Page 27

HOLT

She doesn’t respond.

She just pulls away and walks out of the room.

I’m not exactly sure how long I sit here, but long enough that my eyes grow blurry with worry and sleep and dread. Pulling the drain on the tub, I turn out the light. No matter how I feel, I have to force myself to get some rest. Tomorrow’s a huge game, and everyone is counting on me. Most of the time schools play a cushion team for Homecoming. But this time? It’s a tough rival, that’s for sure. Laying my cell phone on the hall table, I round the corner into my bedroom.

There she is.

Sitting on my bed, wearing one of my T-shirts.

With her redwood hair fanned around her shoulders.

“Mer?”

“I don’t wanna leave.”

I feel like a crater of ice just melted away from my heart. “Good.”

“And I don’t want you to be skeptical of me.”

I shake my head, taking a step closer. “I’m not.”

She bites the corner of her lip and picks at a spot on the comforter. “But you’re lying to me.”

I hold out my hands, pleading, “I’m not, I promise. I know you’re different. I know there’s no hidden motives, no masked agenda, no ploy to get money and bleed me dry.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She stands, facing me. Her fingertips worry the hem of her T-shirt, snaking it up the firm skin of her thighs. It’s super fucking distracting, but I do my best to focus on her face instead. “Is that the only reason?”

“Is what the only reason?”

“You wanted me to be free of Edward, is that the only reason you paid off my loan?”

Tossing my ballcap on the loveseat, I drag my hands through my hair. “No.”

She swallows. “What’s the other reason?”

I take two more steps, closing the distance between us. “You know the other reason.”

“Tell me.” Her whisper is strained and broken.

“Because I love you. Because I’m in love with you.”

There we have it. I was worried I would never feel this way, never say those words. And here we are, I’m throwing them out first and not even regretting it.

Her face pales and then immediately flushes. The only light in the room is the soft glow from one of the lamps and the slanted moonlight cascading in from the blinds. But I can still see everything. I can see the peak of her nipples as they strain against the fabric of her shirt—my shirt. I can see the irregular fall of her chest as her breathing hitches. I can see the tremble of her hand as she lifts her shirt and tosses it to the floor.

The heaviness of her breasts. The soft curve of her lower stomach. The lean lines of her legs. The tan lines on her collarbone. The bare beauty of her pussy.

Her heart. Her soul. Her love.

She’s not saying it back, she’s not proclaiming it, but it’s there.

And I see it all.

Kicking off my shoes and socks, I yank my shirt over my head. My belt buckle clinks together as my fingers fumble. I refuse to take my eyes off her perfect body, even for one second. By the time my shorts and boxer briefs hit the floor, I can feel the moisture from pre-cum sliding down the length of my erection.

Her eyes dilate and she licks her lips.

We’re standing so close our bodies are touching each other in all the right places.

“What do you want from me, Merit?” My voice is a growl, basic and demanding.

Her hands reach up and tangle in my hair, tugging and pulling, drowning me in her passion. “I wanna take everything from you. Every fucking thing.”

We crash into each other, wild and feral. Her tongue slides against mine. She jumps into my arms. The feel of her naked crotch against me drives me to the brink of utter madness. She sinks her teeth into my neck, marking me as her own. Fighting for me, the way I’ve always wanted. Needing me, the exact same way I need her.

Falling to the bed, I explore her body, slowly building the desire between us until there’s so much tension, I think I’m about to break in two. I lavish her with sweet, tender kisses. And then punish her with my teeth, determined to imprint my lust on her soul. Trailing my tongue down her stomach, gliding my chest over her crotch, I lick her from hip to hip. “Open wide, Merit. Show me my new home.”

Moaning, her legs fall apart even wider, gifting me with the sight of her spread-open pussy. I can feel the heat radiating off her skin. She’s plump and pink and perfect. And soaking wet.

Her fingers dig into my scalp, impatiently pushing my face into her cunt. I flick her clit with my tongue. Just that one small movement has her moaning again, and I watch in eager fascination as a bead of wetness leaks from her tunnel and travels down to her ass. “Fuck me, baby. You’re so wet I could go swimming.”

“Holt. Now.” Her pleas fill my soul with a passion that’s so vivid, so real, so tangible, it resets the pattern of my beating heart. My rhythm isn’t my own anymore; it all belongs to Merit. She’s my defibrillator, my pacemaker.

“You can’t rush me, Mer. I’m gonna love every part of you tonight. With my fingers, with my tongue, with my cock. I told you we would take it slow, and we have. I’ve never tasted you before, and I’m gonna fuck this tight pussy with my tongue over and over and over. Until I’m drowning in your cum, and there’s no doubt that you’ll be able to ride my cock without one ounce of pain.”

