Chapter 26 Isla
Isla
Wes undresses me slowly in front of my hotel bathroom mirror, while the shower runs beside us, warming the room.
I watch as he lifts his sweatshirt over my head, then removes my skating costume, his eyes bouncing between my body and meeting my gaze in the mirror. The painstaking carefulness of each movement brings tears to my eyes. I’ve never been cared for like this before.
I’m stripped bare of everything—my clothes, the armor I’ve adorned to protect myself, the denial of my feelings. He sees all of me, and all he does is continue to look, like he can’t believe I’m here with him.
I’ve lived thirty years without knowing this love. I refuse to go one second longer.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For removing your clothes?” He grins, letting out a wry puff of breath. “It’s not a chore, Red.”
“Not for that, smartass.” I roll my eyes, shoving his shoulder. “For finding me.”
I swallow hard, emotion clogging my throat.
Because I don’t only mean today after the accident.
Wes arrived in my life at the exact moment I needed him.
By some strange stroke of serendipity, we met again—older, jaded, and still searching.
Standing at another crossroads, he’s been by my side, quietly caring for me in ways I didn’t fully understand until now.
“Thank you for finding me,” I repeat, spinning to face him.
I move closer until my body presses against his, the soaked cotton of his T-shirt against my skin.
I intertwine our hands at my side, while my other hand snakes beneath his shirt, fingers grazing over his firm abdomen.
It’s different, touching him after we’ve admitted our love.
The confession tapped the deep well of emotion that I’ve tried to drain.
But those big, all-encompassing feelings flow through me now, filling every cracked, damaged inch.
I guide his hand between my legs. “I need you, Wes. I love you—”
The words are barely out before Wes slams his mouth against mine, the final tether on his control snapping.
His fingers knead my back as he kisses me deeply, each kiss immediately leading to the next, his breath becoming mine.
I fumble with the zipper of his jeans, then unsnap the button and shove them down his legs.
“We can go slow later.” I rip his boxers down his thighs until they, too, fall to the floor. I paw at his shirt next until he lifts it overhead, leaving him gorgeously bare. I love how rugged this man is, like he could navigate any situation, like he could keep me safe. “Need you now.”
Wes hauls me onto the bathroom sink and drives inside me in one smooth motion. Our collective moan reverberates off the walls of the bathroom. I wrap my legs around his waist, my hands gripping his shoulders for leverage.
“I love you, Isla,” he grunts as he slams into me, again and again. The friction against my hypersensitive skin is bliss, and I never want it to end. “Not going to last—”
“I’m so close,” I whimper, the lick of heat sparking inside of me, growing each time he slides against the spot he knows makes me unravel. “I need—”
“More,” he finishes my sentence, and me with it.
His mouth lands on my breast, tongue and teeth unrelentingly teasing my nipple.
I’m overwhelmed by sensation, by Wes connected to every part of me.
I pull him tighter, arms wrapping around his chest, as my orgasm crashes into me.
He fucks me through it, each thrust against my sensitive center igniting another euphoric wave.
“Fucking perfect,” he groans beside my ear as he comes, his body going taut with tension before detonating against me. I hold him tight as he shakes, running my fingers through his hair soothingly.
We stay connected like that, fighting to catch our breath as our heartbeats settle.
“Time to clean you up,” Wes says, abruptly lifting me off the counter and walking us into the shower.
I squeal as the water rains down on us. He carefully lowers me until I’m standing in front of him, looking up at the man I love, in awe that he’s mine.
He lathers me with soap, hands exploring my body as he rinses me clean.
The shower fills with the smell of roses, and I breathe it in deeply, wanting to commit every second of us to memory.
Through the haze of steam, it’s like a dream, one I’d never allowed myself to wish for.
“This fucking color undoes me. Always has,” Wes murmurs, his fingers rubbing deliciously against my scalp as he massages shampoo into my hair.
I hum with contentment, leaning against him. “Glad you like it,” I whisper, shutting my eyes as he rinses the shampoo from my hair.
