Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
MATT
B linds cover the windows of my store, giving me the perfect chance to surprise Zoé. She’s waiting in my truck while I finish setting up the last touches, thinking I had to run in to check on a few things I didn’t have time to do before the town hall this afternoon.
I can’t wait to have her all to myself tonight. This is long overdue. No sister, no friends, no parents.
Just her and me.
The woman I love.
Fuck .
I love her so damn much.
And based on my mom’s interest in visiting Daph’s school, the two of them must have had quite the conversation when I was out helping my dad with the luggage. That makes me love her even more, if that’s even possible.
I tried to needle the information out of her on the drive here, but she insisted all they talked about was the trip to Vancouver.
I could tell by the way she stayed vague that she was hiding something from me, but I didn’t press her on it.
She doesn’t have to tell me everything. My mom offering to join us on Wednesday is already the biggest step forward I could have dreamed of.
I’m not used to having an ally when it comes to protecting my sister, and the feeling is fucking intoxicating.
I open the shop door and slip outside. When I approach the truck, she’s staring down at her phone. “Can you help me out with something real quick?”
“Me?” She snaps her head up. “With what?”
“No, not you,” I deadpan, opening the passenger door. “Of course you. Come on.”
She takes the hand I offer and follows me back to the store. “Should I tell you that you’re way—”
I open the door and usher her in, and the words die in her throat.
Hands on her shoulders, I lean in. “I owed you a dinner and flowers. Remember?”
The whole shop is suffused with the soft light of hundreds of candles I’ve arranged around vases and flowers. In the middle of the space, cushions and blankets are piled together. And next to them is a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine, along with stuffed pasta shells.
She turns to me, the wheels in her brain racing. “How did you… When did you…”
Then she gasps. “Your flowers are gonna catch fire with all those candles!”
Chuckling, I caress her arms. “They’re fake, don’t worry. Do you like it?”
“I—I don’t know what to say.” She spins slowly, taking it all in. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so beautiful in my life.”
It’s true that the store looks like a vision out of a fairy tale, with all the greenery and lights dancing like fireflies.
But the woman standing in the middle makes it downright magical. Enchanting.
“When did you find the time to do all of this?” she breathes.
“Lola and James helped me put it together this afternoon.”
I didn’t know my parents would be back in town today, but it worked out well in the end. It gave James and Lols a few more hours to finish setting up. I owe them big time.
“Come on. Sit with me.” I lace our fingers and lead her to the cozy setup.
Once she’s settled, I open the bottle and fill our glasses.
“To you,” I say, tapping mine against hers. “And your vision for our town. Thank you for making us so much better.”
Her eyes go wide, her mouth forming the cutest O. “ Our town?”
“If you want it to be.”
“I do.” Though her words are clear, shadows drift across her face. “I need to talk to my dad first. Tell him I’m signing the papers for the hotel and that…” She exhales sharply. “That I don’t want to take over.”
It’s the first time she’s spoken those words to me. That she’s acknowledged that she wants something different, that she is someone different from the person she was when she arrived.
I wasn’t prepared for how my heart would race in return. Like a lock unfastening its hold on my hopes and desires.
“I have something to tell you too,” I say, just above a whisper. “Corey texted me while I was at the car with my dad. I’m in. I’m starting the program in two weeks.”
With a squeal, she throws her arms around my neck, coming flush against me.
I drag her onto my lap and hold her tight, whiffs of her shampoo tingling my nose.
“I’m so proud of you,” she says. “You’ve worked so hard. You deserve it.”
“Thank you.” I close my eyes, breathing her in deeply, and rub circles on her back. I want to keep her here forever. Give her all the love she’s missed out on for all thirty-two years of existence. Show her that she deserves to be loved the way she needs.
We sit in silence for several minutes, tangled in each other. Eventually, she pulls back and rests her forehead on mine.
“You make me feel more alive than I’ve ever been,” she whispers, her breath warm on my lips.
I brush my mouth against hers. “I was living my life in the dark until you showed up and switched all the lights on so bright.”
“I’m still scared,” she confesses.
My heart thuds heavily. “Me too. We can be scared together.”
She nods, her fingers weaving through the hair at my nape. “I love you.”
“I love you so much, beautiful.”
I press my mouth to hers, kissing her until I’m gasping for air. As soon as she opens and I slide my tongue in, my body goes unbearably tight with need.
The wild effect she has on me should be studied by scientists around the world.
Hands roaming, hungry and desperate, I fumble at the hem of her shirt, aching to feel her skin instead of the fabric. I peel off all the layers she was bundled in. Then it’s my turn. In a heartbeat, we’re both naked in the middle of my store, our clothes discarded on the floor.
“Hold still,” she tells me.
Her demand scrapes on my skin like her nails on my spine, sharp and deliberate, and my toes curl with pleasure.
God, I like when she gets bossy.
She gets off my lap and kneels before me, her breasts swaying.
My balls tighten at the sight.
She wets her lip, positioning herself between my spread legs. “I love when you fuck my mouth, honey.”
With a groan, I take my length in my hand and guide myself to her lips. “Open up, then.”
She glides her fingers up my thighs, never taking her eyes off me, even as she lowers her head and welcomes me.
Though not completely. Rather than put me out of my misery, she swirls her tongue over the tip.
“Fuck, you’re such a tease, Zoé,” I hiss, tightening my grip around my cock.
She traces her tongue along my length, lingering like she’s memorizing each vein, and then she pushes my hand away, replacing it with hers, and engulfs me in the heat of her wet mouth.
