Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
ATLAS
We made our way upstairs and into our bedroom. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to consider Hector’s room as mine too, but I hadn’t slept in the other room since we’d gotten together, and if Hector allowed it, I planned to keep it that way.
I’d slowly started moving my clothes over, too, and he didn’t comment on it. He had so much space in his closet since he didn’t have a wide variety of clothes to start with, though I did notice he’d cleaned out some of his drawers for me too.
Technically, I could have kept my things in the other room—it had been mine, after all—but it was what this move represented.
I liked that I was sliding into his life, and he was making space for me.
It really cemented that I wasn’t just his roommate anymore, and that this wonderful, kind man was really mine.
Hector gently helped me out of my clothes and into the same PJs I’d worn last night. I liked how, despite his giant form, he was always so gentle in his actions. His fingers were nimble with the buttons, and he released me with a kiss on the forehead.
He wasn’t as fastidious with himself and simply kicked off his pants and pulled the white T-shirt he’d been wearing over his head.
“C’mere,” he murmured as he slid into his side of the bed. My heart did happy skips at knowing we each had a designated side of the bed.
I happily crawled into the space he’d made for me in his big spoon.
We usually cuddled face to face, but maybe he somehow sensed that this was what I needed right now.
His body pressed flush against my back, his breath against the nape of my neck, and his strong arms wrapping me safe in his embrace.
The tension slipped from my body.
“Do you wanna take a nap?” Hector asked softly against my neck.
“No. I just want to stay like this.”
Hector grunted, his arms wrapped tighter around my middle, and his hairy legs tangled with mine as if trying to make sure every inch of skin touched. I was thankful for it.
“Aunt Polly always told me touch was the best cure. There’s nothing like the comfort of another person to help heal whatever ailed you,” I said softly.
“You don’t talk about her much.”
I shrugged the shoulder that I wasn’t lying on, but it was more a twitch of the arm. “She’s great, don’t get me wrong. I miss her so much. That’s probably why I try not to think about her, or else the urge to run back to her will get too strong. She was my safe space.”
“Was? Is she not anymore?”
“No, I mean, yes, she still is. But now I have a safe space here with you.”
Hector squeezed me tight and pressed a delicious kiss on my neck that sent shivers down my spine. Sadly, his mouth didn’t stay on me long.
“Tell me about her. Maybe that’ll help with missing her until we can go visit her.”
I turned in his arms to stare at him. “You’d want to visit her with me?”
Hector looked surprised by the question, then a blush crossed his face as he thought about it. “Yes, um, I’d like to meet your family, the people you love. That is, unless you think she won’t approve of, um, me.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” I furrowed my brow at him. I couldn’t think of a single reason Aunt Polly wouldn’t love Hector. He was probably everything she would have asked for me. Kind, gentle, loving, and someone who was my landing base.
“Well, because of my age?” Hector said it more like a question than a statement.
I frowned harder, then flicked him on his forehead. It wasn’t a hard flick, but it had surprised him. “You know I don’t care about your age. You do know that, right?”
He hesitated, and I raised my hand to flick him again when he spoke up, “Yes, love. I know. But that doesn’t mean other people don’t care. It doesn’t mean they’re not staring when they see us together.”
“If they’re staring, it’s only because they’re jealous I was lucky enough to capture someone like you.”
A half grin graced his lips. “I think it’s the other way around. They’re wondering what a handsome young thing like you is doing with someone with half a foot in the grave.”
“I resent that,” I said seriously. “You’d better live a long, happy life with me. Even if that means I have to drag you from the grave myself.”
He chuckled but didn’t try arguing with me, just kissed me instead.
“She’ll love you,” I murmured between his lips. “She’ll make you her famous eggnog.”
“Famous, huh? Just how famous are we talking about?” he teased, a beautiful sparkle in his brown eyes.
“Oh, world class for sure,” I joked back. “When I called her last week, she told me she’s already started this year’s production. All the neighbors have been lining up for her eggnog.”
“Already? It’s only October.”
“It’s Christmas Falls,” I deadpanned, like that was answer enough. Hector’s smile grew, as if he was in on the secret. I’d told him before how big a deal Christmas was in my hometown.
