Chapter 42
J.T
“I love you.”
For a second, I think the roar in my ears is the water pounding against the tile.
Then I realize it’s my own damn heartbeat.
Kelly’s words hang between us in the steam-filled air.
Three simple words.
But they hit me like a freight train.
She says it.
Then, she screams it.
And I’m glad our bedroom suite is soundproof.
My chest is heaving as I pump my hips, her pussy is squeezing the life out of me, we come together—and it is explosive.
I don’t know what I ever did in my life to deserve this woman—truth is I don’t—but I am never letting her go.
I hold her upright as we try to catch our breaths, and even though I just came, my dick is growing hard again.
Because she loves me. Because I love her. I need her. I want her.
Jesus, I always want her.
But because something inside my chest just cracked wide the hell open.
She said it.
My Honey.
My wife.
The one who stormed into my life with those blue eyes and that stubborn mouth and turned everything upside down.
She loves me.
I’ve said it to her before.
I finally told her and ever since then, I say it every day.
But hearing it come from her?
Goddamn. That’s something else entirely.
For most of my life, I’ve been a man who doesn’t expect much.
Work hard.
Keep my word.
Protect what’s mine.
That’s it.
But Kelly?
Kelly makes me greedy.
Makes me want more.
More of her laugh.
More of her body.
More of the way she looks at me like I’m something better than I’ve ever believed I was.
Behind her, I lean my forehead against the back of her shoulder, breathing hard.
“Say that again,” I rasp.
My voice sounds rough.
Almost wrecked.
She turns her head slightly, blue eyes searching my face.
“I love you.”
The words come out softer this time.
Shyer.
Like she’s afraid of how I might take them.
That’s when something feral inside me snaps.
I spin her around, careful because we’re still inside the shower and our skin is wet and slippery.
I cup her cheeks and gaze into her eyes.
“Again.”
“I love you, J.T.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Honey,” I mutter.
My hands slide down her arms, then up again. I cup her neck, her breasts, her belly, tracing every swell and dip.
Water runs down her shoulders, over the curves of her body I know better than my own hands.
But it’s her face I’m looking at.
That beautiful, open expression.
Like she just handed me her heart and isn’t sure what I’m going to do with it.
I cup her jaw.
My thumb brushing along her cheek.
“You got any idea what you just did to me?” I murmur.
She blinks up at me.
“What?”
“You just handed a possessive bastard like me the best damn weapon in the world.”
Her brows knit together.
“What are you talking about?”
I lean closer, lowering my voice.
“Now I know you’re mine in every way that matters.”
The corner of her mouth lifts.
“You didn’t already think that?”
“Yeah, maybe,” I admit. “But hearing you say it?”
I shake my head slowly.
“That hits different.”
My chest feels too damn full.
Like there’s not enough room in there for everything I’m feeling.
“Well, get used to it. Because it’s true. I love you,” she says it again.
I bend my head and claim her lips, kissing her like I need her to breathe—I do.
“I love you too,” I whisper against her mouth.
The words come out low and steady.
“I’ve loved you forever. Before you knew my name. Before you said yes to my proposal. Before you realized what was happening between us was real.”
Her eyes go wide.
“You did?”
“Hell, yes I did.”
I brush my nose against hers, breathing her in.
“First time I saw you at the mill, I knew you were something special. I knew you would wreck me, Kelly Lawrence,” I say her name and Christ, I love how it sounds.
She laughs softly.
“Wreck you? That does not sound romantic.”
“Maybe not,” I say. “But it sure as fuck is. You wreck me, Honey. I love you so fucking much.”
My hands slide around her waist and pull her against me again.
Close.
Skin to skin.
Heart to heart.
“You’re everything I didn’t know I was missing,” I admit quietly. “And now that I’ve got you?”
My mouth curves into a slow, dangerous grin.
“Not a damn thing in this world is taking you away from me.”
Her breath catches.
But there’s no fear in her eyes.
Just heat.
Trust.
Love.
And that right there might be the most dangerous thing of all.
“Now, how much more time do we have?” I ask.
She turns her head to check the clock, then licks her lips.
“Nine minutes.”
“I can work with that,” I growl and lift her in my arms, pressing her back against the tile.
I flex my hips and find her hot little pussy with my cock, then I push inside effortlessly.
The whole time my eyes are on hers, she lifts her face to me and I kiss her.
It’s not rushed. Not frantic like before.
This time I fuck her slow. Deep.
It’s the kind of communion that makes the air between us spark and sizzle like a live wire.
Her fingers slide into my hair.
My arms tighten around her. She slides one hand free, and moves it between us.
“That’s it, honey. Rub your tight little clit for me. Make yourself come.”
“J.T.,” she moans my name, and it sends shivers down my spine.
I keep flexing. Keep pumping.
“You’re so goddamn perfect, Kelly. So good,” I groan as her sex spasms all around me.
And as I look into my wife’s lust-glazed eyes, I start to come.
For a long moment we just stand there under the hot spray of the shower, kissing like two people who finally understand exactly where they belong.
Right here.
Together.
And I never want to be anywhere else.