Intent(38)

With expert precision, he’s suddenly settled between my legs again. His erection perfectly poised and waiting. “Look at me,” he whispers. Doing as he asks, I open my eyes and feel the intensity radiating from his. He slides into me and never looks away. His weight rests on his forearms and his hands frame my face. “You are mine, now,” he emphasizes when he’s fully inside me.

Our bodies move in tandem with flawless timing. When Ace pushes forward, my hips lift to meet his thrusts. With every wave, he owns my heart a little more. With every word tenderly whispered in my ear, my body responds in ways I’ve only read about. With every passionate kiss, the past fades away and the future becomes brighter.

“You are the only addiction I’ve ever had.” His murmurs against the sensitive skin of my neck send cold chills rippling across my skin. “You’re the only addiction I ever want.”

“Ace, I think I’m falling in love with you.” The words are out of my mouth before I realize I’ve just said them aloud.

I didn’t mean to blurt that out.

Even if it was only in a whisper.

Even if it is in the middle of the most passionate lovemaking I’ve ever experienced.

Even if it is thoroughly and completely true.

His movements cease and his eyes dart back and forth between mine, searching for an answer to an unasked question. While holding my breath, I decide I want him to see me as I honestly am. I don’t want to hide my feelings. I don’t want to regret not telling him how I feel. I don’t even care that I’m the first one to say it. It feels like I’ve been sheltered all of my life, intent on never confronting whatever makes me uncomfortable.

Until Ace.

“Will you catch me?” I need to know. Please say yes.

“I’ll never let you fall alone, Layne.”

His eyes can’t lie, can’t betray what he’s thinking or feeling. His eyes really are the windows to his heart and soul. And I love what I see.

He surges his hips forward as he dominates my lips and tongue with his. The urgency we started with has morphed into a connection, a need to physically confirm what we just verbally confessed. Sweat beads over our bodies and soaks the sheet beneath me. The humid summer night air drifts in through the open window, cascades over our flesh, and makes both of our bodies even steamier.

“Ace, don’t stop,” I beg shamelessly.

“I’m falling with you, Layne. Let go, baby.”

His words obviously affect me as much as his body does, because my body obeys his command. My inner muscles tighten around him as the tension builds. Gripping, clawing, calling out his name as my orgasm peaks. As I’m coming down from my climactic high, I feel him pulsing inside me before I hear his muffled voice whisper my name. I’m still in a state of euphoria when I feel his absence, but he’s crawling back into the bed with me within seconds.

He rolls me over to my side and embraces me from behind. My back to his chest. His arm draped over me protectively, possessively, lovingly. As I’m drifting off to sleep, safe and secure in his arms, I think I hear him whisper, but it’s hard to tell in my dreaming, exhausted haze.

“Where have you been all my life?”



* * *



Waking to soft kisses along the back of my neck has to be the most erotic feeling. “I could definitely get used to this,” I mumble in my sleepy voice. “I haven’t slept that well in years, but I love the way you wake me.”

“I’m glad, because I couldn’t stand it another minute. That spot on your neck was taunting me, tempting me.” Soft kisses mixed with a warm tongue on my skin further hypnotize me, force me under his control, and make me want it even more. “I had to remind it that you’re mine. All of you.”

“I guess I should tell you something,” I reply, my tone serious. He stills and waits for me to continue. “There are other parts of my body defying you. I guess you’ll have to exert your dominance over them, too.”

The rumble of his chuckle rolls through his chest and I relish in the vibrations that flow through me. “Don’t worry, my shy, timid rose petal. I’ll find every rebellious spot on your body and bring it under submission.”

His arm tightens around me, pulling me flush against his body. His hand slides down my body, over my breasts to my stomach, before reaching my lower abdomen. He draws figure eights low on my stomach, dipping down to my pelvic area but never exactly where I want to feel him. “You’re getting warmer.”

He leans into my ear and replies, his voice deep and seductive. “You’re already hot, babe, but you’re about to get a lot hotter.”

I start to roll over to face him, fully ready to do some exploring of my own, when his phone rings. He sighs heavily and releases me to roll over and grab his cell off the nightstand.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, precious. Are you having fun with Aunt Lily?”

From the one-sided conversation I’ve heard so far, I know without a doubt he’s talking to River.

“Yeah? What have you two been doing?”

Ace’s prolonged silence tells me River is giving him an earful of all her recent escapades with his sister. Knowing her, this conversation will probably last for quite a while. Every few seconds, he responds with an “uh-huh” or “yeah,” but otherwise, he’s silent. The moment seems to have passed, and now that I’m fully awake, I need to get to the bathroom immediately.