Page 44 of Rear View

She drew back. “I appreciate that, Xavier, but you’ve got your career. You can’t always be around.”

“Then I get you an Uber.” I tipped my chin up. “They got trackers.”

Her eyes pinched. “That’ll cost you a fortune.”

I cut my head to the side. “Don’t care. You ain’t takin’ the bus alone. We’re in this together now, you and me. So, you either stay here, or I stay at your place.”

The small, timid smile that tugged her mouth lifted some of my strain. “Are you asking me to live with you?”

My voice rumbled through me when I told her, “Damn right I am.” I angled in and nipped her bottom lip. “You can’t hide this stuff, darlin’. I get why you did. But no more. Movin’ forward, you tell me everything.”

She winced, her expression torn. “I don’t want you dragged into any of this, Xavier.”

“I’m in it now. Neck fuckin’ deep.” I pivoted, squaring myself to her as I met those eyes, letting her see just how serious I was. “I can’t think about anything happenin’ to you. You don’t do this alone.” I set my forehead to hers. “I love you too goddamn much, darlin’.”

She stilled. Stopped breathing. She settled her palms over my chest, then trailed them up until her arms looped around my neck. “You love me?”

“Yeah,” I said, no hesitation. “I do.”

She ducked her face and smiled, the first full smile since I’d carried her in. “What would you say if I told you I love you too?”

Jesus. Those words from her mouth. My pulse kicked into overdrive. “I’d say it feels real damn good.” I moved my grip to her waist, then grazed my face along her ear. “And then I’d tell ya to say it again.”

She laughed, a soft, sexy, hot-as-hell sound. “I love you, Xavier.”

A low growl thundered through me. “You’re mine, Ryah. He can’t have you. It’s you and me from here on out.”

“You and me,” she uttered, like the sound of it made her happy. She angled to the side, that copper gaze peering at me through her pretty lashes.

This. Girl. My heart hammered against my ribs when my mouth snapped to hers. I kissed her hard, my tongue diving deep. She moaned when hers met mine, stroking and tasting, and the sound of it had my damn cock twitching.

Her moans got louder, more desperate. She pulled back with a snap, gasping for air. “I want you, Xavier. Now.” She edged in and set her lips to mine. “Take me to bed. Please.”

My eyes collided with hers, then moved between them as I tried to read her, ’cause after all that’d just happened, I wasn’t about to assume.

Her legs locked around my hips and her voice lowered, turning husky when she repeated, “Take me to bed.”

My rock-hard shaft strained against my jeans, digging into her core. I dragged her from the counter and lifted her, then aimed for the stairs and took them. She trailed a kiss along my neck, her tongue moving slow as she tasted me.

Christ, the feel of it. I pivoted and pinned her to the wall. “Keep doin’ that and we aren’t gonna make it to bed.”

Her warm breath grazed against me as she laughed, then tugged at the hem of my hoodie.

Using my hips, I held her in place and let her pull it off before I dipped my hand between us, sliding it inside her thong.

I kept going down, and down, until I found that perfect goddamn sweet spot.

“So wet.” I stroked her clit. “All this for me?”

She dug her fingers into my shoulders as her head fell back. “Yes.”

“Mmm,” I rumbled. “Such a good fuckin’ girl.”

Rolling against me, she tried to work herself harder. The whine that broke from that throat had my cock begging to be freed.

She aimed her palms low as they glided over my pecs and abs. Fumbling with my jeans, she undid the button before she drew that zipper down. Diving under my boxers, she latched around my shaft, gripping tight at the base before she stroked up, good and slow.

“Fuck.”

She stroked again, working me from root to tip. My hips arched, pumping into her hand.

“I’m clean,” she said.

I lifted a hungry brow. “Me too.” A fact, ’cause with her, I wasn’t taking chances, so the second things got serious, I got checked.

Biting her lip, she stared up at me through those lashes. “And protected.”

