Page 179 of The Casualty of Us
Everything leaves his face in an instant. “What?”
“I love you.”
“Freckles.” He pulls back just a bit, brows shooting down sharply. “Don’t say it just because I’m pissed.”
“I’m not.” I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, a sudden breath leaving me at the way it shifts his fingers inside of me, but I hold his gaze to whisper, “I love you.” Confessing it all shakily as I lift a hand up to wind my fingers through his hair. “I knew it as soon as I woke up to you on my bed over the summer—I just needed a minute.” I blink up at him, seeing the spark of joy there and lifting a leg to hook over his hip with my voice coming out breathlessly. “I love you so much it still terrifies me half the time because I can’t picture my world without you anymore either.”
“Baby.” His face cracks open, love that he’s been keeping in there starting to pour out as his fingers pull—
“Don’t stop.” I roll my hips, pushing back down and feeling his body go tense against mine.
“Ophelia,” he exhales harshly, pupils blowing wide. “We don’t have to—”
“I want to.” I pull on his hair, brushing my lips against his and tasting the water there from the droplets we both have everywhere. “There is not a second of my life that I would ever regret it being you, and that’s before I even fell in love with you.”
“Fuck,” he groans, kissing me deeply before pulling back enough to look down at me. “Are you sure?”
His gaze rolls over every inch of my face for a long moment before coming back to mine. Everything about him from his eyes to the way he blocks the shower and even to the spanking speaks to a care there in his own way.
That I really am precious to him.
“I’m sure,” I whisper, my bottom lip giving a little tremble at the way all of it is washing through me with free rein now. “I love you, there’s no one else I ever want it to be.”
He holds completely still for a second more before squeezing my hip. “I love you too, Ophelia Sage.” The gravelly words have his face softening right before he drops his head, lips lifting against mine as he continues in between soft passes. “Every single part of you.”
I kiss him back without hesitation, hating when he pulls his fingers out and a sound of protest escaping me before his hands come to the bottom of my sweatshirt. He gathers both it and my shirt in his grip, pulling them up until they pass over my chest and forcing us to break apart as he pulls the wet clothes over my head. My bare chest rises sharply as they hit the floor of the shower with a smack, and he starts to shrug out of his jacket. Fully putting on a show as he continues to undress, if the flash of dimples is anything to go by.
The jacket drops quickly to the floor off his shoulders and he reaches back to pull the sweater up before yanking it over his head. His messy black locks fall everywhere as all that deep olive skin is put on display with his pants riding low on his hips, giving me a perfect view of that cut and the little trail hair going down from his belly button to—
I yank my eyes back up at the amused breath of laughter, immediately scowling. “Stop it.”
“Come here.” He reaches out, hooking a finger in my shorts with a tug while staring down at me with those flecks of gold all lit up happily and making me soften with the step I take to him.
My stomach flips with anticipation as his thumb trails across my skin, and he drops his lips to mine with a gentle kiss before pushing my shorts down. His other hand moves to make sure my underwear goes with them, leaving me completely bare as they fall to the shower floor and some nerves finally hit me at the sound. Not out of any concern that I’m making the wrong choice but just the general unknown.
He drops to his knees before they have a chance to take hold, though, pulling my socks off quickly before reaching around to grab my ass with both hands. His shoulders bump at my legs demandingly until I drape one over him, and he barely gives me a second to take a breath before licking his way up through me. Any lingering nerves rapidly being replaced by raw desire as he latches onto my clit and swirls his tongue before dropping a hand from my ass. Bringing his fingers to my entrance a second later and making my head drop back against the tile with a gasp as he starts to push two inside. Tightening his grip on my ass at the same time and sucking down hard on my clit. He starts to pump them inside of me, going deeper than he has in the past, and my breath hitches with every little pass until all I know is that this isn’t nearly enough.
That even being so close right now, I need him closer. That the wait has been too long with me trying to be so careful, and now I just need him…everywhere.
“Now,” I gasp, pulling hard on his hair when he keeps sucking on my clit. “Now, now—” He spreads his fingers wide, pumping them up. “Now.” Damn near making me sob as a desperate kind of cry leaves me. “Please.”
He pulls back suddenly, and I gasp for a breath as his fingers leave me, barely having time to blink before eyes that are drowning in their own stark need stare down at me. “Are you sure?”
His voice comes out so tight it sounds like he’s one push away from breaking, and I look down in time to see him pop the button on his pants. My pussy clenches with an empty sense as he pulls the zipper down and my own voice goes all kinds of choppy as I breathe out. “Promise.”
He pushes his pants down then, working the fabric over his hips before toeing his boots and socks off. The items join our assortment of clothes that are everywhere in the shower and aredefinitely going to have to be dealt with later, but I couldn’t care less as he pushes his boxers down as well. Cock springing free and making me swallow hard at the sight of it again, his size still surprising me but not completely deterring me like it did the first time. Now it’s more of a curiosity.
A need to feel him inside of me has me reaching out even as he lifts his hands to my cheeks, nipping at my bottom lip once before my hand closes around him.
“Fuck,” he hisses out between his teeth, pulling at my lip with them next and sucking on it hard as he drops his hands to my ass. Groaning when I pump the length of his cock and freeing my lip with a pop before lifting me up. He’s already moving by the time my legs wrap around his waist, kissing me playfully while stepping out of the shower. Fingers massaging my ass and pressing me right up against my own hand as he walks us back to my room. The cold air hits the water still dripping from us both and makes goose bumps rise across my skin, leaving me clutching him even tighter as he lowers us to the bed and—
“Fuck.” The curse bursts from him as he rips his mouth away, brows shooting down. “I’m such a fucking idiot. I don’t have a condom. I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine,” I whisper, lifting up to brush my lips against his quickly. “I got on birth control over Thanksgiving, so…”
He pauses. “You did?”
“Yeah.” A little giggle bubbles past my lips. “A quick shot, and I was good to go.”
