Page 142 of Passed Ball

Our hands find each other in the dark as we climb the stairs and I take charge, stepping into his room. I shut the door with a quiet precision that I mastered so as to not wake the sleeping baby down the hall, because I love her, but I'dreallylike to be alone with her dad right now.

Large hands find my waist, turning me before my hand has left the door. Xavier presses me against the wall, raising his hand to find the opening in the jean jacket. Slowly he parts it, his hooded eyes not missing a thing as he watches it slip from my shoulders.

The heavy material falls to the floor with a soft thump, leaving me in his jersey and a pair of jeans. He's seen me in dresses, skirts, leggings and nothing at all. But right now, he's looking at me like the simple outfit is everything.

Having his attention on me is always intoxicating, but I can't afford to get swept up in his crystal blue gaze, not when I still have things to tell him.

Before I can open my mouth to say what I need to, his hands find the back of my thighs, lifting me and fitting us together like we were made for this.

Brushing my hand up his shoulder until it rests on his cheek, I stroke his lower lip with my thumbs. "Xavier." His name comes out on a huffy breath. I hate stopping us when all I want is to feel him everywhere.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

The words stick to my tongue, not because I don't want to say them, but because they've lived there for so long. But I know if I don't say it now, he will, and I need him to hear me. To know that it isn't a heat of the moment response.

"I love you."

Slowly, his tongue sweeps across his bottom lip before his mouth spreads into a full-blown smile. "Say it again."

"I love you, Xavier Kingsley. I love you and I love your daughter with everything I am. And it's not new, it's the most natural, perfect thing I've ever felt. It's not something I decided, I never had a choice in the matter. You and Holland stole my heart, piece by piece, until there was nothing left to give to anyone else. Loving you has made me stronger, fuller, more whole than I ever thought I could be."

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that," he says, his voice low and steady, the warmth of his words settling between us. "Because I've been unconditionally, hopelessly in love with you for months."

"Tell me."

"I never saw you coming," he begins, his hand joining mine where it still covers his cheek. "At first, I didn't think there was room in my heart to love someone so completely after Holland was born. She filled every corner of me, and I thought I didn't have anything left to give. But then you came along and filled spaces I didn't even know were empty. You healed the pain from my past I thought I'd put behind me. You gave me hope and fun back. You gave us all of you without even realizing it. I love you, Vivienne."

"I want to love you without rules, no bounds, just us," I say, leaning forward until our foreheads are touching.

"But we keep making lists because I have plenty of things I still want to do with you. This is only the beginning." He rolls his hips, reminding me how hard he is for me already.

Feeling bold from the declaration of love, I ask, "Anything in particular?"

Cradling me, he turns from the wall, taking us both down to the bed where his lips find my neck. "So many things. But tonight I want you in this jersey when I slide into you for the first time. Then I'm going to make love to you until we both pass out."

"That's a thing for you?" I ask coyly.

"Seeing you in the name I want to make yours someday? Yeah, it's a thing." He says it so casually, like there's no question where this is headed.

My breath catches, but he doesn't waste any time stripping my pants down my legs.

"What if I want to keep my name?" I challenge, pushing up on my elbows to watch him crawl back up my body, soft kisses falling all over my skin as he goes.

"A name doesn't make you any less mine. I'm going to put a ring right here." He sucks my finger into my mouth and I almost combust on the spot. "I'm going to put a baby right here." He splays his hands over my belly in a gentle caress, before they travel higher, one collaring my neck and the other stroking my cheek. "And I'm going to hold you like this so I can feel it when you call out my name--now and always."

"Xavier," I breathe out, sounding desperate.

"Yeah, like that, sweetheart." Swooping in, he takes advantage, stealing the air from me with a kiss that's filled with all the promises he just made. A sweet caress of love that's easy to get lost in because with him, every kiss feels like a first kiss. By the time we break apart, I'm clawing at his shirt and pants to get him closer, to feel his body slide against mine.

He stands from the bed. "On your knees, in the middle of the bed. Undo the buttons on the jersey, but keep it on."

I do as he asks, fumbling through it as I watch him slowly undress. He's been pushing himself hard all season and you can see it in every line of his body as the shadows highlight the deep groove of his abs and the defining swell of his quads. He catches me gawking and his smile doubles.

"Like what you see?"

"You know I do." I slip the last button free.

His leg brackets my calves and his hard cock bobs before it's pinned against my spine. "If I dipped my hand between your legs right now, would you be ready for me?"

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