Chapter Thirty-Six #2
One second there was space between us. The next, my back hit the door with a solid thud, his big body crowding mine as he took my mouth before I could take another breath.
Electric current ran up my spine, eagerness fueling desire. But this wasn’t just chemistry snapping into place. This time felt like he was fully mine. Like his heart and soul belonged to me.
His hand tangled in my hair, not rough but firm enough to tilt my head back, exposing my throat. My breath caught as his mouth traced from my jaw down to the curve of my neck, slow and possessive.
A shiver tore through me, need pulsing between my thighs. I fisted my hands in the hem of his shirt, tugging it up and over his head with impatient fingers, breaking the kiss only long enough to strip the fabric away and toss it aside.
With impatience of his own, Eric pushed my sleep shorts down past my hips, forcing them down my thighs. They dropped to the ground, and he smiled.
Desire coiled tighter inside me. I wanted to wrap my legs around him, grind against him, chase the release already building. But he held himself steady, and that kept me in place. He wasn’t rushing. He was choosing the pace.
He broke the kiss and looked at me, really looked at me, as his hand slid between us. His touch was deliberate, unhurried, tracing through my slick heat before brushing over my clit. The contact made my breath catch, my hips instinctively pressing forward.
The way he watched me wasn’t just hunger. It was focused intent. And it was almost reverent.
Even pinned between his body and the door, I didn’t feel overpowered. I felt chosen. Like he was responding to me, not overtaking me.
“Tell me again,” I demanded.
“What do you want to hear, beautiful?” His thumb circled slowly. “That your body drives me crazy?”
I shook my head.
“That I’m still pissed you left without telling me why?”
I shook my head again.
“What then?” His voice softened, lips tipping into a playful smile as his hand moved with confident precision. “You want to hear how much I love you? How I’ve been in love with you from the start? How I’m never letting you go?”
“Yes.” I hissed as he plunged a finger deep inside my core. “Yes, I want you to tell me that. Show me that. Tell me you love me over and over. I’m never going to get tired of hearing it.”
“Jamie, I love you. You’ll never have to ask again. I’m going to show you every fucking day. Every fucking night,” he growled, adding another finger. “Three times on Sundays. Gonna love you so much you won’t be able to walk straight.”
His mouth found mine again, slower this time but no less consuming, his hands guiding, building, bringing me right to the edge.
When the orgasm finally hit, it was hard and bright, my fingers digging into his shoulders as I broke against him.
He stayed with me through it, murmuring words of love against my skin.
When he sank himself inside me, it was with love on his lips.
As he pumped desperately into me, I moaned his name, and he answered with love.
When he came deep inside me moments after my second release, he breathed a contented, I fucking love you.
We stayed there afterward, pressed together against the door, his forehead resting on mine.
I was the most satisfied and well-loved woman in the world.
“Eric?”
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“I love you.”
He laughed softly, looking down at me like I’d just handed him something priceless. The sound vibrated through his chest and into mine, and I felt it everywhere we were still joined.
Then reality snapped back in.
“Shit. We didn’t use a condom.”
“I know. And it was awesome.” His smile stretched wider.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Hell no. I’m relieved.” He brushed my hair back from my face, calm where I was spiraling. “I’m not giving up more bone marrow anytime soon. Nothing to worry about, beautiful.”
“Pregnancy?”
“I’m not worried. You said you’re covered—I trust you, Jamie.” His gaze held mine. “And even if something happened, I’d handle it. I take care of what’s mine. And you…are mine.”
To prove his point, he kissed me again while his still twitching erection ground into me.
I was his. He trusted me. And I trusted him.
“Maybe you should sit down now. You probably need to get off your feet before you fall over.” I wasn’t even sure he was supposed to be out of the hospital yet.
“You questioning my stamina?” His brows lifted, amused.
Before I could answer, he pulled free and scooped me up with easy strength. “Never mind sitting. It’s hot as hell in here. We need a shower. Point me in the right direction.”
A shower sounded perfect, but when Eric took a step with me in his arms, he staggered.
“Eric, put me down right now.”
“Fuck.” He exhaled sharply, lowering me to my feet. “Sorry, beautiful. You might have to walk. I’m in a bit of pain. Think the meds wore off.”
“There’s ibuprofen in the bag in the bathroom. Go take some and get the shower started. I’ll find towels.”
The apartment was almost entirely boxed up, but everything was labeled. I found the linens quickly and carried them down the hall. By the time I returned, steam was already curling out of the bathroom.
He was standing in front of the mirror when I stepped in.
“Holy shit, Eric, your back...”
His entire left hip and lower back were bruised deep purple and blue, swollen in places, the skin stretched tight and angry. It looked brutal.
He glanced at the mirror, then back at me with a shrug that didn’t quite hide the stiffness in his posture. “Not as bad as I thought it might be.”
“Looks like you’ve been in a fight…with a car.”
“I’ll be fine.” He rolled his shoulders like he could shrug off the bruising and stepped into the shower. “Just a little pain.” His eyes darkened as he moved under the spray. “But if you really want to take care of me, get in here.”
Water ran down his chest, over muscle and ink and healing skin. He wrapped a hand around his cock with a crooked grin. “You take care of me. Then I’ll take care of you. Then maybe we see how generous we’re both feeling.”
A laugh caught in my throat. We had four hours before the movers showed up. Four uninterrupted hours.
Something told me we weren’t wasting a single minute of it.
He looked determined, not just to prove his stamina, but to prove something deeper. That he was here. That he wasn’t fragile. That loving me hadn’t cracked him open beyond repair.
I felt the same pull, fierce and certain.
But this time, there would be condoms. Passion didn’t cancel out common sense. Eric might be fearless when it came to consequences, but I knew better than to treat something as life-altering as a child like a casual byproduct of an impulsive moment.
“Get over here, beautiful,” he called over the rush of water. “Just keep me off my back, okay?”
He winked, and for a split second the world tilted the way it had the first day we met. That same magnetic pull. That same dizzy certainty.
My man.
The thought settled into me with surprising ease.
I stepped into the shower, and when his hands found my waist and his mouth found mine, everything aligned again. The noise in my head quieted. The doubts thinned.
I didn’t know exactly what the future held. I’d probably lose my footing again. That was who I was. But the idea of getting lost didn’t terrify me anymore.
If I wandered, he’d come looking.
We had each other.
For the first time in a long time, that felt like enough.