Page 148 of No Holds Barred

She’d never imagined it could be this way, that she’d be so addicted to someone else that she’d never want to be away from them. But here she was, trying to find ways to stay as close to Angelica as possible, as if she needed Angelica in her very presence to breathe. Which she knew was a ridiculous idea, but the intensity of her feelings scared her sometimes.

“Angel…” Hope whispered, biting the inside of her cheek. “I can’t…”

“Then don’t,” Angelica answered. “Don’t try to stop yourself from feeling absolutely everything.”

Hope locked her gaze onto Angelica’s baby blue eyes, on the confidence and understanding that she found there. She focused on them. She swallowed down the noise that wanted to erupt from her, but then she corrected herself.

It was just them.

Pure.

Bare.

Raw.

Groaning loudly, Hope raised her hips up and pushed against Angelica’s fingers. The sensations nearly overwhelmed her. She did it again. And again. Hope kept her gaze on Angelica’s, riding Angelica’s hand to her completion as a shout ripped from her lips.

Then Angelica was kissing her, running soothing fingers across her chest, her stomach, her breasts. The cool air in the room finally reached her skin, easing her down from her high. Hope laughed. The sound rippled throughout the room as it consumed every inch of her body. She laughed so hard, holding onto Angelica’s hips just to keep them locked as together as she could.

“This is so much better than a hotel room.”

Angelica joined in the laughter and pressed her forehead into Hope’s shoulder. “Yeah, it is.”

“Imagine what we’ve missed in the last year.”

“No, I can’t.” Angelica moved back to look directly into Hope’s eyes. “Even if we’d continued our relationship a year ago, it wouldn’t have been like this.” Angelica let out a sigh and sat down fully on the couch, untangling their legs and keeping their hands together. “A year ago, we didn’t fully trust each other. And we weren’t fully committed to this.”

“You’re right,” Hope agreed, knowing full well where she’d been a year ago. Caught between two people she desperately loved and unwilling to make a decision that would benefit anyone. Because she really couldn’t see a way out of that. In the end, she’d hurt everyone. Hope pressed her cheek into the back of the couch so she could look Angelica over.

“But we are now,” Angelica added. “We’re a packaged pair.”

“Yeah, we are.” Hope’s lips pulled upward into a smile. “And I like that.”

“Me too.” Angelica hummed. Her eyes fluttered shut and she relaxed into the arm of the couch.

Hope continued to trail her fingers up and down the inside of Angelica’s thigh, the scent of her arousal still filling the air, and Hope loved it. They fell into a comfortable silence, and Hope had no desire to disrupt it.

“Give me a few more minutes,” Angelica murmured. “Then we can start again.”

“Again?” Hope scraped her nails lightly into Angelica’s skin.

The moan she received in return was pure bliss, and Hope longed to hear it again.

“Yes, again.” Angelica looked at her flirtatiously. “In a bed, preferably.”

“I have a big bed.” Hope winked at her. “California King.”

Angelica laughed and shook her head. “You do know how to tempt a girl.”

“Oh, I’m learning.” Hope lifted Angelica’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Just tell me whenever you’re ready.”

“Soon,” Angelica whispered. “Soon.”

Chapter

Forty-Seven

“How much of this trip is going to be work and how much play?” Hope tugged Angelica’s hand.