Page 100 of The Space Between
“I started today. It was a big deal. I was scared shitless.” she says. “I wanted to tell you. But you didn’t show.”
“I know.” I reply, my stomach tightening at knowing I let her down.
“I thought maybe it didn’t mean anything to you.” She says quietly. “ThatIdon’t mean anything to you. Not really.”
“It means too much.” I swallow. “Youmean too much.”
The silence that follows is thick… tense.
She steps closer and I meet her halfway.
Our mouths crash together before I can second-guess it. It’s like we’re both reaching for the same lifeline in the dark. Her hands are in my hair, mine on her hips, and everything else blurs. I back her toward the couch, urgency pulsing between us.
Her fingers fumble at the hem of my shirt. I help her pull it over my head, then, I tug hers off in turn. Our bare skin collides, coming together, and the kiss deepens. Her teeth catch my bottom lip as I groan, lifting her.
She wraps her legs around my waist. “Bed,” she pants.
“Yeah.” I grunt, crossing the room. I toe off my boots, still holding her, still kissing her. Then, we’re falling into the sheets like it’s the only place we’ve ever belonged. Our clothes disappear in a mess onto the floor, as we continue to kiss, our teeth clashing, our tongues dueling.
She falls back onto the bed, pulling me over her. Her body is warm and slick beneath me. Her thighs part and I settle into the apex as she presses against me, arching when I run my mouth down her neck, across her collarbone, tasting salt and skin andher.I trail lower, slow, aching, memorizing every curve, every gasp, every shudder. Her hands claw down my back when I suck one nipple into my mouth, then the other, drawing sounds from her that brand themselves into my chest.
She moans my name, “Gruene…” her hips grinding up to meet mine. “Please.”
I don’t ask what she wants. I already know, but I freeze for half a breath as my cock slides along her folds.
Her eyes find mine and she nods. Soft. Certain.Yes.
Need takes over like a tide.
Grabbing her leg, I hitch it higher around my waist, and line myself up. My breath catches as I slide into her bare. Deep. Thick. Raw. The way we started. The way we feel each other in every place that still aches.
She gasps. Her back arching, her body swallowing me inch by inch. Tight, wet, andmine.
“Shit—Blakely…” My forehead drops to hers as I sink all the way in.
She holds me there. No rushing. No hiding. Just her heart pounding under my palm and the way she looks at me like I’m still someone worth wanting.
I start to move slowly, measured. But it’s not gentle—it’sheavy.Full of everything I’ve been holding back. Grief. Guilt. The ache I’ve buried so deep I almost forgot what it was like to let someone touch it.
She wraps her legs around my waist, locking her ankles behind my back, her breath hot in my ear. “Don’t stop.”
“Not a chance.” I growl, grinding deeper inside of her. Her hips meet every thrust. Our skin slaps, hot and wet, and her nailsscore lines down my spine. Her mouth finds mine, and I drink from her like she’s the only thing that’s ever tasted like home.
The pace builds. The room disappears. It’s just us—breath and need and something that feels dangerously close tohope.
She starts to tremble and comes apart beneath me, gasping, shaking, clenching tight around me in pulses that drag me straight to the edge.
I groan, teeth gritted, and hips stuttering. “Where?” I rasp.
“Inside,” she breathes, pulling me closer. “I always want you inside.”
Slamming into her, I pull out to the tip and bury myself deep. Two strokes and I let go, shaking as I come hard and raw andrealinside her.
Oh, Blakelyn.
I never want to leave this moment.
I’m giving her a piece of me I didn’t think was still alive.
