Chapter 6
SIX
Hudson
I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.
That realization hits me Sunday night while Hazel is curled up against my side on her couch, stealing fries off my plate while some reality show plays quietly in the background.
Actually, no, not happy.
Peaceful.
That’s the word for this feeling in my chest.
I’m content, like something inside me finally settled this weekend, like I found the thing I’ve been working myself to death trying not to notice was missing.
Her.
My girl.
Hazel laughs softly at something happening on the television, and my eyes immediately go to her face because they always do now.
Always.
Her hair is messy from where I’ve had my hands in it all weekend. She’s wearing one of my dress shirts and a pair of tiny sleep shorts, and every inch of visible skin is covered in evidence of how we’ve spent the last two days.
Kissing, touching, talking. With every passing second, I’ve grown more and more obsessed with Hazel. I want to know everything about her. Every little thought in that pretty head. Every memory, every dream, every scar.
I’ve learned more about Hazel in the last forty-eight hours than I thought she’d ever willingly tell me.
She sleeps with one foot sticking out from under the blankets because she gets too warm.
She cries during animal shelter commercials.
She secretly wants a giant dog someday. She rereads her favorite books once a year because she likes knowing how they end.
She talks in her sleep sometimes. Mostly about me.
That one nearly killed me.
“What?” she asks suddenly, catching me staring again.
I blink. “What?”
“You’re doing the weird thing again.”
I grin. “What weird thing?”
“The intense staring.”
“I’m looking at you.”
“You’re studying me like I’m a business merger,” she corrects.
“Speaking of mergers,” I whisper against her skin.
Her cheeks turn pink instantly.
Fuck. I love when she blushes.
I reach over, tugging her into my lap with zero warning. Hazel squeaks softly before settling against me easily, her thighs draped over mine.
This girl is mine.
My chest tightens at the thought.
It still feels unreal somehow, being here with Hazel. That we’re together like this after so long.
“You know,” she says lightly, tracing the front of my T-shirt with her finger, “you’re way less grumpy outside the office.”
“That’s because people outside the office are less irritating.”
She snorts. “Uh-huh. Sure.”
“It’s true.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?”
“You were grumpy with me, too.”
I stare at her. “Baby, I’ve wanted to bend you over my desk since the first day you worked for me.”
Hazel chokes on a laugh, nearly dropping a fry. “Oh my god.”
“You thought I was grumpy?” I ask dryly. “I was fighting for my life.”
Her laughter fills the apartment, warm and bright and perfect. I swear I’d burn cities down just to hear that sound.
She settles against me again after a minute, softer this time. Comfortable, like she belongs here. Like she belongs with me.
I tighten my arms around her automatically.
“You okay?” she asks quietly.
I nod against the top of her head. “Yeah.”
More than okay. For the first time in years, work hasn’t crossed my mind once this weekend. I haven’t checked emails, haven’t thought about meetings, haven’t cared about anything outside these four walls.
Just her.
I kiss her temple slowly, breathing her in.
“Hudson?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you broke in here this weekend.”
I grin against her skin. “You opened the door for me willingly.”
“Debatable.”
“You literally waved me into your place.”
“You had breakfast,” she says simply.
“You knew I was coming over. I asked you out, remember?”
“I thought it was a normal dinner date.”
“Never said that. I remember you opening the door, practically begging me to come inside and have breakfast with you, then kissing me senseless—”
“You kissed me first!”
“Would you like me to do it again?” I ask huskily, drawing her against me.
Her eyes darken immediately. God, I love how responsive she is to me.
“Maybe,” she whispers.
A million fantasies hit me at once. I’m debating which one to act on first when she smiles softly and glances at the takeout containers on the coffee table.
“We should probably clean up.”
“Later.”
“You said that an hour ago, and three hours before that.”
“And I meant it every time.”
Hazel laughs quietly before climbing off my lap and gathering the empty containers anyway. I watch her walk toward the kitchen, my gaze locked on the sway of her hips beneath my shirt.
Fuck, I’m never surviving this woman.
I follow her a second later, stopping in the kitchen doorway as she rinses off plates. The soft yellow light above the stove makes her skin glow. My shirt hangs off one shoulder.
She catches me staring through the reflection in the window over the sink. “You’re doing it again.”
“I know.”
Her lips twitch. Then she turns around slowly and drops to her knees.
My brain completely short-circuits.
“Hazel.”
She looks up at me through her lashes, entirely too pleased with herself. “What?” she asks innocently.
