Page 47 of Someone to Hold

I bite back a moan as he grazes his thumb across my clit, the sensation almost too much to bear. It’s not as if I don’t know what it feels like for a man to touch me, but everything about Chase makes this moment feel different. More.

“Wait.”

He goes still, and I watch as his chest rises and falls in ragged breaths. I’m glad I’m not the only one with that reaction.

“Take off your clothes,” I command gently.

“Kind of busy here,” he says with a tight laugh.

“We’re in this together,” I remind him, cupping his jaw.

My breath catches as he stands and begins to strip, eyes locked on mine. I drink in every inch of him–those broad shoulders, abs that flex with each movement, thick thighs I can imagine between mine. His cock is already hard, and my mouth waters at the sight of him.

“You’re staring,” he murmurs as he places his wallet on the nightstand.

“Of course I am.” My voice is so thick I barely recognize it. When I sit up straighter and drag my nails down his stomach, he hisses between his teeth, but doesn’t stop me. “I want to be on top.”

His brows shoot up. “Your ankle?—”

“Can handle it,” I tell him. “Trust me.”

He pulls me to my feet, pulling me close for a long kiss before he takes my spot on the bed. He looks like every forbidden fantasy I’ve ever tried to suppress. “Molly, are you sure…”

I bite down on my lip, then draw in a long breath. “I’m done pretending I don’t want you.”

“Thank fucking God,” he murmurs.

It takes an awkward minute to shimmy out of my leggings without putting weight on my right foot. I make it work and climb onto the bed, straddling him with my good leg tucked around his hip, the other extended slightly off to the side.

He’s careful with me, his hands gentle at my thighs, but his gaze is raw.

I slowly grind against him as he grabs the wallet and pulls a condom packet from it.

“Jesus,” he groans. “You’re killing me.”

“Paybacks are hell.”

He sheaths himself, then reaches up to brush his thumbs over my nipples, and I gasp at the spark it lights in my belly. Our next kiss is wild, all teeth and tongue as I reach between us to stroke him. He’s so hard and thick, and I love how he tenses under my touch.

I lift up and then slide down onto him, and it’s like slipping into a part of myself I’ve never known before. We both freeze for a second. He’s buried inside me as I hover over him, our breathing ragged.

“Fuck, Molly,” he groans. “You feel...”

“Don’t talk,” I whisper against his mouth. “Just be here.”

I deliberately roll my hips, watching the way his jaw clenches. His eyes go half-lidded, but he lets me set the pace, even as his hands roam my body like he’s trying to memorize every curve.

I ride him like he never belonged to anyone else. Like he’s mine, and I’m not breaking every rule I set for myself.

He sits up and buries his face in my neck, and we move together. The world narrows until it’s just the two of us in this moment. My body’s already close. Years of frustration, powerlessness, and grief transformed by lust and heat and pleasure.

I finally allow myself to let go, and when Chase grazes his teeth against my fluttering pulse, I come. A wave of stardustshimmers through me, and he follows with a strangled groan, pulsing inside me as he holds me tight.

We stay tangled together, his forehead pressed to my collarbone, as sweat cools on our skin.

“You okay?” he murmurs.

“I just took what I wanted.” I smile, still breathless. “I’m more than okay.”