Page 149 of Wait For It

But please, don’t leave me.

Her hand settled on my chest, just over the heart that was in the throes of a complete breakdown. “I’ll do it.”

No.

A dull ache spread throughout my chest. I clenched my fists in the sheets, forcing the words out. “I just want you safe, but I recognize how much your freedom means to you.”

Keeping one hand centered on my chest, Ari climbed across my lap, her body hovering just over my hips. I was rock hard, something she’d be aware of if she moved any lower.

“Thank you for loving me enough to make the hard decisions,” she whispered, unaware of her double entendre. “When would I leave?”

I heard the question she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

How much time do we have left?

It was like ice in my veins. “Tsega thinks they could have passports and travel arrangements ready by the first of the year. There will also be a security team in place no matter where you are.”

“Okay.” She nodded to herself before reaching over to the top drawer of the nightstand. The foil wrapper landed on my chest, and she straightened. “Well, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to suggest spending the holidays in bed.”

I rolled it on and positioned my cock beneath her, watching her lips part on an exhale as she slowly sank down onto me. Her eyes went hazy as I took her breasts in my hands, sitting up for a taste.

The movement forced her all the way down to the root. She groaned out a curse, clutching my hair in her fists. In this room, I wasn’t helpless. I was her safe place, taking care of her the only way I knew how.

Her head fell back as she rocked against me, her long hair tickling the tops of my thighs just like in my fantasy. I tried to stay in the present, focusing on the feel of her heat around my cock. I wouldn’t think about how hard it was going to be when she was gone.

“Killian,” she panted, tightening around me. “I love you. I love you so much.”

When my condo was empty.

“I love you too, girl,” I murmured, biting her neck and rolling my hips to give her what she needed.

When my life went back to normal.

“Please,” she begged, nipping my earlobe with her teeth. “I’m close.”

Please don’t go.

“I’ve got you,” I growled, guiding her mouth down over mine and circling her clit with the pad of my thumb.

I don’t want to come home if you’re not here.

Her back bowed as she came apart with a hoarse cry, frantically grabbing at my shoulders as if trying to stop her fall. I locked my arms around her as my thrusts turned rough, resisting some biological urge to strip off the condom.

You are my life.

I drove into Ari’s body, broken and in pain, but she didn’t push me away. Instead, her hips shifted to accommodate, welcoming every anguished stroke. She bucked against me with soft whimpers, soaking my lap.

With one final thrust, I crushed her to my chest and came, my body shuddering violently. I didn’t know how I was going to ever let her go.

Stay.

Chapter Thirty-One

Ariana

“I wanted to see you again, touch you, know who you were, see if I would find you identical with the ideal image of you which had remained with me and perhaps shatter my dream with the aid of reality.”

-Victor Hugo,The Hunchback of Notre Dame

---