Page 55 of No Mistakes

Our bodies are linked; his body curved to fit with mine as his leg wraps around my own.

God.

I breathe out slowly, trying not to wake him, wanting to savour this moment before we go back to the shit storm that waits outside the room. He didn’t just wreck me last night, he rebuilt me. With every rough thrust, every demand, every time he told me to look at him when I came undone around that damn piercing. I wasn’t falling apart. I was being put together.

I glance down and smile at his hand to see his thumb brushing against my skin like his body hasn’t gotten the message that we stopped.

I turn my head slightly towards him, keeping my voice quiet. “You awake?”

Silence.

Then, a low, gravelly hum appears in my ear. His voice, wrecked with sleep. “Mhm.”

His hand shifts, fingers spreading across my stomach. He pulls me closer, pressing his nose into the back of my neck, breathing me in.

“You okay?” he rasps, words cracking slightly.

I smile. “Better than okay.”

He kisses the curve of my shoulder softly. Nothing like the way he fucked me last night, and somehow, that makes it worse. Because I feel it. All of it. The sex, the fire, the things we don’t know how to say, it’s all there in his touch.

“I meant it, you know,” I whisper, tracing over his fingers with my own.

His lips pause against my skin, “Meant what?”

“That I want you.”

His arm tightens. His silence loud, but not empty. It’s heavy with meaning. He’s never been a man of many words. But the way he holds me now? That says more than any vow ever could. I twist around slowly in his arms, facing him. His hair’s a mess. His eyes are half shut, sleepy and dark. And still so fucking beautiful it hurts.

He brushes a strand of hair out of my face, mouthing the words,mine.

I nod, “Yours.”

His lips curve into the smallest smile, but it’s real. He pulls me in and kisses me, slow this time. No urgency. Just heat and promises. I press my forehead to his, whispering what’s already carved into my bones.

“I think I’m falling for you, Ant.”

He locks eyes with mine, searching them for something before speaking. His words coming out rough, soft, breaking.

“I already fell.”

CHAPTER 24

EVA

The second themotel door clicks shut behind Mandy, I exhale like I’ve been holding my breath for hours.

Finally.

Not because I want her gone, because I don’t. But the last few weeks have been hard, and this is the first time in a long time that I’ve had time to myself.

Mandy turned into a little schoolgirl when Ant left, running around the motel room, stressing about what clothes to wear, what perfume to use, and wondering about what he could want to show her.

I never truly understood what was happening between them, and in all honesty, I don’t think they knew either. I’ve seen the way her body language changes when he’s around; it’s like he has this effect on her that turns her from badass to lovesick. But as long as he doesn’t hurt her, I’ll be happy for her, for them both.

I grab the remote off the nightstand and flick on the TV. The screen hums to life in that cheap motel glow as it struggles to find a signal. I can practically feel the old TV static from the bed. I scrolled past the news, romcoms, and reality show crap until I landed on something gritty and violent.

Perfect.