Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
brIAR
I wake slowly but not for a second do I wonder where I am.
I’m in Brooks’s bed.
In his arms.
His breathing is steady and even but I know he’s awake.
He nuzzles at my hair, presses a kiss to my nape. “You sleep okay?”
Did I sleep okay?
“I feel…”
He smooths his hand down my back, waits patiently for me to get my brain together—because of course he does.
“Good,” I finally finish, when it’s not the right word, can’t begin to encompass what I’m feeling.
Because it’s like all the pieces are coming together.
He chuckles and I roll over in his arms.
“Not the most effusive word choice, I know,” I say, stroking my fingers through the stubble. “It’s just like…this is right and easy.” His eyes hold mine. “It’s like I’m whole again, you know?”
The past isn’t gone. The threat still looms.
But somehow, for the first time maybe ever, I know it’s all going to be okay.
“Yeah, baby. I know exactly what you mean.” He sighs and draws me closer. “You know the only good thing about us being apart?”
“What’s that?”
“I know how fucking lucky I am to have you back and I will never, ever take it for granted.”
My eyes burn as that flows over me—how much I can see he feels it, how much I feel the same.
But I don’t want to go back to us apologizing to each other.
We’ve done that.
And I meant what I said about moving forward.
So I blink back the tears and snuggle closer. “I think there’s another thing you’re forgetting about.”
“There is?”
“Did you or did you not make it clear to Jace that he should get over himself and keep Marie forever?”
He stills then his chuckle ruffles through my hair. “There may have been just a modicum of ass-kicking.”
I giggle. “Ass kicking? Or his head being removed from said ass?”
Another chuckle. “Either. Both.”
“I thought so.” I shift a little closer then barely hold back a gasp when he hitches my leg over his hip, draws me flush against him. “Marie seems to think you played a bit more than matchmaker.”
“Eh”—his hand slides down my back—“I think Jean-Michel had as much of a hand in it as I did.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“It does seem like he manages to be everywhere—or at least has sources everywhere.”
It does seem to be that way. Although…
“Maybe it’s really Pascal who’s behind it all.”
A laugh. “Probably. The man does disappear into shadows.”
“How does he do that?”
“No clue.” Brooks nuzzles at my jaw. “Though, you’re the one who snuck into our supposedly secure house without being seen. I think you might have the melting into shadows thing down pat.”
“I had inside information from living there.”
“Maybe.” A beat. “Or maybe you’re just damned impressive.”
I feel my cheeks get hot, but before I can demure, can point out that I just did what I had to, same as him, he kisses me.
It’s not the kiss I expect.
Instead of being hot and wet and deep—I mean, my leg is wrapped around him, the hard length of his erection pressing into me—it’s gentle and sweet, so damned sweet it has my eyes prickling with tears again.
I slide my hands into his hair, lips parting, tongue slipping into his mouth. “More,” I whisper.
He goes still. “We don’t have to rush, baby. We can take our—”
“More,” I demand against his lips, fingers tightening in his hair.
He groans and suddenly, I’m on my back, his hard body pressed into mine, his eyes molten, and his body—
“Oh!” I gasp when he rocks his erection against me.
His mouth hitches up. Then he’s kissing me again, his hand slipping under my tank top, skating up along my side. I can feel him trying to throttle his need, to stay in control.
But I don’t want him in control.
I just want Brooks.
I wrap my legs around his waist and arch my back, pressing my breast into his hand when it comes close.
He hisses out a breath then molds my flesh with his fingers, brushes his thumb over my nipple. Then his mouth is descending over mine and our tongues are tangling.
And this kiss is very much not nice.
It’s deep and wet, hot and slick, and it sends my thoughts scattering and my body into overdrive.
I drag my nails over his back, clutching at the material of his shirt and yanking it up. He lurches back, rips it over his head, tossing it to the side.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” I murmur then smile when a hint of red coats his cheeks. But I only get to see that for a second before his hands are dragging my tank top up.
He groans again. “You’re the beautiful one.”
Then his mouth is coming to mine and we’re kissing and kissing and kissing, our bodies rocking together as though they remember the precise rhythm that drives us both insane. Fingers trail over my skin, roll my nipples, slip between my legs and stroke—
“Oh God!” I cry, breaking the kiss, my head dropping back when he presses his palm to my clit, when he circles and presses and pinches. “Oh, my fucking God!”
His lips trail down my throat, moving steadily toward my breasts.
He takes a nipple in his mouth, making me cry out again as waves of pleasure flow through my body.
“So fucking wet,” he groans, stroking through the slick folds of my labia, circling my entrance. “I want you so fucking much.”
“Then take me,” I pant. “Now, Brooks.”
His smile makes me shiver.
“Later,” he murmurs.
Then he’s kissing his way down my body, tossing my legs over his shoulders, and—
Licking and sucking, stroking and biting. Devouring me with his mouth, sending me skittering to the edge of release in just a few minutes. But I don’t want to go without him. This time, this moment I want to share with him.
“Brooks,” I say, winding my fingers into his hair and tugging. “Not without you.”
He nips at the inside of my thigh and I have to clench my teeth together, have to tighten every muscle in my body to keep from flying over the edge. “Baby, I haven’t been with anyone in five years. I’m only going to last like ten seconds. Let me make you feel good first.”
“You haven’t—?”
Those eyes come to mine as he presses a finger into me. “No.”
“I—”
“I don’t care if you have,” he interjects before I can finish.
I tug at his hair before he can distract me again. “It’s only ever been you,” I say. “I need you to know that.”
His shoulders lift and drop on a breath. “Baby—”
“And I need you now. I need us to do this together.”
“Raindrop,” he rasps and I don’t miss the dampness in his eyes as he comes back over me. His mouth finds mine and I can taste myself on his lips, his tongue. But I don’t mind. In fact, I like it, like how it’s another example of the two of us coming together.
Then he’s kneeling between my legs, the hard jut of his erection nudging at my entrance.
“Ready?” he rasps.
I touch his cheek. “Now, honey.”
His eyes close and then he’s sliding into me, stretching me in the best possible way.
He shudders, and I can’t help but break the kiss, my head dropping back, my legs tightening around him.
A groan vibrates through him when he bottoms out and I hold still for a second, just sitting in the way he’s possessing me so completely.
“Okay?” he grits out, the question barely discernible.
I nod, demand, “More.”
He takes me at my word—pulling back, thrusting in—and it takes all of two seconds for it to feel like someone has set me on fire. I was already close, already hovering on the edge of an orgasm, but the way he moves has my control fracturing.
I dig my nails into his back, match his strokes.
They’re hurried and hard, hitting a spot deep inside me that drives me insane.
“Brooks!” I cry, feeling it coming, knowing it’s going to be big.
Big.
So big it may incinerate me.
But that’s okay.
Because he’s right there with me.
“Come for me, baby,” he groans, sweat glistening on his forehead. “Now, Raindrop. I need you to come for me.”
I lift my hips, meeting those hard thrusts, grinding my clit against him.
And it’s right there.
And, oh fuck, it’s intense, so big it drags me under, that pleasure exploding through me.
He calls my name, his strokes going wild, and he absolutely pounds into me as I come and come and come.
I collapse back to the mattress, limbs numb, vision hazy—and completely obliterated by the orgasm he just gave me.
But even as I float through that cloud of pleasure, I’m aware of Brooks holding me, touching me…
Loving me.
And I’m determined to love him right back.
Forever.