither of us willing to let go first. I pressed soft, open-mouthed kisses to her temple while her fingers traced idle patterns over my heart.
Eventually I eased out of her and rolled to the side, bringing her with me so her head rested on my chest. She threw one leg over mine and cuddled against me.
I closed my eyes and held my wife in the bed we had shared for years, the month of distance finally behind us, and let myself believe we were going to be better than okay.