Page 52 of Sunflower Persona (Classic City Romance #2)

Gage

“ W ho said anything about losing me?”

The whole fucking world freezes around me as those words pass her beautiful, swollen lips.

She is a vision pulled from my sweetest dreams and my dirtiest fantasies. I didn’t believe my eyes when I opened the door and saw her standing at the threshold, but it’s her. No figment of my imagination could ever taste as sweet.

Her heavy panting as she tries to catch her breath is the only sound that fills the space between us, but the pounding of my heart in my ears nearly drowns it out. My own lungs are locked in iron, the air trapped as the implication of her words bowls through me.

Not lose her…

She can’t mean that. She was the one who said we were done for good.

But that doesn’t stop the fucking spark of hope from igniting as she looks at me with so much burning need.

It’s the fragile flame that has me petrified.

One wrong move and it might go out, taking all the progress I’ve made with it.

Several seconds pass in tense silence before her impatience takes over, and she lunges for me with an adorable growl. Against all of my baser instincts, I use my perch on her throat to stop her before her lips find mine again.

Fuck. My hand shouldn’t be there at all.

Cursing under my breath, I rip my fingers from her flesh. I don’t know what came over me, but goddamn if having her melt into my hold didn’t feel right.

“Kori, wait,” I tell her, stepping away to put much-needed distance between us.

Her face twists into the cutest fucking pout as she crosses her arms in front of her. If the stakes weren’t so high, it might coax a smile from me.

“What are we doing?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing has changed.”

“Of course it has.” She throws her arms up with an exasperated shout.

“Why? Because I’m finally getting my shit together? I meant it. I didn’t do it so you would get back with me.”

“I know. And that makes all the difference.”

“How does that change a goddamn thing?” I growl.

“Because it means you listened to me. You heard the words coming out of my mouth and did something about it. You made the change for you, and because of that, I know it’s real. And now I can give you my heart and know I can trust you with it.”

My heart lodges itself in my throat. The implication of her words is clear, but I can’t wrap my head around them. I can’t let myself hope.

“Low—”

“Shut up and kiss me, Gage. I’ve missed you, and we’ve wasted too much time apart already.”

Fuck. I’ve missed her too.

“If we do this, there is no going back. This isn’t a one-time thing. We start this again, I’m never letting you go,” I tell her.

“I don’t want you to.”

Fuck.

I’m on her in an instant, threading my fingers in her tight curls and holding her so tight she’ll never be able to slip through my fingers again.

She moans against my lips as her own hands claw at my bare chest with a wildness I’ve never seen from her, cutting into my skin with a sharp sting. The pain goes straight to my cock.

“Mine,” I growl into her mouth as my other hand drops to the curve of her ass, pulling her flush against me.

“Yours,” she agrees, digging her nails into my shoulder.

The lance of pain pulls another groan from my throat, which only spurs her on. Her nails dig into me as our tongues clash, and she squirms, searching for something to give relief to her aching pussy.

Her desperation is the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever experienced, but I’m not cruel enough to deny her what she needs. I move my leg, slotting it between her thighs, and can’t hold back a chuckle as she grinds against me with a whine.

“Tell me what you need,” I command and move my lips to trail along her neck.

“I need you to take me to your room and fuck me like you love me.”

A growl builds in my throat, and I catch her lips in a quick kiss before sweeping her up in my arms and following her command.

She lets out a joyful squeal when I toss her onto my bed, then bites her lip while she waits for my next move.

The little black skirt that clung to her thighs rides up, giving me a clear view of the lacy panties underneath.

That, paired with her thigh-high boots with dagger-sharp heels, is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

More blood flows to my cock, making me harder than I thought possible, and precum drops from its swollen head.

Fuck if this picture won’t be seared into my head forever.

Like a predator circling its prey, I approach, crawling over her and caging her against the mattress. Her throat bobs, her pupils dilate, and her tongue pokes out to wet her lips. As tempting as it is to chase it and claim her mouth again, it’s another, sweeter set of lips that’s calling to me.

