Page 44 of On the Edge

“Yes. Yes. Harder.” I wanted to feel his strength moving against me, his power, all tempered by his care for me and how he held me so preciously. Each hard thrust between my legs sent a jolt of pleasure up my balls and carried me that much closer to the edge. The tighter he held me, the more he growled, the faster he stroked, and the more urgently he moved, the more I thrilled to it.

If he hadn’t been holding me, I would have floated away somewhere up by the crown molding or over the fireplace. But he was holding me, and everything was right with my world.We’d long since kicked the blankets free, but our bodies and the fire provided all the warmth we needed.

The fire crackled, and Jonas pinched my nipple. Pleasure jolted through my body. Ignition. My body tensed, back arching into him, and he moaned like he was also on the edge.Go.Knowing he was right there with me was all the gate drop I needed to come. Boom. Done.Let’s go racing.

Jonas came too, between my legs, sticky and thick, our come mingling as we breathed in frantic unison.

“God, that was good,” Jonas said sometime later.

He’d fetched a towel, and newly clean, we were cuddled again with a plate of brownies between us, the perfect after-sex food.

“Yeah.” What I wanted to say was that I now understood why people called sex making love. Because we certainly had made something together. Something special, exactly how I’d wanted. And getting everything I’d hoped for was terrifying, especially in a season where nothing else had gone my way. But what came out was, “It was nice. Really nice.”

“Just okay?” he teased, light fingertips dancing up my ribs.

“Stupendous. Wonderful. Amazing. You’re the one with the big vocabulary.” Chuckling, I wagged a finger at him.

“Your brownies are amazing.” He held up a second piece, toasting me.

“Thanks.” I grinned and claimed one more for myself. “Is it wrong that I’m really excited to go to bed?”

“Oh?” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Round two?”

“I mean, other than the obvious.” My cheeks heated. Maybe this was too sappy, even for him. “We get to spend the whole night together. Feels like a gift.”

“It is.” Eyes shining, Jonas pulled me in for a hug. Apparently, I hadn’t said the wrong thing at all. “You are.”

I inhaled deeply, letting his embrace feed me every bit as much as the brownies. I wanted this weekend to last, wantedit to snow and snow so we could be happily trapped together forever.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jonas

On Valentine’s Eve, I slept better than I had in years until I woke up in Declan’s bed to Declan’s hand landing on my face.

“Hey, hey.” I moved out of thrashing range and stroked his arm and sides. “It’s okay.”

“Oh no, did I wake you?” He woke up enough to scrub at his face, then nuzzled right back into my chest. “You’re warm.”

His love of cuddling and touch was one of my favorite things, and I happily welcomed him back into my embrace.

“You were having a bad dream.” I stroked his back as he snuggled in against me.

“Yeah.” His voice was muffled by my chest, but he didn’t seem to mind, rubbing his face on me as though he liked the ticklish sensation.

“Want to talk about it?”

“I don’t remember much of it.” His cagey tone said he remembered enough, but then he yanked my hands closer, arching into my touch. “Your hands are making me feel plenty better already.”

“Like this?” I rubbed circles and he made happy little noises, and all was right in my world. I wanted to know what the dream had been about, but I didn’t want to burst this cuddly bubble of perfection.

“Uh-huh.” He wiggled against me, already mostly hard again. The joys of being in his twenties. “It’s the middle of the night, and neither of us has to sneak back to our own beds.”

“You’re so happy about that.” I kissed the top of his head, fully intending to kiss a lot more in a few moments.

“You seem surprised.” Declan tilted his head up, an ideal angle for kissing. “I love cuddling you. You’re my favorite pillow and blanket all in one.”

“Good.” I imitated his wiggle so he could feel that I was hard too.

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