Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
As a friend.
She heard it so clearly in her head. They’d always said, “I love you.” As friends. Nothing more. But Britt felt so much more.
“I love you too.”
“No.” He lifted her chin with his large fingers, the intensity in his deep brown eyes making her breath stutter. “I love you, Zan. Not as my best friend. I. Love. You.”
Did she just hear what she thought she did?
“I know you didn’t sign up for this when we got married in Vegas.” His throat bobbed on a swallow. “And I know I’m breaking every friend code there is, but I love you. I’m in love with you, Zan.”
Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. Her words—her soul—lodged in her throat, stealing her ability to speak.
She kissed him instead.
The instant their lips touched, Linc wove his fingers into her hair, pulled her mouth more firmly onto his, and kissed her back. This was different from the other kisses they’d shared. It was urgent and all-consuming and felt like his heart was laid bare.
After a few moments of being lost in him, she broke the kiss. Not because she wanted it to end, but because she felt dizzy and giddy and—minor thing—needed to come up for air. “I never signed the divorce papers.”
A crease appeared between his brows, like he was trying to decide if he’d heard her correctly. “You didn’t?”
“No.”
“Why did you say you did?”
“I was scared,” she confessed. “And a little hurt, if I’m being honest.”
“Because I pulled away in the Triple B?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.” He looked stricken. “I explained why.”
“I know, and I believed you, but by then I’d already said it, and I didn’t know how to un-say it, and then...”
Lord, I’m rambling.
Linc laced his fingers through hers. “Then I kissed you.”
“Then you kissed me.” She squeezed his fingers, holding on like he was an anchor keeping her steady. “Are you mad?”
“Why would I be mad, Zan? You just told me you never signed the divorce paperwork, which saves me a whole lot of footwork having to find and tear it up. And you know I’d do it.”
She did now. “I love you.”
He nodded.
He’s not getting it.
“Did you hear what I said, Linc? I love you,” she repeated before clarifying, “Not as a friend.”
“Wait. You do?”
“I do.”
The corners of his lips curled as her words sank in. “Not even as your best friend?”
She shook her head. “Not even close.”
He traced a finger across her lips as his grin turned into a huge smile: her favorite one that made his elusive dimple peek through.
The awe in his expression melted her heart and sent a shiver of anticipation skipping through her.
His eyes were darker than before, promising everything she’d never dared believe was possible.
“Friendship is overrated,” he rasped before slanting his mouth over hers. The kiss was so hot, it incinerated their friend status, making way for something deeper to rise from the ashes.
His lips still on hers, Linc scooped her up. Britt automatically wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling when he missed the hallway by a few inches and bumped them into the wall.
“Are you okay?” she asked. He was the one that had taken the hit.
“Two hands are overrated,” he murmured before kissing her again.
Somehow, they made it the rest of the way to the bedroom unscathed. Never lifting his mouth from hers, he laid her on the bed and followed her down. The weight of him pushed her into the mattress, and she reveled in the feel of his body on hers.
“Have I told you how much I love you in short skirts?” he asked, moving his hand beneath the hem and between her thighs, groaning when his seeking fingers rubbed along the damp material of her thong. “Always so wet for me, Zan.”
Why deny it? She knew damn well he could tell she was drenched. When he moved her thong aside and ran his fingers through her arousal, she whimpered and arched into his touch.
“Such a good girl.” He kissed down her neck to nip where it met her shoulder, making her gasp. The hot swipe of his tongue chased away the fleeting pain. “How do you always smell so amazing?” he asked, thrusting a finger inside her.
“Linc…”
“Shh, I’ve got you.” He added a second finger and started fucking her with them.
Her hips started moving of their own accord, lifting to match his thrusts. He pressed his thumb against her clit and started rubbing, making her moan.
“Feel good?” He pushed her shirt up and started sucking on her nipple through the thin material of her bra.
“God, yes.”
“Want more?”
“Mmm, please.”
His fingers curled inside her when she said that word.
“Fucking ‘please.’ Kills me every time you say it.” He pulled his fingers from her heat and slid them underneath the flimsy strap of her thong where it stretched across her hip.
“I need to taste you.” He ripped the material in half. “Can’t wait.”
Within seconds he was lapping along her slit. Thrusting his tongue inside her, then licking up to tease her clit, before repeating the pattern.
“Linc, I need…”
“I know what you need, Zan. Be a good girl and I’ll give it to you.” He went back to tormenting her clit with his tongue while he pushed two fingers back inside her. When he added a third, she moaned. “What do you want, Zan?” he asked in a gruff voice. “Use your words or you won’t get it.”
God, why was it so hot when he let his dominant side loose?
He nipped her clit lightly, commanding her attention immediately. “Zana, I asked you a question. What do you want?”
“I want to come,” she panted. “Make me come, Linc, please.”
“I’ll give you fucking anything when you ask nicely like that.” He sealed his lips around her clit and sucked hard, sending her into the abyss.
He licked her through her orgasm, smirking when she finally pushed him away after becoming too sensitive.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered. “I could feast on you all day.”
Her cheeks pinked. “Maybe hold that thought while I catch my breath.”
He chuckled, rolling them over so she was straddling him. “Move in with me.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I kind of already have.”
“Not for show.” He ran his fingers along her thighs, grinning when goosebumps erupted in their wake. “For real.”
“Linc…”
“Or we could move into your place, if you prefer,” he offered. “I don’t care where we are as long as it’s together.”
Fuck, that sounds cheesy.
“Why Lincoln Pierce, are you a romantic at heart?” she asked, adding a little extra oomph to her drawl. He’d always loved her accent.
“What if I am?”
She studied him, like she was searching for secrets in his soul.
Let her look. He’d told her he loved her. He was done with secrets.
“I’ll think about it,” she said finally.
“Fair enough.” He directed her hips to line them up. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you, in case you’ve forgotten,” he mimicked her words, “that you ‘kind of already have.’”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
They both groaned when she sank down onto his length. Goddamn, the way she took him completely… he’d never get over how right it felt.
“Did you mean it?” he asked, gritting his teeth when she started rocking against him, rotating her hips in a little “o.” Fuck.
He wasn’t going to last long if she kept moving like that, but he’d be damned if he came before she did.
Moving his hand between them, he started rubbing her clit with his thumb.
“You love me?” He thrust upward, making her moan.
“I do,” she panted. “And you love me?”
Jesus. Just hearing her confess to loving him almost made him blow his load.
She needed to come. Right now. He rolled them again so he was back on top, hiked her leg over his shoulder so he could hit that spot that made her cry out, and started pounding into her.
Her walls tightened around him, nearly choking his cock when her orgasm hit.
“I do,” he rasped right before he saw stars.
Linc wasn’t sure what vows they’d recited standing in front of Elvis that night in Vegas, but when his balls tightened, and he emptied inside her with a groan, he couldn’t imagine anything being better than what they’d just said right now.