Chapter 16 Breakthrough #3
The cold lingers on their skin when they get back to Theo’s. Sage feels it as she shoves his coat aside and slides her hands underneath his sweater, her back thudding against the door as he presses against her and kisses her like she’s the oxygen he needs.
The cold lingers, but Theo’s touch … Theo’s touch is pure, unadulterated heat. His hands grip her waist as he pins her firmly against the wood, his mouth swallowing down the moan he drags from her as he pushes a thigh between her legs.
She has his jacket off in the next instant, her hands frantic as they hike up his sweater until it joins the growing pile of clothes on the floor right there in the entryway.
She doesn’t know when her own jacket joined the mix. Or her hat. She doesn’t care. Because Theo’s fingers are skimming her sides as he pulls off her sweater, his lips tracing a blazing path down her neck and then her chest as he removes her bra, and then …
Theo lowers himself to his knees, his grin sinful as he works her denim and underwear down her legs and tosses them aside.
His fingers are soft as they graze up her thighs. He slides a hand beneath one of her legs and guides it over his shoulder, and the heat becomes something molten as he leans in and flicks his tongue against her center.
Sage’s breath catches, her head thudding back against the door as she splays a hand flat, as if she can grip the wood and keep herself steady. Theo presses in further, the flat of his tongue gliding against her, and Sage can’t stop the soft whine that falls from her lips.
Her hand drifts to his hair, her fingers curling in the strands as she tries to anchor herself to something amidst the waves of pleasure brought on by Theo’s mouth.
She tries not to pull, god she tries, but then he’s sucking on that bundle of nerves and her fingers tighten instinctively as she arches up into the heat of his mouth.
His moan vibrates against where she’s most sensitive, and it has another cracked sound stuttering from her chest.
“Fuck,” she whimpers, her eyes squeezing shut.
Her pleasure is building at a dizzying speed, and she can’t help the way her hips move.
She can hardly get enough air in her lungs, and it makes his name breathy and desperate as it falls from her lips, an exhaled Theo that’s a pitch higher than her usual voice.
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip hard as he flicks his tongue once more before pulling away. “I love it when you say my name like that,” he pants, his fingers digging into where he holds her leg. His eyes are bright and his lips are swollen and glistening and his hair is mussed and he looks …
Devastating. He looks devastating on his knees like this.
Sage shuts her eyes and leans her head back against the door as she tries to catch her breath. She barely feels Theo lower her leg, but as she blinks her eyes open he’s standing, his mouth a breath away from hers.
“Still with me, Collins?” he drawls as she meets his gaze.
She gets the thing about his name. Because hers is drenched in desire, the s snaking down her spine as if he were trailing his fingertips there.
She leans forward to capture his lips in a long, hot kiss.
“Bedroom,” she mutters against his mouth. “Now.”
She can practically taste Theo’s answering grin.
His hands slide around to cup her backside, and the next thing she knows he’s lifting her, her legs wrapping instinctively around his waist as she lets out a surprised laugh.
Theo swallows it down as he kisses her again, her back pressing into the door as he drags his lips against hers.
A whimper falls from Sage’s lips, and it spurs Theo on.
He moves them off the door, navigating the halls with ease as he carries her to his bedroom.
Sage hardly spares the room a glance. She’s far too distracted by Theo’s sharp inhale as she nips at the skin beneath his ear and the way he slowly lowers her to the bed.
He pulls back, and for a moment, she thinks he’s reaching for the button of his jeans. But he pauses, his eyes dragging down her body as he takes her in. She should be cold, lying there naked, but Theo’s gaze makes her skin burn.
His eyes meet hers, and beneath the heat darkening his stare, there’s something else.
Something far softer—a mix of desire and awe and vulnerability, as if he’s letting her see just how much he wants this.
Wants her.
His chest is heaving, that telltale flush blotching his skin, his hair a mess and his lips kiss-swollen and red and parted as he holds her gaze.
Sage has never seen Theo look like this—has never seen him look at her like this.
Slowly, she pushes herself up, her hand sliding across his jaw as she cups his face. Her thumb swipes across his cheek as she presses her forehead against his, her breath slowing as it releases in a steady exhale.
The desperation that fueled their touches in the foyer bleeds into something else entirely. It clogs Sage’s throat and makes her fingers tremble.
Theo lays a hand over the one on his cheek, the other sliding to her waist as he holds her steady.
The moment stretches, suspended in time as they breathe each other in.
“All right?” he finally asks, his voice low.
Sage nods as her fingers slide into his hair. The strands are soft and slightly tangled from the wind at the beach.
“Are you?” she whispers.
Theo nods, his grip tightening on her waist. She finds his belt loop and draws him impossibly closer as she tips her head back to kiss him.
It’s soft and languid and it has Sage’s heart pounding.
“What do you want, Theo?” She presses the echo of his question from their first night together into his lips and feels the way it steals his breath.
“You,” Theo rumbles, his voice rough as he lowers her back onto the bed. “I want you.”
