Page 66 of The Secrets We Built Together

I tugged at the hem of his shirt, needing to feel his skin, to know if he tasted as warm and steady as he looked. He let me pull it over his head, and I took a moment—just a moment—to drink him in. His chest rose and fell with unsteady breath, and he looked at me like I was something fragile and sacred all at once. Like I wasn't a mess of past mistakes and panic and fear, but someone worth holding.

Worth wanting.

He kissed down my neck, slow and reverent, like he had all the time in the world to learn me. And I let him. I let him kiss the line of my collarbone, the hollow of my throat, the curve of my shoulder. I let him slide my shirt up and over my head. Let him see all the pieces I usually tried to hide.

Xander gently pushed down the old sweats I was wearing, dropping them to the floor beside my discarded shirt. I didn't feel exposed. I didn't feel on display. As he reverently ran his fingers across my skin, I felt almost... worshipped.

His eyes didn't leave mine as he cupped my breast, thumb brushing across the lace-covered nipple with gentle reverence. I gasped, heat coiling low in my belly, and he leaned in, kissing me again like he'd never get enough.

"Blake," he whispered like a prayer. "You're so beautiful."

I didn't believe it. Not really. But for the first time in a long time, I wanted to.

I pulled him down with me onto the couch, the blanket slipping beneath us. His body pressed into mine, warm and solid.

Every touch was patient, every movement asking and not taking. When his mouth moved lower, tasting the soft skin of my stomach, I arched into him, fingers fisting in his hair as he settled between my thighs. His hands wrapped around my legs as he kissed the inside of one thigh and then the other. I was practically vibrating with anticipation, standing on a knife's edge of desire that made me forget everything but the way he groaned my name when I trembled beneath his mouth.

Then his fingers hooked into the lace of my underwear, his knuckles dragging over my wet core as he pulled them aside.

My breath caught at the first touch of his tongue against my core—

And then the world exploded.

I was lost to it. Every nerve alive and electric, every fear and doubt silenced by the sheer force of what he was doing to me. I couldn't hold back the moan that escaped my lips, and I didn't care. Not when he devoured me like I was his whole damn world.

His fingers joined his mouth, my breath catching as he pushed them into me. Before my mind could catch up, they were moving inside me with a rhythm that was both maddening and perfect. I felt myself unraveling, coming apart in a way that didn't feel like breaking—but instead of finally finding the missing pieces.

My body shuddered, and I let go, falling into the abyss of everything I never let myself want.

His lips stayed at my core, his fingers slowly stroking inside me as I rode the release. Then he laid a gentle kiss against my clit, a delicate swipe of his tongue following like he wasn't ready to stop.

It wasn't rushed.

It wasn't careless.

It was worship.

And when he rose up again, kissing me with that same unhurried tenderness, I reached for his waistband and nodded in question—asking his permission, asking for more.

He groaned low in his throat, forehead resting against mine for a beat as he breathed me in.

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Together we pushed down his jeans and boxers in one move.

He was hard and ready, and I wrapped my fingers around his shaft, bewitched by the hitch of his breath as I did. I couldn't believe I'd been stupid enough to think this could be temporary. That I could pretend it was only for show.

He cursed softly, reaching back down for his discarding jeans and quickly pulling a condom from his wallet. I watched in fascination as he carefully rolled it down his length, licking my lips in anticipation of what was to come.

Xander settled between my legs, his cock pressing against me with a need that made me gasp. I rocked my hips up to meet him, and he held me steady as he slowly—so slowly—pushed inside.

Oh God.

It was too much.

It was everything.

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