Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cleo
His breathing is still uneven beneath me, chest rising and falling like he’s trying to hold onto the last few seconds of us coming undone. I feel the same. Boneless. Weightless. Filled up in ways I can’t explain.
His hands are still on me. One splayed over the small of my back, the other curled around my hip, like if he lets go, I’ll vanish.
I don’t want to move.
But when he shifts, brushing a kiss to my shoulder, then another just beneath my collarbone, I lift my head and look at him.
His eyes are soft now—no teasing, no demand, just warmth.
“You okay?” he asks, voice rasped raw.
I nod and lean down to kiss him, slow and deep. There’s no urgency now. Just the quiet kind of closeness that settles after the storm. His lips part for me easily, welcoming. Our tongues barely touch, just enough to feel like we’re still inside the same moment.
When I pull back, he brushes my hair off my forehead and smiles, small and sleepy.
“Lay back,” he says. “Let me take care of you.”
I shift to the side, letting him slip out with a low groan, and watch as he disposes of the condom and disappears into the bathroom.
A moment later, he returns with a warm cloth.
He kneels between my legs and touches me like I’m breakable.
He’s gentle. Attentive. He murmurs something under his breath—too low to catch—but the way his eyes trace over me, like he’s still memorizing every detail, makes my throat tighten.
Once he’s done, he climbs into bed beside me, pulling the sheets over both of us. I expect him to settle in, to lie back and drift off—but instead, he turns toward me and starts kissing my skin again.
Soft, reverent kisses. One just beneath my ear. Another on the curve of my neck. Then lower—across my collarbone, the dip between my breasts, the line of my ribs. Each one laced with something unspoken, something I don’t quite have the words for yet.
He doesn’t say much, and I don’t need him to. His hands roam slowly, not to start anything again but just to remind me I’m still his focus. His fingers drag across my stomach, then over my hip, like he’s relearning me now that the heat’s gone.
I roll into him, pressing my face into his chest.
“I love how you’re always this sweet after.” I murmur, teasing.
He chuckles, low and lazy. “Only with you.”
I smile against his skin, kissing just above his heart. He smells like sex and soap and something warm I want to sink into.
“You’re never like that when it’s just Eddie and you?”
He laughs. “You think he’d let me take care of him?” He shakes his head. “Nope. He’s always the one who has to be the caregiver. It’s his thing.”
“We love him, even when he’s a control freak.” I kiss his nose.
His hand finds the back of my neck, massaging lightly. “You okay?”
“More than okay.” I shift closer, curling into his side. “You?”
He kisses the top of my head. “Yeah. You always ruined me. In the best way.”
We fall into a silence that doesn’t need explaining.
Nothing feels missing. He holds me like he means it, arms firm around me, fingers brushing lazy shapes against my back.
It doesn’t feel like this is only just for tonight.
Not when he’s still touching me like I matter.
Not when my body feels memorized and my heart, maybe, a little less guarded.