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And he does, slow and achingly sweet at first, but then deeper, harder, holding nothing back.
We don’t have to hold back now. Everything we feel, everything we want and need, it’s all on the table.
“Love you,” I murmur against his lips, so happy that I don’t have to hold the words in anymore.
“Love you and need you,” he says, his breath coming fast. “Do you feel okay to?—”
“Yes, inside me. Now. I’m fine,” I say, cutting him off. “And I need you so much.”
As he lifts me off the counter, I wrap my legs wrap around his waist and grind against his erection, already slick and aching for him.
We don’t make it to the bedroom.
We don’t even try.
We barely make it to the soft carpet in the walk-in closet before we come together in a frenzy of need on the floor, tearing each other’s clothes away with shaking hands. I have a beat to feel the chill of the air-conditioned air, and then he’s on top of me, trailing kisses down my throat as his hands play possessively over my skin, like he’s mapping territory he plans to claim forever.
“Tell me again,” he rumbles as he rolls my nipple between his fingers and thumb, making me moan. “Tell me you love me.”
“I love you,” I breathe, reaching down to stroke his cock. “Now fuck me, please. Fuck me hard.”
He cuts me off with a kiss that steals my breath and the rest of my words. A beat later, he pushes into me with a deep, savage thrust that summons a moan of relief from deep in my chest.
Yes, this is what I need.
I need to behis.
There’s no hesitation now, no holding back. There’s just the two of us, slamming against each other with an intensity that makes the world fall away. It’s raw and wild and sacred. And when his thumb finds my clit, rubbing tight circles in time with his thrusts, I shatter in seconds.
The orgasm spirals through me with enough force to rip a primal cry from my throat as my inner walls clamp down on his cock. Waves of pleasure crash over me again and again, rising higher as Hunter buries himself deep, his hips jerking as he spills inside me.
Inside me…
“Oh shit,” I whisper afterwards, as we lie panting together in a sweaty tangle on the floor. “Condom. We forgot.”
He stiffens for a beat, before pulling back to meet my gaze. “We did,” he says, still breathing faster. “I’m sorry. It completely slipped my mind.”
“Mine, too,” I say. “Don’t apologize. It’s as much my?—”
I’m cut off by the blare of a siren from his discarded pants.
Hunter pales in response. I’m sure I do, too. Because I know that ring. That’s Margaret’s companion, Katie, the one who only calls from her cell when there’s an emergency with his mom.
He goes for his pants, sliding out of me as I reach for my cotton shorts to mop up the mess.
“Hi, Katie, what’s up?” he asks, already answering the call. “What? Where?” He curses softly and drags a hand through his hair. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He paces the closet as Katie chatters on the other end of the line. I can’t make out her words, but her tone is urgent. Therefore, I’m already in fresh underwear and pulling my baggy linen dress over my head by the time Hunter says, “Yes, of course. Fine. Yes. We’ll be there as quickly as possible.”
He ends the call, his hands shaking again.
“What’s happening?” I ask, snagging a polo shirt from a nearby hanger and pressing it into his hands.
He pulls it over his head without a word, so stunned, I’m not even sure he realizes what he’s doing. “It’s my mother. She’s in the hospital. Apparently, she went in for surgery this morning, some experimental surgery, and now there are complications and—” He breaks off with a choked sound, shifting his troubled eyes my way. “Why didn’t she tell me, Elaina? Why didn’t she say anything? Katie assumed I knew, but I… I had no idea. I would have been there.”
“Of course you would have,” I assure him, even as my stomach drops through the floor. “Just grab some pants andfinish getting dressed. I’ll call down to Alex and have her get us a cab.”
As I hurry out of the closet, aiming myself for the phone, guilt threatens to crush me flat. Margaret must have gone in for the surgery earlier than expected. She didn’t tell me, either, but at least I knew what she was planning.