Page 154 of Pucking Strong

I blink back my tears, staring up at the ceiling. “The sun doesn’t mean to harm anyone. The sun just is.”

“But you think I’m harmful. Proximity to me is dangerous for you. That is the story of Icarus, yes?”

“Henrik—”

“Icarus flew too close to the sun, and the sun melted his wings. He crashed into the sea and drowned, Teddy.”

“Yeah, I know the fucking story.”

He tips my chin, forcing me to look at him. “That is not our story.”

I hold his fierce gaze. “I don’t want it to be.”

“If I am the sun, you are the sea.”

“What?”

“In the story,” he presses, “Icarus is warned not to fly too close to sun or sea. It’s not the sun that kills him, Teddy. It’s the sea. Both are wild and untamed. Both are strong. You’re not a victim of the forces that surround you. Youarethe force. Depthless, endless, ever reaching. You’re not Icarus. You’re the sea.”

I lie beneath him, chest heaving, mind shattered. I’m not Icarus. Is that possible? And I’m not the sun that shines too bright, damning others to fall from the sky. I’m the sea. I take the sun’s light and reflect it back. I let it warm me but not devour.

God, this feels like a revelation. My mother was wrong about us. I’m not pouring into him, giving my soul away. I’m just reflecting light back to him. What I give is freely offered. It’s okay that we’re different. It’s okay that he’s quiet and I’m loud. It’s okay that I overreact and he overthinks. We can balance each other. We can build something together: a partnership, a marriage, a beautiful life shared.

I press a hand over his heart, resolve burning in my chest. Looking up, I open the floodgates of my own heart, letting him see into my fullest depths. “You’re mine. Henrik—”

“I know,” he groans, collapsing atop me as we kiss. “I’m yours,” he says against my lips. “And you’re mine.”

Yes.His. Please, god, make this last.

He rolls to the side, pulling me with him, our legs tangling together as we keep kissing. The slow burn is over. Now we’re both on fire. “Show me what to do. Teddy—”

“Lie on your back.” I push his shoulder. “That’s it, baby.” Once he’s on his back, I roll up to my knees and turn around, straddling his face. My hard dick is ready for him. Slipping a hand between my legs, I angle my dick down. “Take it,” I command. “Put me in your mouth—yes—”

My praise comes out on a hiss as Henrik wraps his mouth around my tip, groaning out his own relief.This. We need this. You can’t just mess around with this kind of soul connection. We need to be joined. Whatever else he wants from my body, he can have. I’ll show him everything. But first, we share this.

Balancing my weight on my hands, hips canted up so I don’t choke him with my dick, I suck his proud length into the back of mythroat. I take him to the root, moaning with want as I breathe in his masculine scent. The sensation of giving and receiving quickly has me spiraling. I feel like a firecracker about to burst.

Henrik’s hands fist my ass as he sucks the tip of my dick. With my hands trembling, it’s all I can do to keep upright. “More,” he growls, pulling on my hips. “I’m close. Give me more.”

He’s close? I’m closer. This is the edge. In this moment, we’re both Icarus. Hand in hand, we’re about to fucking leap. I lower my hips, giving him more, and he takes. He’s so goddamn eager. His mouth is wet and warm, and I can’t help myself from rutting into him. This feels too good. There’s candlelight, and the room is warm and steamy from the bath. Our energy is primal. It’s a goddamn bacchanal.

“Yes!” My adrenaline takes over, and now I’m balancing on one hand. The other goes between his legs to cup his balls, squeezing as I hollow my cheeks, sucking his length. I slip my hand lower, my fingers seeking. All it takes is the gentlest of pressure with two fingers on his asshole and he’s rocking up with his hips, crying out around my dick as he releases.

His cum fills my mouth, and that’s all the urging I need to leap. I’m spiraling through the air, orgasm shattering through me as I come down Henrik’s throat. God, I’ve wanted this for so long. It’s beyond euphoria. His hands hold me tight enough to bruise as he swallows what I give him. He hums wordless sounds of praise, unable to speak with my dick choking him.

Spent and exhausted, I start to sink. This is a different kind of fall than the one I feared. Best of all, Henrik is there to catch me. He turns me and rolls with me until we’re both on our sides, curled around each other, holding one another in a tangle of limbs.

We breathe together, floating down like a pair of autumn leaves. The room comes back into focus and I grunt, shifting the bundled edge of the towel out from under my hip. Henrik watches me with a glassy, contented look on his face. He’s calm now, at peace.

“Thank you,” he whispers, his fingers trailing down the line of my shoulder.

“For what?”

I feel his smile as he leans in, kissing my brow. “For waiting for me.”

Stepping into the closet, fresh from my shower, I sigh. On the valet hook, Teddy has set out a cherry-red T-shirt and a pair of matching tracksuit bottoms. On the shelf, there’s what looks suspiciously like a googly-eyed crab hat and a pair of matching, mitten-like claws.

Exiting the closet with all haste, I hold the top of my towel in place with one hand as I march through the apartment. I find Teddy and Karolina in her bathroom. She’s balancing on her good leg at the mirror while he stands behind, styling a red wig on her head with a curling iron. She’s chatting in an animated mix of English and Swedish that has him laughing.

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