Page 53 of Taking A Chance

“Now you come for me,” she says, desire dripping from each word. It’s enough to send me spiraling, my body unraveling inside hers. I push into her, stilling the both of us as I come.

Then I collapse, right on top of her, careful not to squish her too hard but definitely giving her most of my weight. Her arms wrap around me tightly. We’re both breathing erratically, both doing our best to regulate it. The side of my face is pressed to her chest, her heart beating so hard I can feel it against my own. We rise and fall together until our breathing syncs and calms.

She drags her fingertips lightly over my back, in the same places she’d gripped and clawed. It’s enough to put me to sleep. My eyelids feel heavier, and a yawn slips out.

“Should I go? Let you sleep?” she asks, her voice uncertain. I can hear the sleep in her own voice.

“Stay with me tonight,” I say, more a statement than a question.

It’s quiet for a moment, and though it’s only a few seconds, it feels like it stretches on for too long. It feels like she might say no.

“Okay,” she says, putting my unease to rest.

I lift myself off her and step into the bathroom, disposing of the condom. I stare at the shower, considering rinsing off, but she beats me to the punch.

“Can I take a quick shower before we lie down?” she asks.

“I was literally just thinking the same thing,” I say, dropping a kiss to her lips as she steps up beside me.

We shower, mostly innocently.Mostly.Sure, we make out a lot. Sure, there’s some touching. But nothing that warrants needing a second shower. As we dry off, I’m mesmerized by the way she twists her hair to wring it out, roiling it between the towel and shaking it out. Her damp red locks fall over her shoulders as she paws the towel over her body.

She steals an elastic from my nightstand and sits at the edge of the bed, putting it into a bun on top of her head. The curve of her spine is delicate, graceful. I trace my eyes over it again and again before she slides her legs under the blanket.

“Do you snore? Talk in your sleep? Sweat? Anything I need to be warned about?” she asks, raising a teasing eyebrow at me.

I laugh but try my best to look like I’m deep in thought about her questions. “Not that I’m aware of. There is one thing, though.”

“What’s that? Terrible halitosis in the morning?” she jokes.

“No, of course not,” I say. “I wake up totally minty fresh.”

“Then what?” She giggles.

I slide my body flush against hers, hooking my leg over her hips. My one arm wraps around her while the other lazily rests on her side where I cup her left tit. “I like to cuddle like we’re on a life raft and there’s barely enough room for both of us. You know, like Leo and Kate except better.”

Cora wiggles her ass against my crotch, and I feel myself getting hard all over again. “I can live with that.” She giggles, wrapping her arm over mine.

Her bottom presses harder against me.This is torturous.“You’re going to murder me with ass wiggles,” I say.

Cora laughs, the sound echoing into the darkness of my apartment. “Oh, come on,” she says. “Is that such a bad way to go?”

“Listen, if you want to sleep anytime soon, you should stop. One ass wiggle? Fine. Two ass wiggles? I can’t handle it. Three? We’ll need to shower again.”

“Okay, okay. Truce. For now,” she says, tucking her face down. Her entire body relaxes into mine. My lips rest less than an inch from her ear, and I resist the urge to kiss it.

Soon, I feel my own body relax. Having her here, tucked beside me, is soothing. Sleep is coming, the warmth spreading over me as my eyelids grow heavy.

“Declan,” she says, her voice barely audible.

I hum out a response, unable to form words.

“I was wrong about you. You’re good. You’re so good,” she says.

That’s the last thing I hear before sleep takes me, the scent of peonies filling my senses as I drift off.

You’re good. You’re so good.

31

---