Page 196 of Burning Daylight

Her whole body bows beneath me, her pussy clenching hard around my cock as she comes with a cry that rips through the room. Her nails scratch down my back, and my pace stutters, hips jerking as I press deeper. I let go with a groan that’s more pain than pleasure, my cock twitching inside her as I spill deep, her walls still fluttering around me. My vision goes white. My body locks. And then everything shatters.

I collapse on top of her, and we stay like that, breathing hard, and our hearts pounding.

Her fingers trace slow circles along my spine. I press a kiss to her shoulder, noticing a bite mark I don’t even remember leaving.

It flares something primal and possessive inside me, though, and I wish I could ink it permanently into her skin. A mark that proves she was mine, even if the future may be unclear.

“Holyfuck,” I murmur, panting against her neck.

She hums again, her hands stroking my hair, my neck, my back, fingernails teasing my skin and sending shivers. That,mixed with the aftershock of my orgasm, and I’m practically melted against her, unable to move.

And yet, my chest is still heavy. My throat is still tight.

I manage to pull back just enough to see her face. Her sweat-damp hair clings to her skin, and I brush it away gently, my knuckles skimming along her cheek. Her eyes flutter closed under my touch.

Everything inside me stills.

I could spend forever right here. Justwatchingher. Breathing her in.

But eventually, I give in, sleep claiming me.

The room is dark when I wake a few hours later; gray light bleeds around the edges of her curtains, soft enough where I could still pretend the morning hasn’t started. And for a second, I allow myself to pretend. I let myself believe I could stay.

That this could be our morning,everymorning.

But even now, I hear the tinkling of Juliette’s house coming alive, and I know that’s not reality. It slips under my skin like the cold edge of a blade.

There’s a weight in the pit of my stomach.

I stare at the ceiling, unmoving. My arm is numb from where she’s tucked into me, warm and soft and breathing slow, her fingers curled loosely at my ribs like she’s meant to be there. I don’t want to go.

Still…I ease her arm off my chest, pressing a kiss to her fingers before laying them on the bed.

I don’t breathe as I re-dress in my clothes, and after they’re on, the white shirt unbuttoned, and the reminder of what happened last night spattered on my sleeves, I sit at the edge of her bed with my elbows on my knees, digging my hands into my hair until my knuckles ache.

Behind me, she murmurs something in her sleep.

I close my eyes, swallowing at the way my heart’s shattering into a million icy splinters.

My skin is still sticky with her sweat. My senses still drowning in everythingher.

I don’t want to go, I repeat to myself.

But I know that I can’t stay.

49

JULIETTE

Iwake up to my mother screaming.

It’s an odd noise, and it takes me a few seconds to recognize it for what it is. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her expel so much emotion before, so having it as an alarm clock is a jolt to my system.

Jerking upright out of bed, I glance around, my first thought being that maybe she knows Roman was here last night. Maybe he’s still here.

My hand immediately reaches next to me, but the bed is cold, like he’s been gone for hours.

There’s a piece of paper on my pillow that looks like it was torn from my notebook, and I grab it, smiling because he left me a note.