Page 18 of Desperate Crimes (Mergers & Acquisitions #6)

I wake up at six o’clock in the morning every single fucking day. It’s just how I’m wired.

But never have I felt so rested before.

And I know why. It’s because she’s in my arms.

Finally.

The light bleeding through the curtains is soft and gold, brushing over her skin like a benediction.

She’s curled against me, breathing slow and deep. Her cheek is nestled against my chest. One gorgeous leg is tangled with mine beneath the sheets.

I’ve never felt peace like this.

And I’m wary of it.

Because peace is fragile.

And I don’t do fragile.

I do forever.

I do mine.

I do no-fucking-way-in-hell I ever sleep alone again.

Possessiveness claws at my chest like a beast with its teeth sunk deep.

She looks too good like this—flushed from sleep, marked from the night before.

I know she’s sore.

I was rough. Maybe I even meant to be.

But I also meant every touch.

Because she’s mine.

And now?

She’s not going anywhere.

She stirs in my arms, lashes fluttering as she wakes.

I feel it before I see it—that flicker of uncertainty in her body.

The soft tension of doubt creeping in as reality settles over her like a second skin.

Not happening.

I slide my hand up her bare thigh, cupping her hip, pulling her closer as her eyes open slowly.

“Morning, Princess,” I murmur, my voice rough with sleep and want.

She looks up at me, dazed. Vulnerable. Unsure.

That won’t do.

I slide my hand around the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair as I guide her gaze to mine.

“Good morning,” I repeat.

“Hi,” she whispers.

“What’s that look about?”

“I, uh, didn’t know if you’d be here this morning,” she says.

“Of course, I’m here. And I’ll be here every morning from now on.”

“What are you saying?”

“You’re mine,” I say, voice low and final. “Don’t you dare start doubting it now.”

Before she can respond— before she can ask or pull away or even think —I pull her to me and kiss her.

Hungrily.

No pretense. No hesitation.

My tongue slides against hers, demanding, devouring, owning.

Her lips part with a moan I swallow— need rising fast and hot between us again like it never went to sleep at all.

I’m already hard.

Of course I am.

I’ve been hard since I woke up with her leg thrown over mine, her soft breath warming my skin.

I deepen the kiss as my hand wraps around her throat, not to hurt—just to hold.

To anchor.

She gasps into my mouth, hips rolling instinctively against me.

That’s right, Princess.

I lift her leg up over my hip, dragging her body flush against mine.

She’s already slick, her pussy wet and waiting.

Like she never came down from what we did last night.

And I don’t hesitate.

There’s no condom.

No barrier.

Nothing separating us.

I press the head of my cock against her entrance and slide inside her in one smooth, claiming thrust.

She moans— high and sweet and wrecked —and I catch it with my mouth, kissing her deeper, swallowing every sound like a prayer I was born to say.

Fuck, she feels so good.

So tight. So warm.

I start moving, slow and deep, thrusting into her with the kind of rhythm meant to imprint me into her body. Into her bones.

Face to face.

Heart to heart.

I grip her thigh, her throat, her hips— her —like I’ll never let go.

Because I won’t.

Because this?

This is forever.

This is mine.