Page 96 of A Smile Full of Lies
He was still inside me. Still thick and hard and so fucking deep I swore I could feel him in my throat.
“Fuck,” he whispered, like it was the only word he had left.
I couldn’t move. Didn’t want to.
The air between us pulsed with heat and something else I couldn’t name — something tender and aching andterrifying.
Because this wasn’t supposed to feel like that.
This was supposed to be casual. Just neighbors blowing off steam. That’s what I’d said. That’s what I’d offered.
But the way he touched me now? Slow. Reverent. Gentle in a way that made my chest ache? That wasn’t casual.
He eased me back down onto the mattress like I was something breakable, still inside me, still impossibly hard. His thumb swept over my cheek like he couldn’t stop touching me. His other hand slipped from my waist to cradle the back of my neck, anchoring me to him.
“You okay?” he asked, voice low and rough.
I nodded. Swallowed hard.
“Yeah.”
But my chest ached with something I didn’t know how to name.
He pressed his lips to my temple, a whisper of a kiss, and I felt it in my soul like a brand.
This man hadneverjust been my neighbor, and I was starting to realize I’dneverstood a chance.
Knox pulled out slowly, like he couldn’t quite make himself do it, like it physically hurt him to let me go. I felt the stretch of it, the ache of it, the loss of it. His cock slipped free, leaving behind a sensation that made my breath hitch and my thighs twitch from the aftershocks still rolling through me.
He didn’t move far. Just shifted onto his side and pulled me against him, my back to his chest, like he couldn’t stand the distance either.
His arm slid beneath my head. His other curled around my stomach. He nuzzled into my hair, all that controlled tension gone now, replaced with something softer — something that scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
“You still breathing?” he murmured, lips brushing the curve of my shoulder.
Barely.
I swallowed hard.
“Yeah.”
We lay there for a moment, the room still thick with heat and the smell of sex and skin. My breath started to even out. My heartbeat didn’t.
Because I’d given him my body. Offered it on a silver fucking platter. But what he’d taken without asking — without trying — wasmore.He hadn’t just made me come. He’d made me feelwanted. Worshipped.
And that was a problem.
Because casual didn’t look at someone like that. Didn’t hold them like a goddamn treasure in the dark. And the longer we lay there, the heavier the silence felt, until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I meant what I said earlier,” I whispered.
Knox went still.
“About the whole neighbors-with-benefits thing,” I added quickly. “If that’s something you want.”
He didn’t answer right away.
Then, he spoke very quietly, “Ros.”
