Page 123 of To the Chase

“I never knew a person could feel like home, but you do,” I murmured. She was my discovery too. Knowing her, loving her, I’d uncovered feelings and the desire formore. More life, more adventure, more everything.

She turned her face, caught my mouth with hers, and kissed me like she was starving for it— sweet and a little desperate. I kissed her back the same way, our bodies pressed close, hips rocking in the same rhythm we’d fallen into from the start. The end wasn’t the point. Our joining was.

Steady and slow, we slid against each other. She whispered sweet, filthy words, telling me she loved me, that she’d never felt this way, that the college rumors were true, but that wasn’t even in the top ten things she loved about me, that she couldn’t get enough of my glowing ears and I was the hottest genius she’d ever seen.

They were the kind of compliments only Beatrice could give. I tucked them away for later, when I could process and maybe laugh and roll around in them like a wild dog.

For now, all I could see and hear and feel was her. Her breath, glazed eyes, creamy breasts bouncing with every thrust, smoky voice in my ear, her hands on me, heart thudding with mine.

Her legs curled around my waist, and I shifted deeper, groaning low as her body clenched around me.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered against her lips as her back arched and she moaned my name. “I’ve always got you.”

She broke apart beneath me in a rolling wave—a gradual build that overtook her, breath catching in her throat, eyes wide and shining, her mouth shaping my name in a soundless cry. Her body trembled, pulling me deeper, holding me there as her release washed through her. And I followed.

I always followed her.

My rhythm faltered. Stuttered. Burying myself as deep as I could go, arms braced, forehead pressed to hers, I let go. Emptying everything into her—every thought, every doubt, every jagged piece I’d never known how to fix. I let her have all of me, and she took it like she always did. Like I was exactly who she wanted and nothing less.

My chest tightened. Not from exertion but the pressure of something bigger. A kind of fullness I didn’t have the words for.

Mybody was limp and sated, but my mind was still trying to catch up. Still reeling from this woman capable of undoing me and putting me back together with a single smile or by wrapping me in her soft embrace.

She stroked my face with the back of her fingers and gave me a hazy, languid smile. “What’s going on in your big, beautiful mind now, Salvatore?” she whispered.

“You know me.” My voice cracked on the words, and I didn’t try to hide it.

“Well…yeah. And you know me. Probably better than anyone.”

“I do.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “You like me.”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “Always have.”

“From the start?”

“Mmhmm.”

She pulled my mouth to hers and kissed me gently, our bodies still joined, still warm, still tangled. The world could burn outside those walls, and I wouldn’t move.

There was more we had to say, questions I had to ask, but it could wait a while. What had felt imperative to understand when I’d walked through my door this evening no longer seemed vital.

However we’d started, whatever reason Bea had had to give me her attention, this was real. That, I did not doubt. Not even for a second.

Eventually, our breaths slowed, and the rhythm of our hearts settled into something calm and steady. I eased onto my side, carefully bringing her with me. She curled against me, her cheek cradled on my arm, one leg slotted between mine. I smoothed my hand down her back, tracing lazy circles as her fingers toyed with the ends of my hair.

I liked her like this. Sleepy and soft, her lips curving in the way they always did after she came hard and felt safe. It was even better knowing she wasn’t going to sneak out at the crack of dawn. The ticking clock was gone. I had her to myself all night.

“You’re staring,” she mumbled, cracking an eyelid to peek at me.

“I am. I like your face.”

That earned me a drowsy smile. “That’s good, since it’s the only face I have.”

I laughed under my breath and kissed the top of her head, letting the quiet blanket us for a while. As I lay here with her in my arms, it was too peaceful to hurry to end it.

But I couldn’t let go of the edge I’d been riding all day. The question that had gnawed at me, even with her in my arms, knowing she was mine and I was hers. I had to ask, get rid of it and be done.

“I’ve got something to ask you.” I brushed her hair back from her face. “It’s not a big deal to me. I just need to know.”