Page 113 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
I launch myself at him. He thinks I haven’t seen the app he created, or how much time he spends trying to memorize all my expressions, but I have and I do.
I see it all, and I see him. I see all of him, and he’s perfect.
My lips crash against his, my tongue licking his bottom lip until he opens for me, and then I can’t get close enough. I want to sink into this man and never come out. My thighs spread to straddle his hips and his hands fall to mine, his fingertips dipping below the band of my sleep shorts.
He digs his thumbs into my flesh, his fingertips pressing a melody into my skin as goosebumps race across my body.
“I love my sister.” His lips press against my neck, sending sparks of heat through me. “But I’ve never been in love, not until you.” He kisses the juncture between my neck and shoulder before biting down on the skin hard enough to leave a mark. “But I love you both in different ways. How is that possible when I didn’t even know that more than one kind of love existed until a month ago?”
Slowly, he slides his hands up my spine, lifting my tank top as they go, until I’m shirtless on top of him.
“Intellectually, I know what the emotions mean and what they signal, but I’ve never truly experienced them until you. Loving you is like a heavy blanket that covers me on the coldest day, Charlotte, and I’m so scared that one wrong move will leave me to freeze in an emotionless death once again.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Thane. I’m here, with you and Kara.”
“You’re all in?”
Am I? I’ve sat on this fence for so long that my soul aches for stability. My heart fears the unknown, but isn’t that what he said too? He’s putting his fears aside to be with me, to have me, to love me.
His messy hair falls onto his forehead, and as I brush it away, I know there’s only one way for me to truly heal from my trauma.
I have to let go of my past to embrace my future, and my future looks a hell of a lot like Thane Wilder.
“I’m all in.”
“Say it again.” He moves with graceful speed, and I hiss as the cold grass presses into my naked skin as he lowers me to the ground and holds me in place with his body.
“I’m all in.”
His lashes fall closed, and his face contorts as though he’s in pain.
“All in with me won’t always be easy.” He doesn’t open his eyes, but I wish he would. I wish I could undo all the events in his life that made him believe he’s unlovable. But I know that will take time, so I give him the best I can.
“It won’t be easy with me either,” I admit.
He scoffs as though the idea is preposterous. The scent of his minty toothpaste washes over my skin.
“It won’t.” I thread my fingers through his hair and tug until he flicks his eyes open. “You want to take care of me, but I’m not used to being cared for. We will always be a work in progress. We’ll fight, and make up, and agree to disagree. I’ll have opinions that I won’t back down from, even if they make you uncomfortable.”
“We sound like a fucking mess.”
I grin at him. Now he’s getting it. “We are. Relationships are the messiest thing on the planet.”
“I don’t know. I was forced to hold a goo goblin today, and she had messes coming out of everywhere.”
“A goo goblin?”
“Yes,” he grumbles with a straight face. “Didn’t Boone send you a photo? My trousers are ruined.”
I can’t quite stifle my laughter. “When Boone sent the picture, I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing. I’ve never had a daddy kink before, but you holding that baby was probably one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Thane groans above me, and it vibrates to my core. “That’s why he sent it to you. He said I’d thank him later.”
I tilt my hips and press against his cock. “Then you’ll owe him a very big thank you.”
“Is that right?” He lowers his pelvis and rocks in a small circle as he grows against me.
I sink my teeth into my lower lip and nod. “I’ve missed you in my bed.”
