Page 99 of Unsteady

“Come,” I whisper, my hand gentle against the top of her sex between her body. “That’s my girl. So good, baby.”

My words only drive her off the cliff faster, and I’m leaping right behind her, my body frantic with life and feeling and everything I’ve buried as I catch her mouth and move her hips up and down my length, coming so hard I’m sure I’ll black out.

When it crests, I keep her close and she wraps her arms around my neck, skin damp. Her head falls back against the cradle of my hand, eyes lazy as they take me in. She’s sleepy and sated, but I’m still wired. Peaceful, but desperate not to take my hands or eyes off of her for a second.

This is where she usually disappears and I’ll be damned if I let that happen.

“Shower?” I ask, combing back her hair. She nods and doesn’t wiggle or complain even once as I lift her and carry her to the bathroom. Only a hiss of breath as I ease out of her and lean her body towards the cool tile wall of the shower, making sure the water is warm enough.

I step under the spray first, pulling her carefully so that she’s the one under the water, using my soap and hands to suds up her body, gently cleaning and slightly playing with the tender space between her legs until she’s gripping my shoulder with her hands and stubby little nails.

I make her come again, slow and soft, and she rests against me as I wash her hair. Her eyes never leave mine, despite the languidness of her body, she seems in awe of me.

It makes my chest throb.

The way I feel about her is real, so deep it feels like a cord loops from inside of me to her, tethering me to her. But Sadie’s an enigma, all steel walls and eye rolls. I don’t know how deep this is for her, and I’ll be damned before I scare her off with my level of need for her.

I’ll take any of her she’ll give to me—a dog begging for scraps, until she lets me in. I’m patient.

I can wait.

Once we lay back in the bed together, naked and warm beneath my blankets, I stroke her back even as she faces away from me and scoots closer to the edge.

“I'm not really a cuddler,” she argues over her shoulder, biting on her lip.

“Okay,” I acquiesce.

But I wake up with her little body pressed to my chest early the next morning, and blissfully cancel every alarm to fall back asleep with her in my arms.

THIRTY-THREE

SADIE

I had the best sleep of my life.

Considering it comes right after the bestsexof my life, I count the entire week as a win. Those are few and far between for me.

There isn’t even a bite of anxiety when I wake, because I know exactly who I’ve wrapped myself around like a monkey.

And I know my brothers are safe.

I didn’t intend to spend all night away from them, but I think Aurora wanted me to—judging by her continuous stream of all-caps texts to “Climb him like a tree.” So, when I told her I’d be staying over, I got a stream of ecstatic emojis.

I should probably pull away, but I don’t, content to look up at his soft, sleeping face. He’s completely at peace, his forehead relaxed and a contented slip of a smile pulling at his mouth.

It borders on weird, I’m sure, how long I watch him. But it takes all that time to gather the strength to pull myself away and relieve myself in the bathroom, searching for a toothbrush or mouthwash—anything to help with the grime I feel in my mouth.

I splash my face with water and help myself to a clean shirt from his adjoining closet.

He pushes up onto his elbows when I come back in; a wide, dimpled smile spreading across his face.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined you in that shirt.”

I look down at the gray material, realizing it’s almost identical to my usual practice shirt, but withhockeyprinted in big bold letters beneath the university logo.

“This shirt?” I laugh, walking slowly towards him.

He pushes up fully, turning over to prop up against the headboard. The sheets pool at his waist, hiding his very naked, very generous lower half.

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