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I let myself fall into him, let him hold me up, let him embrace me.
I whimper when he retreats, but I sag deeper when he whispers, “You can always tell me how you feel and when you’re overwhelmed. It’s my job to make it right.”
“It really isn’t.”
“I disagree.” His fingers smooth over my jaw. “It’s your job to make me smile. To make the shit I wade through on a daily basis disintegrate when I walk through the door because you’ve brought home some homeless goats?—”
I stare at him. “Homeless goats?”
His lips twist. “Tell me that isn’t something you’d do.” His arched brow dares me to disagree, but I can’t so I pout. “You’ve been on the perimeter of my life since you were born, but I’ve never known how badly I needed your brand of madness. You are a breath of fresh air, Tee.”
I shiver in his embrace. “I try?”
Cody chuckles and rubs his nose along mine. “Don’t change.”
“I won’t. If you don’t.”
“In sixty years’ time?—”
“Sixty?” I croak.
“Not even that’ll be enough,” he rasps. “But when we’re old and decrepit, I still expect you to be driving me crazy on the regular.”
“That I can do, but only if you hold me like this and never let me go.”
“Agreed.”
He seals the deal with a kiss. The reconnection exactly what we both needed as my bones turn to goo and the pressure of his hands at my shoulders and lower back ground me, stirring my senses in a way that only he has ever done.
When his tongue gently circles my lips, I moan, parting them in a silent invitation, which he takes.
Sliding in, he teases me with his taste. And the scent of him, the feel of him—they’re everything I’ve ever wanted and more.
He, I know, is it for me.
He was it when he was Butch, and he’s doubled down on that by being Cody—our beginning might not have been honorable, but I know he is.
All the while, he’s shuffling us backward and he proves he’s in possession of superpowers because the bed connects with the backs of my calves. Strong hands guide me until I’m lying atop the mattress. The weight of him surrounds me next, pressing me into the bed, and I whimper as he palms my curves through my pajamas.
I scrabble my fingers over his spine, not stopping until my hands rub along his shirt-covered shoulders. I dig the fabric out from his waistband, tunneling beneath so that my nails can connect with his bare skin.
Experiencing his full-body shiver with him, I smile against his mouth, delighted at his responsiveness.
“Minx.” He pulls back, only to dot kisses over my chin, along my cheeks, nibbling my ear and tickling his tongue over the lobe.
The shudder that wracks through me makes the bed quake as my back arches in response.
“New development,” he rumbles, the vibration of his voice making me hum in delight.
The note drops as he explores my throat, laving it with his tongue tip, making shapes with it, then blowing over the faintly wet patches he leaves behind.
“Oh, please, Cody, touch me.”
“I am. You’re the tease, not me.”
“Lies!” I cry as my nails scrape up his back, then I groan when his hand shapes my braless breast. “Not the nipple!”
“You asked me to touch you,” he counters. “Have you changed your mind?”