Chapter 38 Seven Minutes
seven minutes
HAYDEN
I kiss her slowly and gently, tasting her tears as I thread my fingers through her hair.
She clutches my shirt, pulling me closer. The caramel scent I can’t get enough of slides under my skin, intoxicating me.
“Jesus. Kissing you is even better than I remember.” I kiss a path down her neck. “If only you knew how obsessed I am.”
“I can guess,” she whispers, arching into me. “The clinginess was a dead giveaway.”
I gently tug on her hair, tipping her head back. “Obsessed isn’t the same as clingy. I’m obsessed with everything about you. With how you walk, how you talk, how you laugh—too loud sometimes, but you don’t care.”
She swats my chest, giggling.
“But most of all,” I say, sobering, “I’m obsessed with how strong you are.
With how you love, fierce and unapologetic.
” I duck my head and catch her eye. “It took me a while to get to where you are, but don’t mistake that to mean I love you less.
Because the way I love you is written in the fucking stars.
It’s destiny, and whether you like it or not, you’re mine forever. ”
She bites her bottom lip, a mischievous glint in her gaze. “I don’t remember saying I want to be with you.”
Fire ignites in my chest, consuming me in a matter of seconds. “The way you kissed me told me everything I needed to know. You’re mine. Admit it.” I pull her closer to me, our breaths mingling. “Admit it.”
“I’m yours.” She presses her palm to my cheek. “And I love you.”
“Exactly what I wanted to hear.” I smash my lips to hers once again. We don’t come up for air until my head is spinning. Even then, I can’t go far. I lower my forehead to hers and exhale. “I have one more surprise for you.”
She snorts. “You’re spoiling me.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” I step back and take her hand. “Though this time, the surprise is at the penthouse. If you don’t want to go, that’s absolutely okay. I can take you home. But to be clear, sex is not my goal here. I simply want to make you happy.”
“Hmm…” She taps her lips with her index finger. “So you don’t want me?”
The laugh that erupts from me is loud and thundering. I tug her toward the exit, shaking my head. “Trust me, Ry baby—if I fucked you the way I want you, you would’ve thought I don’t respect you. And I’m trying my damnedest to honor you.”
“Good to know.”
“Where’s my surprise?” Riley asks the moment we step out of the elevator.
“Have patience.” As I lead her down the hallway, my hand cradling hers, I’m calm on the outside. On the inside, though, I’m dying to see her reaction.
Fuck, I hope she likes it.
“After you left, when I realized I couldn’t imagine my life without you, I did some work. I wanted to give you a space of your own.” I put my hand on the doorknob of the room that used to hold awards and memorabilia.
Heart in my throat, I push the door open and step aside. Rather than go in, she waits at the threshold, so I flip the light switch, illuminating the space. The gasp that leaves her mouth sends my heart galloping.
When she finally does move, her steps are slow, careful.
Hands pressed to her cheeks, she takes it all in.
Then, she heads to the barre and drags her hand along it.
She pauses in front of the mirror wall, rolls her shoulders back, and turns in an elegant pirouette.
In her white dress with her baby bump, she’s a goddess.
My own Persephone, lover of flowers and nature.
With her hand on the barre, her eyes find me in the mirror.
“You did this…for me?” she asks, voice quiet.
“Yeah,” I say, approaching her. “For you. Always for you.”
“Why? What would you have done if I didn’t come back?”
I stop behind her, caging her in with my hands on either side of her. “Even if I failed to win you back, I figured we’d still be co-parenting and you’d probably spend time here. Regardless, I wanted you to have a place that’s just yours.”
Her eyes darken, her gaze intense, liberating.
My fingers itch to touch her, but I rein in the need. “Riley, if you don’t stop looking at me like that…I won’t let you leave this room.”
She arches her back, her ass brushing against my groin. “Maybe I don’t want to leave this room.”
I grip her hips, pulling her closer to me. “Don’t say things like that unless you want me to wreck you.”
She rubs her ass against me again, this time grinding against my erection.
I groan, my vision tunneling. “This is your last warning, baby.”
“I want you.”
