Page 41 of Only Ever You
When I first moved away from my parents, my grandmother had a direct, practical conversation with me about it because she wasn’t sure my mom had. For all of my mom’s faults, she had talked with me about it, but routine medical appointments weren’t part of my life until I moved away. My grandmother made sure I found a good doctor, and I’d started birth control to keep my cycle regular.
Parker held my gaze for several long seconds. “Are you sure? Because I can wear a condom.”
“Am I sure that I’m on birth control?” My cheeks burned.
“I know you know that. I just want to make sure it’s okay if I don’t wear a condom. I promise you we’re all good health-wise for me.”
“I know,” I whispered, pausing to suck in a breath. “Please. I want to feel you inside me. Completely.” I didn’t even know how to put into words how much I wanted to feel that.
His eyes burned into mine as he tugged me back over his lap. I felt the press of his thick crown notching at my slippery entrance. One of his hands slid up my back to land between my shoulder blades as the other gripped my hip. Impatient and restless, I sank down swiftly, crying out in relief and pleasure at the feel of him filling me.
I felt the press of his fingers into my hip. He seated himself fully inside of me, levering me forward with his palm in the center of my back. My heartbeat echoed through me. He leaned closer, whispering, “Luna.”
I dragged my eyes open. “I missed you,” he rasped, the words brushing over my lips.
“I missed you too.” Staring into his eyes, a rushing sensation built inside of me.
I didn’t expect myself to say what I said next, but it just slipped out. As if the emotion itself was rushing through me and had to be spoken aloud. “I love you, Parker.” The moment the words were whispered, a jolt of anxiety and fear struck me. I almost panicked, but he never looked away.
I felt the brush of his thumb down along the edge of one of my shoulder blades as his gaze held mine. “I love you, Luna,” he whispered back to me, theyousaid with a definitive edge to it.
He rocked his hips, nudging deeper into me. I rose up, sinking down over him. That rushing feeling sped faster andfaster as we rocked together. The friction from where we were joined teased my climax to its edge until he reached between us and gave me the exact pressure I needed. I cried out, his name a ragged gasp as the pleasure radiated through me like rays of light splitting me apart as he held me close. I felt him thrust upward once more, and then he was shuddering along with me, his fingers clenching where he held me. I collapsed against him as he held me close. Through all of this, my sense of coming home was complete.
Chapter Twenty-Four
PARKER
A week later
I walked out of the workout area at the fire station and aimed for the showers. I was getting dressed a few minutes later when Hudson came walking in. He plunked down on the bench across from me.
“How’s that shoulder?” he asked.
I rolled it and shrugged. “Pretty good, not much soreness left.”
Hudson nodded, tipping his head to the side as he studied me when I sat down to put on my shoes. When he didn’t say anything else, I glanced up to see him looking at his phone with a small smile. “Text from Stella?” I asked.
Hudson’s smile stretched wide as he nodded.
“Awesome.” I chuckled. “Dude, you are seriously whipped.”
He shrugged unabashedly. “I am. I love it too.”
Tossing my towel into the laundry bin against the wall, I shook my head. “Who knew you’d fall that hard?” I teased.
“How’s Luna?” My friend’s brows hitched up as he held my gaze.
“I’m sure you’ve seen her at the coffee shop,” I hedged.
Hudson eyed me. “Ah, so that’s how you’re gonna try to play it.”
I pressed my tongue into my cheek, fighting a smile. Hudson knew me well. Although we’d only reconnected as friends over the last year, the time we spent together in detention during high school had bonded us deeply. “I’m not playing, she means a lot, and—” I paused, a sneaky sense of uncertainty slithering through me. I knew how I felt about Luna, but it had taken me by surprise. “All joking aside, I don’t really know what to do,” I said bluntly.
Hudson’s gaze sobered instantly. “What do you mean?”
I let out a heavy sigh, resting my elbows on my knees and tunneling my hands through my hair. A few seconds ticked by before I straightened and dropped my hands. “You know, I don’t have a lot of faith in stability. I always figured I would just take care of myself and that would be pretty fucking good in this life.” Hudson and I shared similar histories and not just because we both had flaky dads who zigzagged in and out of trouble. My dad was doing well now. He was sober and happily in love with Stella’s mom, the whole one-big-happy-family deal come true.
Bless my dad’s flaky heart. I appreciated everything he did, but the little boy I’d been at the time my mom had dropped me off had been in shock. My dad had been a stranger to me at first. Every time I thought about my mom and what it took for her to just dump me like that, I experienced a mix of abandonment, confusion, and burning anger.
