Page 110 of Unrequited (Unrequited 1)

“It kills me to see you sad. Tell me how I can make it better.”

I shook my head. “You’re doin’ it. This is everything I need.”

He kept stroking my hair, holding me as my tears washed away.

“Do you still have feelings for that guy?” he asked.

“Not in the way you’re thinkin’. I don’t love him anymore. But our relationship changed me. He was my first love, and he hid me away like I was his damn mistress—like my very physical being was something to be ashamed of. The feelings I have for him…” I sighed, pressing my cheek deeper into Santiago’s chest. “I’m bitter, and a little angry, both at him, and myself for letting it go on for so long. But I could never love a weak man whose career was more important to him than my heart. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

His hold on me tightened. “That guy is an idiot. I wanted to fucking murder him when he touched you tonight. Seeing you like this...I should’ve. But not having you, never getting to have you again, that’s gotta be a far worse punishment than anything my fists could do.”

If I could’ve taken a snapshot of a moment to look back on one day, it would have been this one. This was the moment I reconciled in my head that I was more than a little in love with Santiago Garza. Not the fantasy of the man I’d drummed up at eighteen, but the real, living, breathing, gritty man who could hold me when I cried over another man without seeing it as a weakness or imperfection.

I didn’t tell him. I would soon. But not tonight. Tonight had been tainted by bitter memories and crappy feelings.

I slid my hands up my boyfriend’s chest and into his beard, smiling. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”

Eyes closed, he let his head fall forward, then he dropped to his knees, just as I had earlier. His lips traveled over my legs and stomach, kissing, nibbling. I stumbled, until my back pressed against the wall, and he followed, lifting my leg. At first, I only felt his hot breath against my core, then he spread me with his fingers, and his tongue took a long slide through my folds.

In an instant, my knees went weak, but Santiago’s hands were firm, holding me up and against his mouth. He groaned as he licked me, and I thought maybe I was the best thing he’d ever tasted. His beard was rough against my tender flesh, adding another layer of pleasure. He’d only been between my legs a few minutes, but I was already trembling and tightening. Shaky moans fell from my lips, echoing off the tiled bathroom walls.

“Oh...oh, Santi, I’m...I’m gonna come.” My hips rolled, jerked, and his arms wrapped around me, keeping me as steady as he was. In that moment, I was the most desired, cared for creature in existence. That knowledge and his skilled, dedicated mouth sent me tumbling.

I panted his name and almost began to cry again from the powerful wave of pleasure that swept over me.

When he got to his feet again, his cock was hard, jutting up and away from his abs. His eyes were both soft and on fire, skimming my wet body. This was the most exposed I’d ever been, standing fully naked under the bright lights of the bathroom. My hands twitched to cover myself, to hide my flaws, but why? He knew who I was, and from the way he looked at me, hereallyliked who I was.

My stomach was only sort of flat when I was on my back, but I couldn’t hate it, not when Santiago laid his head there when we were both spent.

I had marks from the times I’d bloomed faster than my skin could keep up with, but how could I think they were ugly when Santiago followed them with his tongue, using them like maps leading to my pleasure?

I wasn’t perfect, but when this man looked at me, I felt beautiful. He saw me, all of me. Not just my body, but my rebel heart and all my silliness. It wasn’t that he liked pieces of me and wished other parts were different. He liked it all, and sometimes that was hard to believe because it was such a new experience.

“You lookin’ at me like that kind of takes my breath away,” I said.

He cocked his head. “Funny, I was just thinkingyoutakemybreath away.” His hands slid over my hips to my ass, and his tongue swept against mine, tasting like a mix of my pleasure and his want for me.

“I have to get inside you.” He cupped the back of my head and kissed me more, pressing his erection against my belly.

I didn’t want to leave the cocoon of the shower yet, and maybe that was a dumb reason for skipping a condom, but it wasn’t my only one. I trusted Santiago, and when he told me I was the only one and he’d been tested recently, I believed him.

Turning, I bent slightly at the waist, offering myself to my man. His hands sunk into my waist as his cock sunk into my opening. Matching moans fell from both our throats. The feel of him bare, raw, and deep inside me had my throat catching, my emotions rising.

“Aw, Maeve, baby, there’s no going back from this.” He plunged, swiveled, plunged again. “You are the fucking pinnacle. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

I met his eye over my shoulder as I pushed back, taking him, all of him. He loomed over me, big, strong, in complete control...except of his expression. That told a wildly different tale than his taut muscles and practiced movements. His steely eyes were darker than ever, unyielding in our eye contact. His mouth was parted, moving like he wanted to say something, but working like hell to keep it inside.

Reaching back, I slid my hand over his and up his arm, squeezing. “You’re gonna make me come again, Santi. You feel amazing.”

The cords in his neck strained. “I need…” He grunted, thrust, “I need more. I need to go hard, but you gotta tell me if you don’t want that.”

Instead of answering with words, I bent farther, spread my legs wider, letting him drive deeper. Our skin slapped, water went flying. My grappling hands knocked the mini shampoo bottle from its shelf. Our easy, sweet lovemaking turned wild and desperate—exactly what I needed from him, even if I hadn’t known it.

With his fingers circling my clit, I came unraveled. A coil of hurt deep in my belly broke free. Santiago rode my orgasm, kept thrusting even as I tightened around him. His fingers clutched at my hip and the back of my hair, guiding me onto his cock again and again, until he roared my name, spilling everything inside me, just like I wanted.

Both soggy and exhausted, we left the cloud of steam in the shower and climbed into bed together, warm and naked. He held me, stroked my damp hair.

“Maeve...I have to tell you something.”

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