Page 13 of The Forever (When the World Fell #3)

Liv

C ruz chose the bedroom at the far end of the hall, putting as much distance as possible between us and the activity in the rest of the house.

He positioned the lantern on a wooden chair in the corner, barely giving me time to engage the lock before he had me backed up against the closed door. His body surrounded me, caging me in, his closeness making my pulse quicken in the best type of way.

He said he’d come for me the second we were in a secure location, and I loved knowing he was a man of his word.

“Tired?” he asked, leaving a kiss on my temple.

Every hard line of him imprinted on me, sending my nervous system into overdrive. “Exhausted.”

“Too tired?”

“What a silly question.”

Cruz smiled against my cheek, then kissed his way over to my lips.

He captured my mouth with a confidence that stole my breath, and my heart stuttered as I clung to him. As the kiss deepened, he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against him, letting me feel what my closeness did to him. When his tongue swept across mine, I made a funny sound in my throat and arched my back, embarrassingly eager.

“Easy,” he murmured. “We’ve got time.”

He wanted to go slow. I wanted to rush. Somewhere along the way, we’d find the perfect pace together.

His lips went on a journey, kissing a trail down my neck, teasing and admiring every new place he visited. As his scruff scraped my skin, I tipped my head back and felt his tongue dip into the hollow at the base of my throat.

The touch of his lips had become my weakness, my craving. An addiction I never wanted to overcome.

When his mouth returned to mine, I sank my hands into his hair and released all the feelings I’d suppressed during our travels, pouring it into the kiss until he groaned and grabbed my ass, clamping me to him.

“Easy,” I said against his lips, making him smile.

He gave me another hard kiss, then pulled back to look at me, appearing very much like a man who was hanging on by a thread.

Struggling for breath, I pulled my t-shirt over my head and let it drop on the floor. “Do I need to point out I’m gross and I smell?”

His gaze passed over me. “I like it when you talk dirty.” He cupped the back of my neck and pulled me in again, smiling when I dodged his mouth.

“I’m serious,” I said with a huff of laughter. “I need a bath. You don’t want this, trust me.”

It didn’t mean I wouldn’t give it to him.

Tae’s howl of pain drifted from the kitchen down the hallway, but it didn’t seem to register with Cruz.

“I like you dirty.” He grabbed my face and kissed me, his tongue playing with mine, his lips warm and needy. “I like you clean.” He kissed me again, drawing it out with a long, heavy breath that had the hairs on my forearms rising. Cruz hadn’t washed up either, but I wanted to tuck my face against his neck and inhale his earthy scent. “In case you haven’t noticed, I like you, querida .”

I slipped my hand down the front of his body, curling over the bulge in his pants. With a slow, deliberate squeeze, I smiled, shameless. “Seems as if you like me a lot.”

With a tortured laugh, he reached behind me to unclasp my bra. “I love seeing this side of you.” He slipped the straps down my arms, then his hands closed over my bare breasts, his thumbs teasing my nipples into aching peaks.

“Why?” His touch, his closeness, had desire charging through me, and a shiver passed over my body.

“No one gets to see it but me.”

Affection flooded me in a warm, all-encompassing wave. I smiled and toed off my boots, holding onto him to keep my balance. As soon as I was done, I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and dragged it up his torso, dropping it with the rest of our discarded clothing.

We were both still wearing pants, belts, and weapons, but we were making progress.

As I slipped my arms around his waist and pressed myself to him, his chest hairs tickled my bare skin and set off sparks inside me. “I’ve waited so long for this,” I said, trailing soft kisses across the underside of his jaw. “Too long.”

“It’s only been days, carino .”

The amusement in his voice made me smile, but when his calloused palms swept up and down my spine, the familiar desperation kicked in again. “It feels like years.”

His hands rose to cup my face, his thumbs tracing a delicate path over my skin. “Better end the torture, then.” He dipped his head to kiss me, his mouth firmer this time, his pace more urgent.

All I could think as my stomach bottomed out was yes .

While my mouth kept pace with his, I unfastened his belt and lowered his fly, eager to see and touch more of him. My palm skated across his abdomen, and I eased his pants down just enough to slip my hand inside. A moment later, my fingers closed around the length of him, hard and ready, and a rush of excitement took hold of me.

