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“I will be a lucky man.” Like he had in the elevator, Sumner reached out and laid his palms on either side of my face, his fingers stretching back to delveinto my thick hair. He held me gently, reverently, as if it were something precious in his palms. “And we’ll find out what that other life is like together.”
And with that, he leaned in and kissed me.
My eyes fluttered shut as Sumner’s soft lips pressed against mine, sealing the promise between us. My head swam as my heart raced. I lifted my own hands back up and rested on the tops of his shoulders, anchoring myself to him because otherwise, it felt as if I could float away.
His soft lips on mine turned from sweet and soft to something firmer, teasing, testing as if to see if it was okay. He was sofirm, and I inched my fingers along the quiet muscle hidden beneath his cotton shirt, pressing closer, closer, until the firmness was everywhere, every inch of him against every inch of me. Sumner’s hand that wasn’t in my hair slipped down to the small of my back, long fingers spanning and urging me nearer. He kissed me deeply, claiming my mouth in a way I’d been aching for. I melted with the intensity of it, with the sureness of his mouth on mine.
It was a promise of a different sort.I will treasure you, his kiss said.I will treat you well. You are mine, and I am yours.
I’d always thought each moment in my life was inevitable, even if I’d never seen it coming. My parents deciding where I’d attend college. Their attempt at getting me to marry Aaron Astor. What I didn’t realize was that this moment was inevitable, too. I’d never known that kissing Sumner Pennington the night at the first fundraiser would lead to this, but it was like fate, if I believed in such a thing.
And maybe, when it came to Sumner, I did.
I matched him kiss for kiss, stroke for stroke, digging my fingers into his skin as if to burrow my own sincerity deep.I will treat you well, I thought.
My mouth opened underneath his, my heart pounding harder.I will treasure you.
Sumner gasped against my lips, a beautifully low sound stuck in his throat and stuck in my chest.You are mine.
Despite the weight of the decision, in that moment and in Sumner’s arms, I’d never felt freer in my life.And I am yours.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Iwoke the next morning slowly, my blackout curtains preventing the sunlight from rousing me. The first thing that broke into my awareness was the heavy warmth that draped over my side, curved along my stomach. My mind traced the warmth, realizing that it wasn’t just on my side, but pressing all along my back as well.
And I found I very much so enjoyed the feeling of someone’s body pressed against mine.
I opened my eyes, looking down and finding the tanned arm tucked around me, and the hand that rested off my hip.
No, I didn’t enjoy the feeling of just anyone’s body pressed against mine. Only Sumner’s.
The second thing that broke into my awareness: how painfully hard the thin-carpeted floor was.
We lay in my bedroom, but on the ground, and my duvet we’d dragged from my bed did nothing to cushion the makeshift sleeping pad. Despite accepting my request for him to stay the previous night, Sumner refused to even sit on my bed, let alone sleep on it.You’re beingridiculous, I’d told him as I laid on the mattress, comfortable under my eight-hundred thread count covers.
His reply had wafted up from the floor.No, I’m being respectful.
After my failed attempts to entice him to join me on the mattress, I accompanied him on the floor. My hip would thank me for it later.
With the gentlest touch now, I traced the outline of his long fingers as they curled against my stomach, more of a whisper beneath my fingertip than actual contact. I wanted nothing more than to roll over, to see his sleeping face, but was too afraid the movement would wake him. I settled for gazing at his hand, remembering the first time it’d wrapped so easily around mine.
Of course, though, along with wakefulness, the events of the previous night also washed back in like a rising tide. Sumner’s mouth against mine, his confession winding around us and tying us together. My choice, and what impending consequences that choice meant. Aaron’s words. Last night, what he’d said had felt overwhelming, damning, but now in the light of the morning, I could see the spew for what it was worth.
Aaron wasn’t looking out for Sumner’s wellbeing, of course. Instead, he was banking on the hope that I would be selfless enough to walk away before I ruined Sumner. That, once pointed out to me, I wouldn’t dream of being selfish enough to continue down the path I set on.
I traced the lines on Sumner’s knuckles. I couldn’t remember when the last time I’d been selfless was, though. Aaron was putting his faith in the wrong place.
Sumner’s arm loosened around my waist as he shifted,making a low sound in his throat as he woke up. I lay still, trying to keep my breathing even, trying not to give away my own wakefulness, feeling him stretch and stir behind me.
A part of me just wanted to stay in this moment forever—albeit I would’ve preferred to be comfortable on the bed in this moment forever instead—and never move from the safety and contentment of Sumner’s arms. I didn’t want the rosy haze of lips on mine from last night to wear off, didn’t want the coldness of reality to sink in. In this moment, there was nothing to fear. There was no Aaron Astor and no impending proposal and looming disownment. There was just Sumner and me, slowly waking up with cricks in our necks.
Not now. I settled firmer against him.Later. We’ll think about it all later.
It was a childish move, sinking my head into the sand, but I did it anyway.
Sumner’s hand curled into a loose fist against my stomach before flattening once more, tracing the fabric of my shirt. “Good morning,” he murmured in the world’s most beautiful voice, breathy and rough and still laced with the lingering sleep.
I sighed at his unknowing refusal to stick his head in the sand with me. I reached down and covered his hand with my palm, fingers slipping in between his.