Those three simple words demolish my restraint. I brush her hair over her shoulder and leave a trail of kisses down her neck. When I suck on the skin just above her collarbone, she lets out a low moan. I slip my hand under her skirt and dip beneath her panties.
“Already soaking for me, baby,” I murmur. “I want to fuck you from behind. Think you can take it?”
The smirk that curves her lips is sinful. “Always.”
I take a step back and free myself from my jeans. As if she’s as desperate as I am, she steadies herself, gripping the barre, and arches her back, giving me perfect access to her pussy. I yank her panties down her legs then position myself at her entrance.
I push inside her, taking it slow so she can get used to me. Her grip on the barre tightens, the look on her face pure ecstasy.
“Fuck…at this angle, I won’t last long…” She moans when I’m halfway in. “Your barbells… I feel them all…”
“Just a little more, baby…” I roll my hips, watching her expression in the mirror. “You love when I fill your tight cunt…”
“I love everything about you…but your dick definitely takes the cake.” She’s taunting me on purpose, and I love it.
With one final push, I bury myself deep. She cries out, gripping the barre so hard, her knuckles turn white. When a gush of warm liquid hits me, I smile smugly at her wide-eyed expression in the mirror.
“I already…came…” she whispers.
“One squirt and one orgasm down. A few more to go.”
Her moans reverberate through the space—damn, the acoustics in here are incredible. It might be my new favorite place for sex. I pick up the rhythm, fucking her nice and slow, letting her ride out her first orgasm.
“You’re taking me so well, baby…” I catch her gaze in the mirror. “And watching you fall apart is so damn hot.”
She smiles faintly at me as I pound into her with more force. Scorching heat surges through my veins, spreading all over my body. My release is approaching, but I don’t want to come until she’s had a second orgasm.
“You’re perfect like this,” I whisper, running a hand along her spine. “So fucking perfect.”
I caress her side then brush her baby bump with my fingertips before trapping her clit between my thumb and index finger. Skin against skin, our hips slap against each other as she rotates, adding a delicious friction that makes my vision blurry.
“I’m so close…”
That’s what I wanted to hear.
I work her over, listening for cues. Her hitching breath.
Her sweet moans. The slapping of my pelvis against her ass is loud and deliciously dirty.
Sweat drips down my temples as I thrust into her again, again, again.
Finally, my world explodes, and her cunt spasms around me.
Her moans wreck me, and the way she clenches around me makes it impossible to hold back any longer.
“Fuck, baby…” I roll my hips, prolonging her orgasm, drinking her in. Every move, every sound, every detail reflected in the mirror burns into me.
Because she’s mine.
Just as much as I am hers.
After another round, this time in my bed, my girl riding me with abandon, we lie tangled up in one another, Riley tracing my ink with her fingertips.
It’s raining again, the droplets hitting the windows relentlessly, the rhythm echoing my pulse. With her in my arms, even the bolts of lightning and claps of thunder are peaceful.
“I’ll never stop loving the rain,” she murmurs.
“And I’ll never stop loving you.”
Head lifted, she chuckles. “Who would’ve thought Hayden Hale would become the cheesiest person alive? Surely not me.”
“You have that effect on me, Ry baby. You make me soft.”
“There’s nothing soft about you.” She shifts, resting her head on the pillow. “So much better.”
Laughing, I loop my arms around her waist and pull her on top of me.
Fully naked, straddling me, her hair in total disarray, she’s the most gorgeous sight I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.
She’s the best thing that could’ve happened to a guy like me.
Everything about her makes me want to never let go.
Cupping her cheek, I drag my thumb back and forth over her soft skin. “I was doomscrolling a few days ago and stumbled on a really interesting video.” I brush her hair off her face. “You ever heard of the seven minutes theory?”
“I don’t think so. What is it?”
“The theory states that when we die, our brains keep going for seven minutes, and we relive our best memories.” I prop myself on my elbow, holding her gaze. “You’re my seven minutes, Ry baby,” I whisper. “Only you. Always only you.”
Eyes shining, she bends down to kiss me, silencing the rain and the storm outside until all that’s left is her.