Cruz pulled back to look at me, and his mouth dropped open with a sigh. The lantern lit up the ceiling and white walls, casting shadows over his features. His eyes were dark and filled with desire as they held mine. I tightened my grip and an overwhelming mix of love, lust, and desire crashed around inside me. He leaned his cheek against mine and released a guttural sigh, bringing to life parts of me that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. “Olivia.”

I worked him over, massaging and tugging, feeling his heat, his silky skin beneath my fingers. Heavy breaths eased from him as he manipulated my belt buckle and tugged it open. Before I knew it, my jeans and underwear were around my knees, and cool air was whispering over me.

We separated just long enough to step out of our remaining clothes and kick them away, losing the bulk and weight of our weapons, our socks.

With no barriers between us for the first time, anticipation zipped through me and my body turned fever-hot.

Cruz grabbed me again and dived on my lips, taking my mouth with renewed enthusiasm. His tongue played with mine as his heat pressed against me, so tempting I could barely control myself. My stomach filled with the same swirl of attraction that had come over me when we first met, and I kissed him harder, clutching his hair, grinding against him.

His hands slid down my back and curved over my ass, encouraging me even closer.

I savoured every touch, lost in his scent, his warmth, the feel of him against my skin.

We stayed like that for a long while, exchanging kisses and caresses, building the heat, touching everywhere we could reach. Cruz even pulled the tie from the end of my braid and loosened my hair, so he could sink his hand into the lengths. He kissed me hard, rolling his hips in a promise of what we’d be doing for real soon enough.

I broke the kiss and turned, pressing my cheek against the door. With my hips tilted backward in invitation, I sent him a teasing look over my shoulder.

His eyes were soft with affection, his mouth lifting on one side. He rested his hands on my hips and flexed his fingers against my skin. He’d never seen me like this before, completely exposed, and the realisation had heat creeping up my neck.

I hadn’t been with a man in such a long time; the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint him.

Cruz cupped my breasts from behind and stroked my nipples, teasing them into tightened buds. I trembled as he rested his mouth beside my ear and murmured, “You’re beautiful, querida .”

I sighed and pushed back against him. “Says the most handsome man in all the lands.”

His huff of laughter made me smile, then his hand slid up my spine to give the back of my neck a delicious squeeze. As the muffled sounds of someone settling into the room beside ours drifted through the wall, Cruz nipped my earlobe and whispered, “Can you be quiet?”

I made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a moan, unsure of the answer. When he thrust against me with one slow, purposeful roll of his hips, I was almost certain it was no . “Let’s find out.”

He tested my patience, my self-restraint. In seconds at most, he’d have me falling to pieces.

He kicked my feet apart like he was about to frisk me, then slipped his hand between my legs from behind. The moment his fingers dipped inside me, I let out a tortured whimper loud enough to carry through the door. Cruz was a man with solutions, though; he used his other hand to cover my mouth, easing my head back until it rested on his shoulder.

My breasts pressed into the door, my hands flattened against the wood… and his fingers, God , they moved inside me maddeningly slowly. I rocked my hips backward to meet his steady gliding motion, listening to him breathing beside my ear, feeling his chest muscles flex against my back.

He spoke to me without words, touched me in ways that went beyond the physical.

His hand left me for a moment, then slipped between my legs from the front, creating a whole new set of sensations. A hoarse sound broke in my throat, and I stood on my tiptoes as he rubbed and teased, touching me with just the right pressure, at exactly the pace I needed.

I loved him. Every part of him. His mind, his body, the way he could be so careful with me one minute, then firm the next.

As he eased me closer to the brink, the meaning of the words he’d said to me in Spanish suddenly clicked into place.

Te amo .

He loved me, too.

My throat ached with emotion, and the realisation sent me over the edge. I closed my eyes and came quietly against the door, moaning into his hand, my legs shaking as it overcame me. My entire body trembled with the rush.

More footsteps travelled down the hall, followed by another closing door.

As his hand left my mouth, I lowered my feet flat to the floor and turned to face him.

Cruz looked me over and made a rough sound in his throat. His eyes glinted with intensity, and he lifted me into his arms, mumbling something that sounded like mi corazón as he headed for the bed.

With my legs wrapped around his waist and his length nudging me intimately, I’d grown so desperate to have him inside me, I struggled to contain myself.

Still breathless from the high he’d taken me to, I dragged in a gulp of air and hoped I could handle whatever came next.