“I knew if I had one taste, I’d want more. I’d want all of you.”
“I had a thing for you since the second we were introduced,” she confessed with a wistful look in her eyes. “I didn’t think you’d be interested, considering I was still in college and you were this professional guy in your thirties.”
“Oh, I wasveryinterested.” I playfully waggled my brows.
“What changed your mind about kissing me?”
I shifted her body to face me, keeping my arms wrapped around her waist. “I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t. So when we were all spending the weekend at your uncle’s lake house and I walked in on you standing in front of the refrigerator wearing just a t-shirt and a tiny pair of boy shorts, I snapped.”
“I’m glad you did.” She hoisted herself onto her toes, her lips brushing against mine.
“Best decision of my life.” I pressed my mouth more firmly against hers, memories from that first kiss eight years ago flooding back in an instant.
Imogene threaded her fingers through my hair, igniting a fire within me as she pressed her body against mine. I couldn’t get over how perfectly she fit in my arms. Like two puzzle pieces finally clicking into place after being lost for too long.
Her tongue traced the seam of my lips, and I eagerly opened for her, craving her more than I did my next breath.
These past few weeks as she healed from her injuries had been torture. I wanted nothing more than to make love to her.
But I didn’t want to do anything that might hurt her, even though her bruises had faded and she no longer needed a sling.
“Please,” Imogene begged, as if able to sense my inner turmoil. “I need to feel you. I don’t know if I can stand waiting any longer. This may be the longest I’ve gone without having an orgasm and it’s killing me.”
I groaned, wanting more than anything to give her what she needed. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. I’m better. Plus, if you don’t fuck me, I’ll need to break one of your rules.”
“My rules?”
Biting her bottom lip, she slowly nodded. “In Pebble Beach, you forbade me from getting myself off. You said you owned allmy orgasms. So are you going to get me off or do I need to take matters into my own hands?”
I stared at her for several long moments. I was about to tell her that the man who told her he owned all her orgasms wasn’t me. At least I was trying not to be that man anymore. Trying to leave all traces of Gideon Saint in the past.
But one thing I learned about Imogene, as both Samuel Tate and Gideon Saint, was that it was nearly impossible to deny her.
The same remained true to this day.
“I’ll always give you what you need.” I gripped her hip and steered her back into the house. “Always,” I repeated, about to slam my mouth against hers.
Before I could, a loud chiming ripped through the space, forcing me back to reality.
After the past few weeks of living in this bubble with Imogene, the sound of my phone ringing felt foreign and unfamiliar.
But unlike weeks ago, I ignored it. There were no more pressing matters to discuss with Henry. My focus was on Imogene.
Nothing else.
I silenced my phone in my pocket and raked my eyes over Imogene’s face. From her doe-like eyes, to her flushed complexion, to her kiss-swollen lips. She was beautiful.
And she was mine, despite everything I’d put her through. I still struggled to wrap my head around the fact that I had her. That she was so willing to forgive me. But I’d spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to earn that forgiveness.
“I love you so damn much,” I murmured as I dipped my head toward hers once more.
And yet again, my phone started ringing.
Imogene masked her annoyance with a smile, stepping out of my hold.
“Why don’t you see what he wants?”