“But I can promise I will always love you, and I sure as shit won’t let you go. You run, I chase, baby.” I tuck a loose curl back behind her ear. “That’s the only inevitable thing about us.”

“I love you, Mav.” Her words jump-start my cold dead heart, breathing life into me for the first time in my miserable existence. “I promise to never run too far. I promise I’ll always stop somewhere, waiting for you to catch up.”

I lean in closer, my face mere inches from hers. “Say it again,” I plead, gripping the back of her head and pulling her forehead to mine.

“I love you, Maverick.” She barely gets the words out before my mouth crashes into hers.

Her lips part to grant me entry, my tongue greedily licking the inside of her mouth. Her arms reach up to wrap around my neck, pulling me down into her as I swoop low, scooping her by the backs of her thighs and forcing her legs around me. Our mouths continue to clash, moving in sync with one another.

I drop down to my knees, her legs still wrapped around my waist until I lean forward, carefully laying her back onto the oversized plush white rug in front of the tree. My mouth releases her as I sit up, staring down at her beneath me. Her tan skin shimmers in the glow of the twinkle lights, her lips swollen from my kisses.

My hands glide up the sides of her smooth thighs, taking the fabric of my shirt with them as they move higher up over her ribs, over the swell of her breasts. A deep groan escapes me as I see she’s wearing nothing underneath, and she wastes no time pulling the bunched-up fabric up over her head and tossing it off to the side.

She’s staring up at me, her piercing blue eyes looking at me like I’m her whole fucking world and I silently thank whatever glitch occurred in the universe to give me her. The fact that I get to call her mine, that she allows me the honor to be in her mere presence, let alone bury myself inside her, has me feeling like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet.

I realize I’m about to do something I’ve never done before.

I’m going to make love to my woman.

I’m going to pour every ounce of my soul into her and just pray she finds me worthy. And then, when she knows just how much she means to me, I’m going to fuck her on every surface in this home… our home.

Her hands glide up the length of her body, coming to rest on her breasts. She presses them together as her back arches from the ground. Her right hand relinquishes its hold, allowing her palm to snake down the length of her stomach before coming to settle in between her legs. Her knees give way to each side, falling open so her glistening pink pussy is on display for me. Using her middle finger, she circles her clit, drawing slow rhythmic circles as the sexiest fucking noises imaginable spill from her lips. My dick grows harder with each whispered whimper and breathless moan.

“Take your pants off, Mav.”

I stay hypnotized, my eyes locked on the perfection that is her body when she sinks two fingers deep inside. A tortured moan rushes from my mouth as I watch her fuck herself with them, pumping in and out.

She withdraws them, and I almost weep when she sits up, until she sucks them deep into her mouth, eyes still locked on me. “Now, Bishop,” she commands me. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

I’m so hard I could hammer a fucking nail with my dick. Like an overexcited teenager, I haphazardly shove at the waist of my sweats, pushing them down so my cock springs free. I grip hold, taking long languid strokes.

J’s lust-filled eyes cast downward. Her teeth sink into the swell of her lower lip as she eyes me hungrily. Suddenly, she shifts, propping up on all fours with her head hovering above my dick. Without warning she dives forward, sucking me into her mouth in one earth-shattering pull until I feel myself bumping the back of her throat.

FUCK. ME.

I force out labored breaths as that beautiful fucking mouth I love so much starts moving, taking me in long deep pulls, her tongue swirling around the crown of my cock before dipping low.

I risk a glance down just as she glances up at me from beneath her long dark lashes, and I feel my jaw go slack in awe of how fucking stunning she looks—naked, ass up, sucking my dick. This mental image alone could get me off for the rest of eternity. And when she brings her hand up to the base of my shaft to move in tandem with her mouth, my head drops back and I swear to God I’ve died and gone to Heaven. My hand fists her hair, guiding her head up and down as she moans around me, sending vibrations shooting throughout my body.

Unable to go one more second without being buried inside her warmth, I pull her off me, flipping us in one fluid motion and positioning myself on top of her. Drawing her leg up around my hip, I slowly slip inside her while pressing a kiss to her lips. Her mouth breaks from mine on a gasp as I fill her to the hilt, and I press my forehead to hers.

Every time with her feels like the first time. Every time feels like coming home.

I hold her gaze as she stares deep into my eyes, past my demons, and into the very depths of my soul. I lift up to gain a better view of her writhing beneath me as I continue to make slow passionate love to her. My hand instinctively travels to the center of her chest, where I press it over her heart.

“Mine,” I whisper, quickening my movements.

“Yours,” she moans, her gaze never breaking my own.

“Forever,” I declare as I push up, taking her with me as I rock back into a seated position. She lands upright, straddling me as she sinks down while I simultaneously thrust up.

“Mav!” she cries out. “Oh, fuck! Don’t stop!”

“Say it,” I demand, my jaw clenched as I start to pound into her at a punishing pace. “Say forever.”

“Forever,” she pants as she eagerly bounces on my cock.

“I can’t hear you,” I hiss as I fist a handful of her hair.