Head dropped back between my shoulders, I groan, trying to stifle the pleasure surging through every part of my body.
She sucks hard, as if knowing how tortured I already am, and I turn feral. The pressure snaps at my primal instincts. Everything in me roars, urging me to give in.
I gather her hair in a tight fist and hold her still over me.
She lifts her eyes to me, her lips glistening and damp, swollen from her effort, her gaze full of want. “Please.”
“Fuck. Don’t move.”
She obeys, only opening wide. Spine tingling, I shift my hips up and down, her hair wrapped securely around my fist.
In just a few thrusts, I’m there, tension coiling tight at the base of my spine. My thighs lock, but I don’t slow, pumping in and out of her warmth, going as deep as she allows me. Praise falls from my lips between curses and shallow gasps.
You take me so well. Fuck, I love you. So gorgeous with your lips stretched around my cock. Wider, beautiful. That’s it. Fuck.
My movements stutter, my balls tighten, my head swells against her tongue.
That’s the moment I love the most. When I’m on the brink of spilling my release. When every strained muscle in my body is begging to relax. That fine line between pain and pure bliss. I ride it till the last second. Till beads of precum form at the tip and she whimpers in response to the taste.
“Okay, enough.” I tear her mouth away from me before I can come, then bring her flush to my chest, sealing her lips to mine. “Turn around.”
Without giving her a second to follow my command, I do it for her. I spin her around, pulling a sharp gasp from her, and press her back tightly against my chest, my thighs bracketing hers.
Hand sliding between her legs, I bring my mouth to her ear. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathes as my fingers play in her wetness, circling her clit already engorged with need.
I bite the tip of her ear. “I was ready to come in your mouth.”
Zoé hums, rocking her hips against my hand. “Why didn’t you?”
I press my palm against her pussy, nudging her closer to me. “Because I want to fill you again.”
I grip my cock and sink into her. Her walls flutter as she stretches to accommodate me, and as I move inside her, the mind-blowing need to feel her clench around me levels out.
“Don’t go too fast,” she moans, her head falling back on my shoulder.
I press an open-mouthed kiss against her sweaty neck, reveling in the way her breasts bounce with every roll of my hips.
God, I love feeling her like this, with every inch of her molding around every inch of me, keeping the pace slow and deep until I’m slick with her need.
I palm her breast in one hand, teasing her clit with the other, fingers slipping lower, relishing the way I disappear inside her.
Body and mind.
“Take what you need from me, beautiful.” I slide a finger in too, so snug and so perfect, and she shudders on my lap.
I sink my teeth right where her neck meets her shoulder and suck on the spot.
Her body goes slack against mine.
It’s okay, I got her. I’ll always have her.
Mine to hold.
Mine to pleasure.
Mine to love.
“Matt, p-please. I—”
She chokes on my name, my release climbing closer to the surface.
“Are you gonna say my name when you come all over me?” I pump into her faster, my finger stroking inside her with the same rhythm.
“ Yes .”
“Say it.” I pinch her nipple. “Say it, Zoé, because I’m so close.”
Too close.
Hot need floods my body. I grit my teeth, thrusting my hips in hard, sharp movements, my thighs slapping against her ass.
“ Say it .”
She clenches around me so tight my vision goes dark.
“ Matt .”
Fuck.
Her body writhes as her pussy grips me hard.
I follow her off the edge. My release barrels through me fast and loud, and I spill myself inside her in thick, hot, sputtering bursts, crying out her name as I fill her with every drop of my orgasm.
Only when we’ve both stopped spasming do I remove my finger.
Cradled in my arms, she’s breathless, warm and sweaty, red splotches scattered over her body from her climax. This might be my favorite version of her. The only one I want to keep for myself.
“I don’t think I have enough energy left to go back to your place.” She sighs as I roll her off my lap.
We lie on our sides, face to face, our knees tucked up against each other.
“It’s okay.” I brush away the hair stuck to her damp skin. “We can stay here as long as you want.”
“Can we never leave?” She glances around the room, at the flickering of the plastic lights dancing on the walls. “You made it so cozy and warm. And safe.”
With a chuckle, I pull her close, my nose brushing hers. “I’ll always keep you safe. No matter where we are. Even if I’m not next to you. I’ll always keep you safe.”
She clutches my neck, holding my gaze, staring into my soul. “You’re the best decision I’ll ever make in my life.”
My heart trips over itself. And I lay myself bare for her.
I hold eye contact, letting her see that she dragged me out of a dark hole I didn’t know I was in until she blitzed through it, bright and warm.
I wait for her to realize she was the one who stitched back together the cracks in my heart.
One day at a time, with her care and her smiles.
I let her feel the weight I used to carry alone and how light I am now that she’s by my side.
Humming, I kiss the tip of her nose. “I think you and I were meant to meet at this exact moment in our lives. Neither of us would have been ready for such a profound change if it had come a few years ago.” I swallow, a steady current running through me.
“You altered my brain chemistry. My body responds to you in a way I’ve never known.
You were meant to happen to me at this very moment.
To prove to me that I could trust someone with my heart again.
That I have the right to be happy. And I was meant to happen to you now too.
To show you that you deserve a love that’s honest and unconditional. ”
I lean in and kiss her.
I don’t know how long it lasts, but at some point, our kiss becomes sloppy and need takes over once more. And just like that, the store is filled with moans and labored breaths, her name on my lips and whispered I love you s.
Until we plunge into oblivion again.
We do this all night.
Around five a.m., when early morning light filters through the curtains, Zoé finally falls asleep in my arms.