I exhaled, slow. I wanted her like that, raw and bare and damn well perfect. Wanted to feel her slick and needy around me. Had never had anyone that way before, but no chance I was gonna push. “You sure?”

She took my face between her palms and pulled me close. “I’m sure.”

That was all I needed. I ripped her from the wall and stalked into my room, setting her in the middle of the bed before I rose to my full height, towering over her.

Tipping my chin toward her body, I ordered, “Take it off. All of it.”

She slid her palms over her waist and down to the hem of that shirt, then lifted it lazily, like she had all the time in the world.

And for a guy who raced the clock, I was livin’ for her pace.

Inch by inch, she peeled it away, exposing those delicate lines of her stomach, the deep purple of her satiny bra and the curve of her breasts.

Reaching back, she unclasped it and rolled her shoulders until it fell free.

Grabbing the material at her ankles, I tugged her pants down, then angled forward, hooked my thumbs under her sexy fuckin’ thong and dragged it over her hips, unveiling that pussy to me.

I needed her, and I needed her goddamn bad.

Kicking off my jeans and boxers, my cock stood at full attention. Her eyes dipped there, her lips parting before that tongue slid out and wet them.

My chest heaved as I ranged over her, my mouth finding hers. Her legs fell open and a growl boomed through my chest when I lowered myself between them and kissed her bruisingly deep. Setting my cock against her slit, I rocked my hips to glide it over her.

She whimpered, then broke from that kiss and begged, “Xavier.”

I grazed my teeth over her jaw. She’d told me she liked when I talked, so I did. “You want me, darlin’?”

Her tone was desperate. “I want you.”

Those words from that mouth. She was all I needed. This girl.

Gripping my hard, thick shaft, I lined myself up.

My eyes locked with hers. She smiled that shy smile, and the pink blush that stained her cheeks nearly did me in.

I inched forward, sinking my tip inside.

And Jesus, she was wet. Her lips parted and she gasped.

I advanced again, moving nice and easy while I filled her.

Shit! She felt good. Slick and tight and perfect. Mine.

My breath was rough as I found a rhythm, then kissed an indecent trail down her throat to the mound of her breast. My tongue traced the rim of her peaked nipple before I took it between my teeth. She hissed and her fingers dived into my hair, holding me there.

I hooked my elbow under her knee and lifted, burying myself to the hilt.

“Xavier!” Her gaze fell between us.

I grinned. Eager for her. “You like watching me fuck you?”

She nodded.

“Tell me you like it.” I made a show of pulling out, my cock slick with her.

She panted, her nails raking up my neck. “I like it.”

I sank into her pussy, seating myself and giving her every goddamn inch. She gasped and arched into the bed. I drew back and sank in again.

Sweat lined my stomach and chest as I drove deeper. Rocked faster. The muscles of my abs tensing when I thrust harder. The bed struck the wall with a crack. “You take me so good, Ryah. So damn good.”

“Xavier,” she said, my name ragged and broken as her touch skimmed my spine. “I’m close.”

“I’ve got you.” I kept pace and ground against her to hit that clit. Precum leaked from the tip of my cock while I worked her good and goddamn precise. Stroking over that G-spot.

Her walls tightened around me, and I fought not to come right there when that pretty mouth opened on a desperate scream. The sound of her orgasm had everything inside me clenching. My restraint snapped and I unleashed, pistoning in and out of her.

She latched her arms around me, her hold digging into my skin as she cried out over and over.

I grunted and grunted again before I roared her name and finished hard. I spilled inside her, filling her with my cum, and, Christ, if it didn’t hit different. I kept working until her spasms slowed, then stopped altogether.

We stayed there, catching our breath when I slipped free and banded an arm around her waist. Rolling onto my back, I took her with me.

She sagged against my chest, pushing her face into the hollow of my neck. “I love you, Xavier,” she said, that soft, sated voice feeding my damn soul.

“I love you too, darlin’.” My girl was all I needed. Only her.

Always.

And I’d be damned if some piece of shit coward thought he could come for her.