Sage doesn’t hesitate as she flips open the button on his jeans. Theo sheds the rest of his clothes, and then he’s above her again, his hands tracing blazing paths down her skin, and that desperation comes flooding back.
But this time, it’s not fast and frantic. It’s slow and deep and steady, just like Theo’s thrusts when he finally slides into her.
When he finally takes what he wants.
Sage comes undone beneath his hips and his hands and his lips, her pleasure sharp and all-consuming. Theo follows, and through her blissed-out haze, she hears her name tumbling from his lips like a prayer and its answer all wrapped into one.
“Did I tell you my friend Margot is a real estate agent?”
Theo’s fingers pause where they’ve been tracing unidentifiable shapes against the bare skin of her shoulder for …
She isn’t actually sure how long. Long enough that the light gray sky outside Theo’s bedroom window is deepening to charcoal.
“No,” he finally says slowly. “Should I be concerned you’re bringing up your mate when we’re basking in the glow?”
Sage laughs and pushes herself up on her elbow so she can gaze down at him. “I think the glow has faded. We’ve been lying here for at least an hour.”
Theo smiles, unrestrained and bright. “I still think you’re glowing, love.” His hand slides from her shoulder down to the small of her back, and goose bumps flush across her skin at the touch.
She steadfastly ignores the way she shivers.
Focus, Collins.
“Stop distracting me,” she chides. “Margot. Real estate. This is important.”
“All right,” Theo acquiesces, but his hand stays warm and steady on her back. “What about it?”
Sage wets her lips, her eyes flicking over his face. He’s got his arm tucked behind his head, and he looks so relaxed, so at ease, she’s loath to ruin it.
She swallows. “Obviously she’s not an expert in the market here, but … she could still give you some advice. About what really needs updating and what an agent might just be pushing to drive the price up.”
Her hand falls to the center of his chest, her finger tracing the groove there. “I don’t want to overstep. But she’s really good, and she’s honest to a fault. She won’t sugarcoat, but she also won’t jerk you around.”
When she looks back up at him, she finds a small divot has formed between his brows, but she doesn’t know what it means.
She’s about to ask him when he says, “Really?”
“Um.” Sage hesitates, her finger stilling on his skin. “Which part?”
Theo huffs a laugh and pushes himself up, the hand behind his head coming to cup the one she has against his chest. The blankets pool at their waists, but Sage can’t take her gaze off the way his eyes are so brilliantly blue yet soft at the same time.
“Really to her being completely honest. She’s not going to spare my feelings because we’re …” His words seem to catch up to him, a flush crawling up his neck as he trails off.
Sage tries not to flinch away from the way Casual rears its head like a warning bell. Instead, she splays her palm flat. Lets his heartbeat ground her.
“No,” Sage assures him. “She won’t lie. Not about this. It’s too important.”
He’s too important.
And Margot … Margot will know that. She’ll know as soon as Sage makes this request. She’ll know, and Sage won’t have the answers to the questions she’ll undoubtedly ask.
But that’s a problem for Future Sage. Right now, Theo is hurting, and she can help, and she doesn’t quite care what comes next as long as she can do something to help ease the burden he’s carrying.
Theo’s gaze flicks over her face, searching. She’s not sure what it is he’s looking to find, but he must see it written in her expression, because his brow smooths.
He leans in, his lips soft as they press against hers.
“Thank you,” he murmurs.
Margot gives her a knowing look when they FaceTime her, but she remains a consummate professional.
Theo walks her through the house, and Sage follows behind him, something warm settling in her chest as she watches the tension continue to bleed from him as Margot assures him he definitely shouldn’t redo the kitchen, and no, he doesn’t need to sell all of their furniture his mom picked out and hire a staging company.
That warmth follows her back to her Airbnb, giving volume to the voice that wonders why they still don’t stay the night.
She knows why.
Her phone starts buzzing with rapid notifications that signal Margot and Emerson have gotten started in the group chat.
The 3 Best Friends That Anyone Did Have
Dec 2 7:45 PM
M
Well well well.
M
@Sageybaby, didn’t you two look …
M
Glowy
Disaster
WTF.
Disaster
Did y’all FaceTime without me?!
Disaster
SERIOUSLY?!
I asked Margot to take a look at Theo’s house.
He’s having trouble with the Realtors here.
Disaster
…
…
… because that’s casual
Don’t.
Disaster
Fine.
Disaster
Can’t believe you didn’t FaceTime me in.
M
You’re not a Realtor?
Disaster
I’m a FRIEND
M
Annnnd???
Disaster
Hate y’all.
Disaster
Okay but wait can we talk about me inviting Taylor to Christmas?
Disaster
@Sage how do I calculate the odds she’ll say yes? And then, ya know, marry me.
I’m muting this thread.
M
LOLOL
Disaster
RUDE.
Disaster
Sage.
Disaster
Saaaaage.
Disaster
Saaaaaaaaaage.
M
Ooof. Muted.