Because let’s be real… I have a big dick.

She sighs, her body shaking underneath mine. “Then, show me how much you love me, Holt.”

I bury my face in her. Literally.

Fuck me. It doesn’t get much better than this.

My body floods with sensation. My stubble scrapes against the insides of her thighs, turning them red with heat and friction. Her pink and swollen clit rubs against my lips, begging me to suck it. And when my fingers push inside her, her pussy clenches around them like it’s been starved for days.

The smell of her arousal making me dizzy with need…

The texture of her soft skin underneath my mouth...

The taste of her nectar covering my every single taste bud…

I wasn’t kidding when I told her to show me my new home.

I work her body, lavishing devoted attention on her with my mouth and fingers, eagerly licking her clean when she comes unglued underneath me. After her second orgasm, I can’t take it anymore.

I have to be inside of her. Before I cease to exist.

Reaching into the nightstand, I grab a condom. She watches in eager fascination as I roll it on. She doesn’t ask me to turn the lamp off, and I’m glad. I don’t think I could, even if she asked me to. I have to see her. I have to see her face when my body is inside of hers.

“Are you sure?” I whisper, positioning myself between her legs. The tip of my dick slides against her soaked entrance. My forearms frame her face, and I stare into her eyes. The yellows and greens are on fire, dancing back and forth in excitement.

Her answer is a moan. “Yes.”

“There’s no going back. You’re mine. You understand?”

“No Holt, you’ve got it all wrong. You’re mine .”

Holy hell.

I slip into her slowly, savoring every damn inch. When I think I can’t go any farther, I pump into her, spreading her more, exploring her depths. Her head falls back, and her body grows limp in pleasure as she adjusts to me. She’s tight and perfect and made for no one but me.

If I ever had any doubt in my mind that Merit was my endgame, it’s been erased by this one simplistic motion—of me sliding my cock into her throbbing and weeping pussy. One straightforward and fluid movement of my body has sealed my fate. For all eternity.

There’s nothing dishonest or artificial about our relationship, about her feelings for me.

Her love for me is authentic. Packed with an intensity so powerful it’s like I feel it shattering my bones, crushing me to dust. It’s decimating me. And then immediately putting me back together, assembling my pieces around the cornerstone of her love.

It might take her longer to admit—out loud—that she feels the same way.

But that’s okay.

Because she’s telling me with her body everything she might be scared to say with her mouth.

I lower my lips onto hers, kissing her slow and lazy—relishing the moment that our bodies have joined as one.

When her hips start moving back and forth trying to frenzy our momentum, I slide her hands above her head and pin them to the bed, elongating her body and taking control of her actions. I refuse to rush. I refuse to neglect her.

I refuse to treat this like sex. Because trust me, it’s so much more.

It’s the start of forever.

We make love slowly, perfectly in sync, perfectly in rhythm, until she nips at my neck and wriggles beneath me, nonverbally telling me she’s done playing nice. I loosen my grip and murmur against her ear. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

“Harder. Faster. Give me more, sir .” Her hands drop down, and she immediately claws at my back, pleading for my rampage.

And then… all fucking bets are off.

Wanna see me possessed? Out of control? Out of my mind? Just let me fuck Merit Eliza Browning—the love of my life—and you’ll see it.

Even her orgasm doesn’t slow me down. When her screams leave her breathless, I kiss her, breathing my life into her own. Only a few seconds later, I can feel her body building again, strangling my dick, and I pray for yet another orgasm to hit her so I can let go. The instant her body freezes and her throat chokes on a scream, I lose my shit.

I literally come until my vision tunnels and white starbursts cloud my eyes.

Holy fucking hell.

It takes several minutes for each of us to recover. Eventually, I carry her to the bathroom where we both clean up. She’s quiet so I don’t press her to talk. It doesn’t take a genius to know she hasn’t been with a man since her ex-husband. Even if I didn’t know it, the blood staining the outside of my condom would tell me. She digs in ‘her drawer’ of my dresser and pulls out a fresh pair of panties. Forgoing the T-shirt or her white cotton nightgown, she jumps back in bed and pulls the sheet up to her chin. Her eyes follow me around the room as I pull on a fresh pair of boxer briefs and then grab my discarded clothing, tossing them in the laundry basket. Turning out the light, I crawl into bed. She immediately tucks her body next to mine. Wrapping my arms around her, my hand cups her bare breast. The heat pouring from her is comforting, relaxing.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, I nuzzle my lips against her ear. “Well?”

She talks through a yawn. Her syllables are drawn-out and sleepy. “I told you. You’re mine.”

A few hours later, my alarm wakes me, blaring at a volume loud enough to make people in California shit their beds. I’m fucking exhausted.

And I’ve never been so happy.