Page 90 of Fragments of You

My mouth never leaves her, drinking in every whimper of pleasure, every cry for more. It doesn’t take long before we’re both teetering on the edge. I try so hard to make it last longer, but when she pulls back and takes my face in her hands, I know I’m a goner.

“I love you,” I grunt as I spill my release inside of her.

“I love you,” she groans, her head falling back as she reaches the peak and topples over the side right alongside me.

I hold her there for a couple of minutes, unwilling to break the connection between us. But eventually, I’m forced to pull out and lower her to her feet.

I brace for the look of regret, but it never comes. When she looks at me, all I see is her unwavering love and it’s enough to make this grown man want to weep in relief.

All the years we’ve spent apart. All the time wasted. All the time I could have been with her and I wasn’t. Suddenly, it all seems worth it to have her standing in front of me now.

“Paisley, I—”

“Move to California,” she blurts.

“Are you sure?” I’m hesitant to ask, but I need to make sure it isn’t the high of what just happened talking.

“Move to California with me. Let’s build the life we always talked about. It’s not too late.”

I take her face in my hands, kissing her with so much fervor I’m rock hard again in seconds.

“Is that a yes?” She smiles against my mouth.

“That’s a hell yes.” I pick her up again, kissing her all the way to the bed. “That’s a million times over yes.” I deposit her onto the mattress.

“You’ll have to sell your house.”

“Already have a buyer lined up.” I surprise her by saying, kicking off my pants before tugging my shirt over my head.

“Can you fit all your things inside your truck?”

“Why do you think I bought it?” I kiss her stomach, between her boobs, across her collarbone before once again settling between her thighs.

“What if I hadn’t asked you to come with me?” She waits until our faces are aligned before asking.

“I hadn’t even entertained that as an option.” I kiss the tip of her nose before moving back to her lips.

“You’re very sure of yourself, Mr. Ketter.” She giggles when I move to her neck, kissing her most ticklish spot.

“Or maybe I’m very sure of you,” I tell her, moving back up to her lips, kissing her once, twice, a third time. “You won’t regret this,” I tell her seriously.

Her hands move into my hair, pushing the long strands away from my face.

“I know,” she says simply before pulling my lips back to hers.

And that is where we spend the remainder of the evening and well into the morning hours, tangled in the sheets of her childhood bed, reclaiming something that we misplaced but never truly lost.

When she falls asleep in my arms just as the sun begins to kiss the sky, I know one thing to be true above all others... This is how I want to spend every night for the rest of my life.

And I plan to do just that...

Epilogue

Paisley

TWO YEARS LATER

“HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT Octavia?” Nash asks, his lips close to my ear as I sit in the sand between his legs, my back to his chest, watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

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