Page 205 of Hold Me Until Morning

Her cunt throbbed around my dick as she sucked me even deeper, and that ball of bliss that had wound inside me snapped.

She squeezed me as I came, and I poured and poured into her, this rapture going on and on.

Forever.

Because that’s what this was.

Forever.

We both were panting as we hovered high.

Lifted above this reality to a place that was all our own.

I pulled her closer, and I wrapped both arms around her as I pressed my lips to the cap of her shoulder. “I can’t wait to spend my life loving you.”

She barely shifted to look back at me, that gaze spearing me through. “Good. Because I give every single one of my days to you.”

FORTY-SIX

HAILEY

EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD

Hailey was out in the stables, methodically brushing the mare’s coat. The day was fading away, the light in the massive stables going dim and tossing a stilled peace through the space.

This was her favorite time of day. When most of the hands had finished their jobs and had gone back to their cabins or left the property if they lived offsite. The horses fed and quieted as the bright light melted into ambiguity and the vague, innocuous shadows came out to play.

Hailey continued to stroke the brush down the horse’s side, and the sweet girl gave her a chuff as Hailey pressed close, loving her with attention.

She shouldn’t have smiled when she felt the presence emerge from behind. The way it took her whole and surrounded her like an embrace.

Brooke would hate her if she knew the secret fantasies Hailey kept of Cody Cooper.

The way she dreamed of him at night and sought him out far too often during the day.

She’d spent the entire summer sneaking out to catch glimpses of him, purposefully placing herself in his vicinity, too often ending up at his side and under the bath of those warm, honey-kissed eyes.

A tingle spread across her flesh, and she peeked back at the man who’d invaded her senses. Sparked her desire and curiosity. A man who’d never even touched her, but she couldn’t stop from imagining the way it would feel if he did.

“Hey.” His voice was rough where he was hidden in the shadows, so low she knew he was keeping her a secret, too.

“Hey.” She whispered it as she fully turned.

Dread clenched her chest when he stepped forward and into a spray of light that slanted in from an open door in the distance.

His expression was contorted in an apology.

That same grief she’d seen him wear so many times that summer etched deeper than before.

Stark and distinct.

Cody glanced over his shoulder, undoubtedly worried someone might catch them. When he found it clear, he slowly moved through the gate she’d left open.

Energy ricocheted through the enclosed area.

Powerful and dark.

Her heart pumped with something she barely understood. With something she didn’t quite comprehend.

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