Page 135 of Interference

“You’re welcome.” He slid his hands over my waist. “I mean it—I really want you to be happy.”

“I am.” It felt amazing to say that and mean it. “Just helping me get down here to spend Christmas with my parents is amazing. Everything else…” I trailed off, shaking my head. “Just… thank you. For being amazing.”

He smiled and reeled me in closer, and his kiss was a huge relief. Now I didn’t have to try to form words anymore. There was no way to adequately express how much he’d done for me and how much he meant to me.

This, though? Holding him close and indulging in a long, decadent kiss? Oh, I could do that.

And maybe we didn’t need to talk anymore. Maybe there’d been enough talking for one trip.

Maybe I just needed him right now.

I tugged at his shirt, and his lips curved against mine.

“Ooh,” he murmured between kisses. “Is this another Christmas present for me?”

“Mmm, I think it’s a present for both of us, isn’t it?”

A low growl emerged from his throat just before he kissed me even harder. He nudged me toward the bed, obviously very much onboard with what I had in mind, and I let him walk me back until I bumped the mattress. We climbed onto the bed, both fully dressed, and he pulled me down on top of him.

I gasped when his hard-on brushed mine through our clothes. Then I made him gasp when I started kissing along the side of his throat.

“Fuuuck,” he murmured, sliding his hands up my sides. “God, baby…”

I couldn’t resist and found his mouth again, and he tangled his fingers in my hair as we kissed. As raw and brittle as I was, I also needed him. I wanted him. And maybe we needed to dive into that and just… not talk anymore.

“Get undressed,” I breathed. “I want to fuck you.”

His full-body shiver and the way he bit his lip sent an electric thrill through me. I loved having this effect on him.

We separated to strip out of our clothes, and all the while—as we got naked and as we sank back into bed—I marveled that this was even real. At the same time… of course it was real. It all felt so inevitable and right, as if the battered road I’d been on had always been leading me straight to him.

I can’t believe we’re here.

But… of course we’re here.

Just like it was way too soon for that gift box to have held a ring, it was way too soon to say I was in love with Anthony. We’d just met a handful of weeks ago. We’d barely started seeing each other.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be absolutely in love with how I felt when I was with him. I loved being wrapped up in someone who cared about me. Who genuinely gave a damn about me. After months on end of hoping for just a shred of basic humanity from anyone, I’d found myself in the arms of someone who truly cared. It wasn’t the money or the fancy things. It was the way his default setting seemed to be that no one he cared about went without, and somehow—by some incredible miracle—I’d become someone he cared about.

It went beyond affection and kindness, too. Especially in moments like this when we were kissing and touching and tangling up, I felt sexy with him. After being convinced for so long that I was unattractive and undesirable, all it took was a moment or two in Anthony’s arms to chase away those worries. He was the most ripped and sculpted man I’d ever seen—which said a lot, given the number of soldiers I’d been with—and he’d spent the last few years with someone who was also in spectacular condition.

And yet this man worshipped my body like there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with it.

His fingers and lips skated over scars and stretchmarks without flinching. His gaze raked over me without stuttering on my prosthetic or all the marks war had left behind. His mouth moved with mine without any hesitation at all.

In Anthony’s arms, I felt both safe and beautiful—two things I’d never imagined feeling ever again.

He was perfect for me. Absolutely perfect. I didn’t feel unworthy of him, either. Disbelieving, yes, but in the sense that I’d somehow been gifted an amazing treasure, and I was going to do everything in my power to protect, cherish, and love that treasure with all I had.

“Tell me what you want,” I whispered as he kissed along my throat. “Anything, baby. Just tell me.”

“We still have condoms, right?” he murmured against my neck. “We didn’t use them all?”

“Are you kidding?” I slid my hands up his back. “We brought plenty.”

His chuckle was a cool breath across my skin. “Then put one on. Now.”

Sir, yes, sir.

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