Page 76 of A Fine Line

He slides in and out of me a few more times as we both catch our breaths. After a few moments, he stops moving but remains inside me as he presses soft kisses on my cheek and jaw and then down my neck until finally, he presses his face against my throbbing pulse point and sighs deeply.

I huff out a laugh, then get a bit concerned when he doesn’t so much as twitch a muscle. He’s fucking heavy.

I grunt with effort as I try to push him from our now-awkward position, and eventually, I squeak out, “Can’t. Breathe.”

His arms immediately move, so some of his weight is removed from my chest, but he doesn’t move otherwise as he rubs his nose along my neck. I take the quiet moment to wrap my arms around him, my hands pressing on his back, and I lift my head so I can relax my face into his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of him before licking his damp skin. He doesn’t move away, so I lick a few more times before taking a bite, laughing as he jumps.

His head comes around to glare at me, and he mutters under his breath as he slowly pulls away. I continue to giggle as he moves over, so he’s sprawled beside me on the bed, one of his hands resting on my inner thigh. Then I laugh quietly and say, “Well, that was reckless.”

He’s lying there with his eyes closed, but his lips curve up in a smug smile. “But so worth it.”

“You’re not worried?”

“Not at all,” he says with a shake of his head, and the tiny flicker of anxiety in my gut dissipates.

We lie there in silence for a while, neither of us looking at the other. His fingers stroke my inner thigh, and I move my hand to his wrist, my thumb gliding over his pulse point leisurely.

“I don’t know how this happened,” he whispers.

I turn my head toward him, raise my eyebrows at him questioningly, and ask, “How what happened?”

“Loving you,” he says, almost in annoyance. Then he turns his head toward me, his eyes on mine as he adds, “It’s hugely inconvenient.”

My heart stutters in my chest, my breath catching in my throat. I stare at him, wide-eyed, and then the corners of his lips twitch, and he laughs. It’s not awkward or bitter; it’s pure, unfiltered mirth, and it’s almost as if it’s the first time I’ve truly seen him.

I open my mouth to speak, but he puts a hand up and shakes his head. “You don’t have to say anything, sweetheart. I didn’t say it to get a response from you. I said it because I felt like it needed to be put out into the universe, for it to hang out there and allow you time to soak it in and see how you feel about it.”

I take his hand in mine and place it against my chest. “I’ve never told anyone I love them. Not even Flora. Showing true, heartfelt emotion was too dangerous because it always gave them a target, and lord knows they had enough of those without me painting bullseyes on people. I’m not even sure if I know how to love in the true sense of the emotion.”

He pushes his palm against my chest, moving it until it’s pressed against my heart. “I have no doubt that you know how to love. Just like I have no doubt that even if you don’t love me right now, you will eventually. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh, you will?” I ask with a laugh. “What happened to you not wanting to railroad me into anything?”

“Well, that only had to do with babies,” he says seriously. “That’s where it begins and ends. I won’t force you to bear my children, but you’re stuck with me, whether you love me or hate me.”

He appears so blasé about the entire conversation that I find myself laughing again, and then the tightness in my chest eases, and I allow myself to revel in this new feeling—freedom.

A jolt of excitement zips up my spine, and I roll over toward him so suddenly that he startles. I press my face against his ear and whisper, “I love you.”

He tenses up, his arm coming around my shoulders and holding me against him for a moment, but then he relaxes, leaning back and meeting my eyes with an incredibly smug look on his face as he says, “Good. That’ll save us both a lot of trouble going forward.”

I slap at his chest playfully, then lie back down next to him, and he pulls me closer, yanking me over until my head is relaxing on his shoulder, my hand now resting on his heart. “Where do we go from here?”

He tightens his grip on me, his lips pressing against my forehead briefly before he says, “First, we’re gonna go fuck around. And then, we do whatever the fuck we want.”

I rub my cheek against his warm skin, inhaling the scent of him into my lungs as I smile, relief overwhelming me as I think over his words.

Whatever the fuck we want.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Tony

I’mnotsureifI’m supposed to be shocked or not, but I am mildly surprised when I roll over in the morning to find Carolina gone.

The alarm hasn’t gone off, and a glance at the clock tells me that I haven’t overslept, though I would’ve assumed that she would’ve woken me up if I had.

I sit up in bed, look around the room, and see that the few belongings that she had with her last night are gone. I narrow my eyes, a little perturbed at her disappearance, but I shake it off and go about getting ready to leave.

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