“Someone’s a lot more agreeable,” he says, and I can hear the grin in his voice.
“If you make a joke about your dick being the solution to my attitude problem, so help me.”
Wes laughs. “Well, now I don’t have to.”
I pinch his side, and he uses the opportunity to spin me around to face him again.
He kisses me, his tongue slipping between my lips, entangling with mine.
A bolt of longing shoots between my legs, desperate for him again.
He slides out of my mouth, dragging his teeth against my bottom lip as he pulls back. A pained sigh escapes from me.
“Kiss me until I recover,” he says, running a finger over my bottom lip. “I need you again.”
Lips press to my cheek, gently pulling me from sleep. Wes lies behind me, cradling me against his body with one arm possessively across my abdomen while his chin rests on my shoulder.
“What time is it?” I mumble.
“Around five,” he answers, his fingers skimming across my stomach. “I ordered us food. It should be here soon. I didn’t want to jar you awake when I leave to pick it up.”
A smile plays across my lips. It’s foreign, this amount of smiling. “How considerate.”
“Spencer is also in his room. He wants to talk.”
The words land on me like a bucket of ice-cold water. Spencer won’t want to skate with someone he can’t trust.
“Can he wait until tomorrow?” I wriggle against Wes suggestively, grinding my ass against him. “I want to stay with you.”
“That’s not fair,” he groans, falling onto his back and taking all his comforting warmth with him. “You know, you’re my weakness.”
I roll over, resting my chin on his chest. “I’m your weakness? Since when?”
“I don’t know if you noticed, Isla, but I’ve got a small group of people I like being around. And even then, I’ve got a time limit. But with you…no amount of time together is enough.”
“Come on,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I know I get under your skin.”
“Even when you bother me, I don't want you to leave my sight.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yeah,” I say shyly, needing the validation. “Why do you love me?”
He reaches for my hand. “Dozens of reasons.
Your infuriating mouth. Those devastating blue eyes.
Your stubborn determination and dedication to your dream.
The way you laugh, like because you only do it on rare occasions, you want to let it all out.
But if I had to boil it down, I'd say it's because my soul knows peace when you're near me.”
The words wash over me in a wave of sweet relief. I press a kiss to his chest, overcome by the confession. I didn’t think this kind of love existed.
“Don’t you want to know why I love you?”
He shakes his head. “That’s obvious.”
I push into a sitting position, curling my legs underneath me. “Oh? Do tell.”
“Well,” he says, pointing to his face and making a circular motion.
“Oh, yeah, clearly,” I reply through a laugh. “That’s the entire reason.”
“I’m a successful business owner and a cat dad.”
I place a hand over my chest. “Be still, my heart.”
“I also keep you fed.”
“Food is the way to my good side.”
He quirks an eyebrow. “You have one of those?”
“Shut up.” I flick my finger against his bicep.
“Good in bed…and all the other places you throw yourself at me.” Wes’s smirk flips my stomach.
“Like a certain bar?” I exaggeratedly stroke my chin. “Oh, wait, no, that was you.”
“Regardless—”
“You know what you’re doing, yes.” I shiver, thinking about the way Wes fucked me senseless on the bathroom counter, dried me off after our shower, carried me to bed, and got me off again.
“You’re missing one of your best selling points,” I say.
Wes’s brow furrows. “What’s that?”
“You do anything for the people you love, to make sure they’re okay and cared for and listened to.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “I think my reasons are better.”
“Of course you do, my self-sacrificing grump.” I pinch his side, and he recoils away from me, sliding out of bed.
“On that note, I’m going to go downstairs to wait for our food.” His entire body is gloriously on display. I watch his back muscles tense as he struggles to pull his wet jeans on. “I feel you watching me.”
“Not hiding it,” I sing, as he slips back into his damp T-shirt. “Hope you don’t mind, because I’ll be doing this every day.”
He winks at me. “Admire away, Red.”
He moves through the room with ease before disappearing into the hallway. I think it’s the same confidence I feel, from knowing the person I love loves me too.