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She laughed more and each time she did, I felt like I won an award. The hands knew we were together, andthey teased me mercilessly, but not Elena. As Roy said, he’d never seen her this happy, and he’d never say anything to diminish the joy inside her. I, however, was fair game.
I know I hurt her when I left, and she had every right to be cautious of me now. But she gave me a second chance, and I was going to always be grateful for that; in fact, so grateful that I would never need another.
"Elena," I whispered her name, feeling the familiar warmth spread through my veins. She turned to face me, her eyes searching mine.
We hadn’t made love—even though we both wanted to, but we were putting it off, waiting for the right moment to consummate what we knew was our forever.
But each day, it became harder to stay away, to not bury ourselves in each other.
"Duke." I saw a hint of vulnerability in her gaze that made my heart clench in my chest.
The sexual tension between us was palpable. The energy pulsing between us was unrelenting in the best way possible. It was as if being here where we first made love was where we’d start this new journey.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
Our lips crashed together fervently, igniting a fire within me that hadn't been extinguished for over a decade. As we break apart for air, our foreheads rest against each other, and our breathing synched up as if we'd been doing this all our lives instead of just picking up where we left off so long ago.
Without a word, Elena brought my facecloser for more kisses. Her grip on my cheek tightened as if she feared this moment might disappear at any second–a fear I shared wholeheartedly because losing her again would destroy me.
“I love you,” I vowed.
“I love you, too,” she breathed.
Now, it felt inevitable that we would succumb to our cravings: closure from the past and redemption for a future through our love for each other.
“There is no going back,” I told her. “There are no ghosts from the past haunting us.”
She nodded, her eyes bright. “We will not be cowards, afraid to grab our happiness with both hands.”
I kissed her lips softly. “We will not fear what tomorrow will bring but embrace it because when we’re together, Elena, we can move mountains.”
She pushed me on my back and straddled me. I put my hands on her hips and felt happiness spill inside me. I couldn’t believe my good fortune, I thought as I looked into her soulful chocolate-brown eyes.
Fate had pulled us back together after years apart, and somehow, together, we were healing—patching up wounds left by the very people who should have protected us. Instead, they had used us like pawns in their twisted games of power and manipulation.
With a soft sigh escaping from between her lips as she caressed mine gently as a lover's sweet promise whispered against them–she began undoing my belt buckle slowly before unbuttoning my jeans, revealing my growing desire underneath them.
My cock sprang free.
I hissed at the sensation, my eyes closing as I focused on the feel of her hand on me. But soon enough, Elena's mouth replaced her hand as she took me inside eagerly. Her tongue swirled around the tip before sliding down my length. I groaned as she worked magic with her mouth.
She took all of me deep inside, making my hips buck involuntarily at the intense pleasure coursing through my body. Her free hand cupped my balls gently while she sucked and licked.
“Elena,” I groaned, my hands in her hair, destroying her braid. My hips rose to meet her mouth. “Baby, I want to come inside you.”
She ignored me and continued to savor every swollen inch while massaging my balls with one hand as she expertly sucked on me, drawing moans from deep within me, begging for release but not wanting this intimate connection between us to end too soon.
I tugged gently at Elena's hair until she looked up at me with those beautiful brown eyes. “What?” she asked cheekily.
“Not coming in your mouth this first time, darlin’.”
She rolled her eyes and licked her lips. “Whatever.” Then she moved back and removed my jeans and boxers in one swift motion. “Take off your shirt, cowboy.”
“I will, but…could you stand a little away and…now, I don’t mean to be insensitive or anything, but if you couldslowlytake your clothes off and just imagine there’s a pole somewhere and music is playing?—”
Sheswatted my chest.
I pulled her down and rolled her underneath me. I tugged at her clothes. “Good thing we took our boots off first,” I teased, marveling in touching her naked flesh, the smooth skin of her legs, her thighs. She was muscular now and still utterly feminine.