Frayed Silk(51)

“Shit.” He stops once he’s seated to the hilt and lifts his head. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking …”

The madness in his eyes dulls some as he looks down at me. I shake my head. “No, take me.” I wriggle my hips, winding my legs around his waist. “Please.”

His eyes blaze again, and he growls, stealing my lips in a kiss that’s every bit as savage as it is sweet while he pulls out then slams back home. He does it slowly a few times, but I can tell he can’t hold back whatever is driving him right now. So I curl my arms around his neck and kiss every part of his lips and jaw I can reach until he rips his mouth away, hooks one of my legs over his shoulder and fucks me harder than he ever has before. I take it, though, knowing he needs this. And with each thrust, I feel those tiny shards, those splintered fragments of my heart start to meld back together. It might not be perfect, or the same as it once was—but it’s enough. Being loved by him will always be everything.

It doesn’t take long before I feel my walls start to clench tight as he keeps hitting that perfect spot deep inside me. He watches me as I start to fall apart again. “No one else will ever have this but me,” he pants between thrusts. “No one, Lia.”

I nod, biting my lip as the pleasure, the look in his eyes, and everything about this moment becomes too much. “No one else. I’m yours, only ever, always yours. Every part of me.”

He leans down, untucking my lip from my teeth with his own and demanding, “Keep your eyes on me. I need to see you come on my cock.”

And holy hell, I almost scream as my second orgasm takes me higher than the first.

“Fuck yes,” Leo rumbles, stilling and grinding his pelvis into my clit as he empties himself inside me. The action has me moaning as the pleasure slowly rolls over me from head to toe, rendering me a trembling mess as I cling to him after he collapses on top of me and shoves his nose into my neck.

I don’t care about his weight crushing my lungs, in fact, I never want him to get off me. He must feel the same because we continue to lie there for some minutes with only the sound of our heavy breathing filling the room while he remains buried inside me.

Until I blurt out, “Holy fucking hell, I missed you.”

His body shakes with his laugh, and my heart warms. Kissing the side of my neck, he rolls onto his back, wrapping his arms tighter around me and pulling the covers over our rapidly cooling skin.





With my head still resting on his chest, I ask, “What made you decide to come back?”

His fingers that were running up and down the indents of my spine stop moving. But his warm hand remains resting on my skin. “I don’t think I would’ve stayed away, but when I talked to Trey, he said something …”

I hum. “Oh?”

“Yeah. He said that I can either walk away, let it be over, or I could fight and find my way back to you—back to us.”

“That’s all I ever wanted,” I admit, “was for you to come back to me. But the way I went about it, what I did …” With my arm draped over his chest, I squeeze him. “I never meant to take it that far.”

My head rises with his chest as he sighs. “I can’t say that I’ll get over it quickly, but I love you too much not to forgive you. I need you too much to walk away. And I know …” He pauses. “I know that I’m just as equally to blame in all this. It never would’ve happened if I had just tried to talk—”

I shift to lean over him, cutting him off with a finger against his lips. “Shhh, we’ll never get anywhere with what-ifs. And I love you too … only ever, always you.”

His breath leaves him in a shuddering whoosh. He pulls my mouth up to his to kiss my lips tenderly. “Did I hurt you?”

My brows furrow. He knows he’s hurt me, but he’s talking about the sex. I shake my head, leaning in to bite his bottom lip. “I’ll take you any way you’ll let me have you.”

“Lia.” His brows lower. “Don’t. I’m here, which means I’m not going anywhere. I never was.”

I swallow. “Okay.”

He reaches a hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. “Did you tell him it’s over and that you won’t be seeing him again?”

Oh, shit. Jared.

Not being able to talk, I settle for nodding my head. His eyes narrow on mine. “When?”

My tongue comes unglued. “Friday. He called me, and I told him. I’ve always told him, I just …” I blow out a breath. His hand falls from my face as I admit, “I really was lying, Leo. Though his interest in me had been clear before that, I never planned on doing a thing about it. He was just a friend, but then it turned into what I think most people have affairs for.” He remains silent, waiting for me to finish even though I feel him tense beneath me. “To get that connection again, that feeling that’s missing from their lives. I know this sounds horrible and I hate myself for it, but I wanted it back, so I …”

“You just gave in,” he finishes coldly.

“Yeah,” I say truthfully, not removing my eyes from his. He deserves my honesty. He gave me his. And if this is going to work, we need to share the hard truths. The soul crushing admissions. Then try to find a way to forgive, to work through it together.

“How’d you find me? And why didn’t you say anything before then?” I think I know, but I want to hear him say it.