Page 116 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“I want nothing more than to be buried balls deep in that perfect pussy. I’ll worship it night and day, you know I will. All you have to do is…” His fingers slip inside and curl to reach the spot that’s sure to set me off, while his thumb presses almost viciously against my clit. “Beg, Charlotte.”
So help me, I do.
“Please, please, please, Tha?—”
“Are you on the pill?” His voice is guttural and tortured.
I shake my head to clear the fog that’s settled over my brain. “Shot. I’m on the shot.”
He slams into me, sending water rippling around us. I call out, knowing anyone walking by will hear my primal cry for release, and then he sets a brutal pace.
“I always wear a condom. I have no diseases.”
“I’m…me too.”
“You’re all in, Charlotte. I’m all in. This is us.”
“Yes,” I sob. I’ve never needed an orgasm more than my next breath, but he’s brought me here.
He pumps in and out, taking me closer and closer to euphoria with every thrust. And then two fingers push past my ass muscles, making me clench around him, and I come with a cry and a spasm that never wants to end.
I cling to his shoulders as my hips take on a mind of their own. I’m chasing my release right into another as he holds me in the water with one hand, moving me like a chess piece in his game of sex and love.
It’s in that moment that I know he’ll make me his queen. And I suppose it’s fitting, since he’s already my king.
I’ve never believed in fairytales or Prince Charming, and this man has demolished everything I thought I knew to be true about myself. I want him to save me, love me, fuck me, hold me.
I want him to be my happily ever after.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
THANE
“Have you packed yet?”
I drag myself away from my computer screen, blinking a few times to bring the room into focus. Lottie stands in the doorway, staring at me expectantly. There’s a large gap of time missing in her files, and I’m driving myself mad trying to find out why.
“Ah.” I run my palm through my hair and tug on the back of my neck. “Mostly. I have everything I’ll need in New York too.”
She plucks her lip as she stares at me. “You still have a place in New York?”
“The decision to move here was…” I smile even though it might irritate her, or maybe because I know it will. “It all happened pretty quickly.”
Pushing away from the desk, I pluck a sleeping Hercules out of my lap and put her on the floor.
“She’s spoiled.”
I shrug. I’ll never admit it, but petting Hercules’s soft fur soothes me almost as well as pacing does. Unfortunately, the ratdog has also made me more aware of how often my muscles are a tense wall of protection.
“The shelter has room for her starting next week.” My heart beats loudly in my ears, but I’m not sad about that piece of news—I’m simply preoccupied with Lottie’s lawsuit problem, ensuring Kara’s happiness, and playing Whac-A-Mole, because my father is a bigger piece of shit than even I realized.
Lottie’s mouth falls open. It’s surprise, I think, but I actively avoid eye contact.
“You’re going to give her up?”
“She’s not mine.” I shrug to release the tension that lifts my shoulders toward my ears. “I just didn’t want her to die, so I held on to her. She should be with a family who knows what to do with her.”
“Right. Interesting that she hasn’t screamed or yipped at you lately.”