“Do you trust me, Kori?”

“Yes,” she says without hesitation.

Goddamnit, this woman is everything—her trust after what I put her through is everything.

“Okay. Then I’m going to eat that sweet cunt of yours, and you are going to lie there like the fucking queen you are and love every second of it.”

A tremor racks through her body like a violent little earthquake.

“Yes, Coach,” she says in a breathy rasp.

I don’t give her a second to reconsider.

My body shifts to the foot of the bed, and I push her skirt up above her waist. The delicate lace would be so easy to tear, but I don’t give in to the urge.

The panties are expensive, and I’m fond of this pair now.

It would be a shame to never get to see her in them again.

I hook my fingers around the elastic band, pulling them down over the faux-leather boots, and toss them to the side.

The boots can stay on; I want to feel those wicked heels digging into my back as she comes.

Laid bare before me, she squirms and tries to close her legs, but my grip on her thighs keeps them open for me.

“If you want me to stop, you say so. You hear me?”

“Yes, Coach.”

And I dive in.

She jolts as my tongue plunges into her wet heat.

If it wasn’t for my hand on her, keeping her spread, her legs would have slammed shut, but I won’t let her take my prize from me so soon.

Her taste is even better than I imagined—and I dreamed about this plenty.

Pure fucking woman. God, I’m already addicted.

I turn my attention to her clit, alternating between licking and sucking.

It doesn’t take long for her to shed her self-conscious reservations and melt into the feeling.

She grabs my head—as if I’d ever pull away—and writhes against my face, smothering me with her perfect cunt.

Fuck, I could die right here and be a happy man.

Precum drips from my weeping cock with every one of her gasps and moans. I’m sure there’s a wet patch growing on my gray sweats, but I don’t fucking care. There’s no shame in being turned on by giving my woman pleasure—and she is definitely getting pleasure.

“Gage,” she moans and grips me even tighter.

Those sharp heels cut into my back, and I almost fucking lose it. It’s by sheer force of will I don’t come in my pants, but it’s been months since I’ve had any sort of release, and my body is ready to make up for the missed time.

Her breathing turns into ragged pants, and her grinding gets even more desperate.

Fuck, she’s close. I know better than to change anything when she’s this on the edge.

After a few more seconds of riding my face, she comes apart, shuddering and shaking as her arousal soaks into my beard.

I don’t relent as she slows, drinking in every heady drop of her.

“Too sensitive,” she says as she gently pushes my head, and only then do I come up for air with a grin on my cum-covered face.

“One day you are going to sit on my face and let me do that for hours,” I tell her. My fingers dance at her entrance, teasing her. She is so fucking beautiful as she squirms beneath me. “Are you too sensitive for my cock? We don’t have to do anything else tonight.”

“No,” she protests, sitting up to reach for me.

As if I’d ever leave her side when she’s half naked and wanting.

“No? No, what?”

“No, I’m not too sensitive,” she whines.

“So you do still want me to fill that needy cunt with my cock? I want to hear you say it.”

“I want you to make love to me, Gage.”

Something in my chest snaps, but the sensation doesn’t hurt. I feel whole—like she was the missing piece of my soul that’s finally come home.

“Okay, darling.” The soft tone of my voice is alien, but I don’t question it.

I crawl back up the bed to cup her face, rubbing my thumb along her cheek as she melts into the touch.

It’s hard to pull away from her, but I’m not making love to my woman with her skirt hiked up and her shoes still on.

With gentle fingers, I strip her of her clothes while she watches my every move from under heavy lids.

Once we are both naked, I put on a condom and position myself between her legs.

“You ready for me?” I ask and stroke her cheek again.

She nods, and I push inside her without any resistance—everything is still slick with a mixture of her cum and my saliva. My heart aches with the force of my feelings as my cock sinks to its hilt. Yes, her tight heat feels amazing, but it’s more than that. Being inside her feels like coming home.