“Tell me what you’ll show me when we visit.”
I rolled back onto my other side, so he was the big spoon again. He seemed to understand that it was his touch that I needed right now and closed every inch of space between us while I spoke.
I softly told him about some of my favorite places in town. We’d visit Aunt Polly first, of course, so she could meet the man who had my entire heart. We’d have her eggnog and probably laugh over the embarrassing stories she’d tell about me.
I’d take him to The Snowflake Shack to visit Remy and his dad, Adam, my old bosses. We’d reminisce over their burgers and milkshakes, though theirs weren’t as good as ours. Well, I might be just a tiny bit partial.
Then we’d visit the Christmas tree farm just outside of town. It was the same farm Aunt Polly took me to every year to get our Christmas tree.
“Right next to the tree farm is the falls the town is named after. The place always looked magical and romantic.”
“Yeah? And what would you do to me there?” Hector asked gruffly. He pressed a hot kiss at the base of my neck that had me trembling with pleasure. “Are we going to have a repeat of what happened at the springs?”
I moaned at the memory of skinny-dipping with him, which sent a course of heat to my lower region. The memory seemed to have affected Hector too. With his body flush against mine, it was difficult to miss the hard cock digging into my ass.
“Ignore me,” Hector rumbled and tried to put some distance between the lower parts of our bodies, but I grabbed his ass to stop him.
I turned my head enough to steal his lips. It wasn’t the optimal angle, but we managed to make it work.
“I want you like this. Want to feel you all over,” I murmured when the kiss broke long enough for me to catch my breath. I was already sliding the clothes off my legs. Hector reached into the nightstand to grab the lube.
“No condoms,” I declared when I saw he’d pulled out the box too. He immediately dropped the box and found his way back to me. His boxers were kicked off, and cock lubed in one smooth motion.
He didn’t need to do much in stretching me, since I was still loose from the fucking last night. Not that I really had the patience for foreplay right now anyway.
It wasn’t just the lust that consumed me. It was the need to feel him inside me. To feel connected to the one person in this world who lit this fire inside my heart. The person who made me feel braver than I actually was.
Hector’s erection soon replaced his fingers. “Tell me if it hurts.”
I made a sound that wasn’t quite agreement, and based on the shallow hiss of air through his teeth, Hector knew I wouldn’t follow his request. I couldn’t right now. My need to have him inside me overshadowed any potential pain.
“Love,” Hector said, the word filled with both affection and warning. It sent another tingle down my spine. It made me want to see what he’d do if I pushed his buttons enough.
“Hector,” I said, voice whiny. This position didn’t allow me to take the lead as I usually preferred. I reached back and laid a palm on his hairy thigh and tried to move him forward.
He was immovable, damn him, but I didn’t think he wanted to keep this torture up for long.
“You’ll tell me if it hurts,” Hector demanded again. The authority in his voice spiked something foreign inside of me. I didn’t usually like my partners ordering me around or taking control, but Hector doing it now had lust shooting straight to my groin.
I’d probably still prefer being the dominant one in the bedroom most of the time, but right now, after an emotionally exhausting day, this was exactly what I needed.
“Fine,” I finally agreed and yielded to him. He wanted to take care of me, and I wanted that too.
That seemed to appease Hector. He used his large, sexy hand to spread my cheeks enough to position himself. My hand was still on his thigh, trying to urge him to move faster. But with my body half twisted around and him being the big spoon, he had all the control right now.
“Please, Hector,” I begged.
Hector grunted, his hand back on my ass to give it a little smack that had me gasping at how much I liked it. My back arched, my ass shooting backward to get more of what I wanted, but Hector captured my ass again and held me in place.
His slide inside was slow and torturous, but his soft declarations of love made it bearable. He kissed every inch of my face he could reach. I twisted my head as far as I could to meet his mouth, and he swallowed my moans as his hips finally delivered what I’d been begging for.
His body cradled mine, and we stilled for a minute, just soaking in each other’s taste as I adjusted to his size.
Then the rocking started. It was slow, intentional, and drove me fucking mad, while at the same time, brought me peace of mind. It was just Hector and me at this moment.
Nothing else mattered. No stalkers or rumors, just us.