Page 47 of Fallen Ink

“Mace.”

“I’m sorry. I’d have gone down on my knees and begged for forgiveness at the shop, or anywhere else you needed me to in public, but I couldn’t wait until you were at work. I needed to see you. I should’ve come before, but I knew you needed your space. You needed time to bake cookies and clean your house to get your thoughts in order. Just like I needed time to get my head out of my ass and realize that I’ve fallen so far in fucking love with you, Adrienne Montgomery, that I don’t know how I could possibly live my life without you. You have been my best friend my entire adult life, and I wish I had known you when we were kids so I could say you’ve been my rock far longer than that. But I love you. I love the way you smile. I love that you put everything into every single thing you do. I love that you put your family first. I love that you are not afraid of what people think about your job or your ink or your hair or any stupid shit like that. I love that you took a risk in opening a business, and that you trusted me enough take me along for the ride with you. I love that you took a risk on me. And I love that even when you were hurting, you helped my baby girl. Because that is the woman you are. I should’ve known that no matter what happened between us, you would always put Daisy ahead of any hurt. Because that is the kind of woman you are. You would have done that for Livvy or any of your siblings. Because that is the strength that flows through your veins. And I am honored to call you my friend. I am honored to call you my lover. I am honored above all that you love me, and I just hope that you will let me love you back.”

She was silent for so long, he was afraid he’d either said too much or not enough. He’d told her exactly what he was feeling, yet he still couldn’t quite put into words the depth of his need for her.

But before he could go on, she put her fingers to his lips and smiled. “That was the most amazing thing you have ever said to me, Mace Knight. And I have known you long enough that you have said some pretty amazing stuff. Because that is the type of man you are. And while I love the fact that you got on your knees to grovel to me, I don’t need you to do it again in public. I don’t need you to prostrate yourself and make anyone think less of you because of what is going on between us. I love you far more than that. And the fact that you love me? Well, that and you saying you’re sorry with your heart in your words makes up for anything you said that night—or didn’t say. You grovel good, Knight. Real good.”

When she tugged on his arm, he followed her inside, closing the door behind him. He kissed her then, not being able to hold himself back and deny his need for her, for her lips, her taste, just her. When her hands cupped his cheeks, she pulled back and frowned.

“What?” he asked, his voice breathed.

“Why did you shave?”

He kissed her again, biting her lower lip. “Because every time I looked in the mirror and saw my beard, I thought of you. How you loved petting it, how you said it made you want to ride my face. I remembered the way you came on my tongue when my beard scraped up against your inner thighs, and I knew I couldn’t look at my beard any longer without thinking of you.”

She fanned herself. “Well, then. I guess we’ll have to see how well you can go to town with no beard.”

He laughed and kissed her harder. “We’ll see. If I don’t live up to my bearded days, I can always grow it back.”

“Because you’re a giver.”

“Hell yeah, I am.”

She led him to the bedroom, and he kissed her, missing her taste. They were gentle at first, slowly stripping each other out of their clothes as they got to know each other’s bodies once again. It wasn’t as if it had been ages since they had one another, but it had been long enough that Mace wanted to memorize every inch of her again. He’d missed her, damn it, and would never forgive himself for doing what he’d done.

Addi kissed his temple before flicking him. “Stop.”

He froze. “What? Did I hurt you?”

She rolled her eyes. They were standing there naked in her room, and she was rolling her eyes at him. This was the Addi he knew and missed. “No, of course not. But you’re thinking about what you did and how bad you feel and you’re killing the mood. So why don’t you go lay on the bed and think of good things—not England, but maybe how sexy I am, please—and I’ll have my way with you.”

He kissed her hard before moving to lay down on her bed. “Well, since you asked so nicely, but come over here and let me kiss you. I missed you.”

Her eyes warmed, and she quickly did as he’d asked. “I missed you, too.”

They kissed and licked each other, their hands roaming over each other’s bodies. He cupped her breasts, then slid his hand between her legs to find her warm and ready. She slid her hand over his cock, squeezed, then leisurely stroked him as they got to know one another again. And what started out as sweet and slow soon turned into hot and fast.

He was on top of her, sliding into her wet heat as their gazes met. Her mouth parted, and he rocked in and out of her, her pussy clamping down on him as he withdrew as if all parts of her needed him close. As he felt the same way, it all just turned him on even more.

She lifted her hips, meeting him as they came together, and she sighed. “I need you to move faster,” she whispered. “I need you.”

So he moved, increasing the pace until they were panting for one another, the sounds in the room those of sex and need and everything that was part of what he and Addi were. She arched for him, coming hard around his cock, and he followed, filling her up until his body shook and he knew he’d need time to recover before he had her again.

Because he would have her again. Again and again and for as long as she’d have him. Because she was his as he was hers, and he would never forget that. Not again.

“I love you,” he whispered. “So damn much.”

Tears shone in her eyes, and she cupped his face. “Love you, too, old man.”

Then he kissed her again and found that his recovery time was far shorter than he’d thought. His Addi seemed to have that effect on him.

And he would never forget it.

Chapter 17

Adrienne threw her head back and arched into Mace as he moved inside her. She was on all fours, her hands gripping the sheets as he thrust in and out of her. He’d already made her come twice at the edge of the bed with his mouth, then once again with him on top of her, then he’d moved so he could play with her ass and rub any soreness away by slowly massaging her even as he fucked her.

Her hair slid down her back, and Mace gripped it, wrapping it around his fist. He was so big, so strong, that he stretched her with each thrust, and she couldn’t help but move with him because she knew she gave as good as she got.

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