Uncomfortable pinpricks burn behind my eyes as my throat tightens.

Fuck. I hide my face in the crook of her neck before I do something embarrassing—like start crying while fucking my woman—and start to move.

Her gasp of pleasure drives away the worst of the emotional wave, but it doesn’t leave completely.

I’m still overwhelmed as I thrust into her, driven by the need to be closer to her—even if I’m already buried as deep as I can physically go.

“I love you, Kori. I love you so fucking much. I never stopped,” I rasp against the skin of her neck.

“I love you too,” she moans as she comes, clenching hard around my cock.

“Please don’t leave me again. Don’t give up on me. Please fucking stay,” I beg as my orgasm rips through me. I cling to her as my cock pulses, filling the latex with my seed.

Fuck, I’d love to fill her for real and watch her grow with my kid.

I shake away the unwelcome thought. Now is not the time to be dreaming of the future.

We’ve never talked about kids or marriage or what happens once she graduates.

That was my plan before I fucked everything up.

I was going to sit her down and have a real talk about what our future looked like—my plans for my GED, timelines for marriage and kids, all of it.

I was in it for the long haul, but now I’m not sure where exactly we stand.

She said I wouldn’t lose her, but promises made while caught up in the heat of the moment mean nothing.

There’s still a chance she could get up and walk out the door, claiming this was all a mistake.

“I can hear you thinking,” she says, running her fingers in a soothing pattern along my back. Tension I wasn’t even aware of melts from my shoulders. “What’s got you freaking out?”

I pull out of her and settle next to her on the mattress. “What happens now?”

“Well, as comfortable as this is, I would like a shower,” she says with a grin.

“A shower?”

“Yeah. Water from a pipe in the wall so you can get clean.”

“I know what a shower is.”

“I thought so. It would be real awkward if you didn’t. Can I crash here? I’d rather not get a rideshare back this late.”

Her attempt at deflecting is obvious as hell, but I’m not letting this go.

“I meant what happens with us. What are we doing, Low?”

“I told you earlier that you aren’t losing me. So unless you have any objections, I’d like us to try again.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I know we have way more to talk about, but nothing so important that it will change my mind on that. I want to hear all about your apprenticeship and whatever else you’ve been up to these past couple of months, but I think it’s best if we wait and do the whole catching-up thing tomorrow.

If we start now, I don’t think we will get any sleep. ”

“I work in the morning.”

“Okay. Then we can talk when you get done. I’m not going anywhere, Gage.”

Her words are so fucking sure I can’t do anything but believe her. Sensing my acceptance, she turns to snuggle into my chest, and I trace my fingers along her spine the same way she did mine.

“Can I ask you a question?” As much as I hate to pop the bubble of peaceful bliss, this question has been squirming around in the back of my mind since she showed up.

“You don’t have to ask.”

“Where is the yellow?”

She looked hot as sin standing on my doorstep, but there wasn’t a hint of her favorite color on her. I almost didn’t recognize her.

“I—it—” She squirms as she stammers and won’t meet my curious gaze. After a few seconds, she groans and throws an arm over her face as she looks up at the ceiling. “It reminded me too much of you. Plus, it’s a happy color, and I wasn’t feeling particularly happy.”

“Low, shit. I’m sorry. For all of it. I’ve never regretted anything more.”

“I’m not. As much as it hurt, we both needed something to kick our asses into gear.

If it never happened, I would have always used you as a security blanket, and you would have been a bartender your whole life.

We are going to be stronger than we were before because we took the time to better ourselves on our own. ”

“You think so?”

“I know so. But seriously, can we go take that shower now? I feel gross.”

“Of course, love,” I tell her, and scoop her back into my arms.

I’d carry her through the pits of hell if she asked me to. As I cross over the threshold of my room with her in my arms, I’m struck with a sense of permanence. This is it—the start of our forever.