I stare at her for a second before scrubbing a hand down my face.
Jesus Christ. I’m so gone for this woman.
She reaches for me unhurriedly, her hands sliding over my thighs as she kisses my stomach through my shirt.
I groan low in my throat. “Baby…”
Her fingers hook into the waistband of my jeans, tugging me closer. That stubborn, challenging look is back in her eyes, like she enjoys wrecking me.
I’m sure she does, the little minx.
My head falls back as she kisses lower, teasing and slow and impossible to survive. She tugs down my pants, taking my boxers with them. My dick springs out, almost hitting her chin, and I suck in a breath.
“Hazel,” I warn roughly.
She hums softly as if she likes hearing me lose control. Then her mouth is on me, her tongue lazily flicking around the tip of my cock. My hips jerk reflexively, and I let out a string of curses.
Hazel giggles, and I know that if I weren’t already in love with her, I would have fallen for her at this moment.
My hand slides into her hair automatically, not pushing, just holding. She moans, her lips stretching wider as she sinks another inch of my length into her perfect mouth.
“Fuck,” I wheeze once she’s taken half of my cock.
Her hand comes up, wrapping around the remaining inches, and she works them in tandem, her fist twisting around me with each suck. God, the suction of her mouth is heaven, and I know I won’t be able to last long.
“Hazel, let me take you to the bedroom. Let me lick that pretty pussy,” I practically beg.
She moans around me, tightening her grip.
“Oh, fuck! Oh, God, baby. You have to stop, or I’m going to come,” I warn her.
Hazel lifts her eyes to mine. She looks so hot on her knees, my cock stretching her tiny mouth. She looks pleased with herself, making me lose it after only a few seconds.
I can barely focus, can barely breathe. All I know is her. Her mouth, her hands, her eyes on me. When her other hand fondles my balls, that’s it. Game over.
I come with a shout, my fingers tangling in her hair and holding her in place as I spill down her throat. She swallows greedily, and I suck in a harsh breath, panting as I back up a step. I stare down at my girl in shock.
“Good?” she purrs.
I nod, unable to find my voice.
She laughs softly, pleased with herself, the little menace. “I could try a different technique,” she offers, shuffling forward on her knees.
I grab her hand before she can touch me. “Baby,” I groan unevenly, pulling her up before I completely lose it and take her on the kitchen floor.
She laughs breathlessly as I lift her into my arms. “Hudson!”
“You’re done teasing me.”
“I wasn’t teasing.”
I give her a look that makes her grin. Then I carry her toward the bedroom because there’s no chance in hell I’m letting her out of my arms now.
She wraps herself around me easily, kissing my jaw as I walk.
“You know,” she murmurs softly, “I really like this version of you.”
“What version?”
“The smiling one.”
I huff out a quiet laugh. “You’re the only one who gets him.”
“Good,” she whispers.
Something warm cracks open in my chest.
I set her gently onto the bed before climbing over her, bracing myself above her body.
Fuck, she’s beautiful. All pink-cheeked and sleepy-eyed.
I love you.
Those three little words are on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them down. It’s too soon.
Instead of telling her, I show her, kissing her to demonstrate how obsessed with her I am.
I lick a trail down her neck, stopping to swirl my tongue around one nipple and then the next. Hazel moves restlessly beneath me. I’ve made love to her enough times in the last twenty-four hours to know that she’s already on the edge. She needs me to get her off. Now.
Grazing her nipple with my teeth, I kiss my way down her stomach and settle between her legs. She’s already breathing hard, and I’ve barely touched her. I use my fingers to spread her pussy lips, growling at the sight before me.
“Fucking drenched, baby. Did you like sucking my cock? Did it get you off, knowing that you made me come in under a minute with that perfect fucking mouth?”
Her hips lift toward me. “Hudson!”
I grin. “Now it’s my turn.”
I don’t tease her. I can’t, not when both of us are so keyed up. No, I just bury my face in her sweet pussy and eat her like it’s my last meal.
“Oh! Oh, God!” she shouts as I thrust two fingers into her snug pussy and suck her clit into my mouth.
Her thighs tremble on either side of my head as I flick my tongue over that sensitive little pearl, teasing, teasing, until she claws at the sheets. When I curve my fingers inside her to find the spot that makes her light up, she explodes.
“Hudson!”
I keep fingering her, licking her clit until a puddle forms beneath her on the sheets and she’s boneless.
She blinks her eyes open as I kneel between her thighs, watching as I stroke my cock.