Page 101 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Despite her giggles as he teased her nipples with his fingers, she slid her hands beneath his waistband and gripped him firmly.

“Yeah. He likes that.”

Cerys looked up into his eyes. “Doyoulike that, Jase?” She bit down on her soft pink lip. Lips he’d miss at night when they kissed in the moments before sleep.

“Yeah. I like it a lot.”

Quietly, they stepped out of their clothes. Jase pulled his case off the bed and then lowered Cerys to the mattress.

Worshipfully, he kissed her jaw, the pulse in the side of her neck, the curve of her collar bone. He’d miss the softness of her skin, the feel of her nails gently running lines up and down his back. He’d miss the soft gasp of air against his cheek as she sighed.

He placed his finger in her mouth and she sucked on it before he moved his hand between the two of them. It eased his path as he slowly eased it into her. Within minutes, she was wet, writhing beneath him.

Jase pulled on a condom, moved back up her body, and kissed her soundly as he slid slowly into her. A gentle back and forth until he was seated deep within her, where he could feel the very heartbeat of her.

He studied her eyes. “Still falling, Cerys. Still. Fucking. Falling.”

You’ve already fallen. Be honest.

But somehow, the words “I love you” stuck in his throat.

She placed her palm to his cheek and nodded as he moved against her. Somehow, he knew she understood. And as much as her eyes told him she loved him, she’d never muttered those words to him. Perhaps he was a selfish bastard for needing to hear them, even when he couldn’t yet bring himself to say them to her.

“Stop worrying about everything else and make love to me, Jase.”

He did as she asked, rocking them gently, then faster towards completion. When they came, it was together, in silence. A fucking beautiful coming together that shook him to his bones.

Fourteen hours later, when he and Alex dragged their weary asses into their home, everything around him felt foreign. The front door, the narrow hallway, the small living room, where a welcome home banner hung over the old fireplace that had long since been bricked up.

But two things were utterly and gratefully familiar. The sight of Nan in the kitchen, and the smell of bacon as it sizzled.

“Ah, my boys are home. Welcome back, lads. I’ve missed you both.” She wrapped her arms around Alex first, then Jase. The familiar scent of her perfume helped him settle.

“Hey, Nan. You didn’t need to come over so early,” Jase said.

“Couldn’t have you coming home with an empty stomach to an empty house.”

Alex wandered to the kitchen. “Cup of tea?”

“Please,” Jase said. “I got something for you, Nan, but it’s buried in my case. I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”

“Ah, don’t be bothering about that now. I’m looking forward to hearing all about your adventures and seeing your photographs. Hang on. Alex King, get your hands off that bacon. It’s for the butties I’m about to make.”

Jase watched his nan hustle into the kitchen and smack Alex’s tattooed hand, which held the remains of a hot, half-eaten rasher. “Always was faster than a fucking Ninja when it came to stealing food off a plate,” she tutted.

Minutes later, they sat at the Formica-covered table, eating bacon butties with too much brown sauce and a piping hot cup of tea, while Nan put her coat on.

“I filled the fridge with a couple of bits and pieces to get you through the day, milk and the likes. There’s some ham and cheese barms and custard tarts for your lunch. And I put a fish pie in there too. Just pop it in the oven at three-fifty for half an hour. And a bowl of vegetables that I already cooked. Microwave them four minutes.”

“Thanks, Nan,” Alex said.

“Are there fairy cakes?” Jase asked.

She ruffled his hair like he was still a child, but there was something so reassuringly comforting about it, he didn’t mind. “Yes, my little cherub. There are fairy cakes. There’s half a dozen for each of you with your initials on them. Pat took some over to Ben, and I gave Izabel some for Matt and Luke.”

“You’re too good to us, Nan,” Jase said, the words muffled by the amount of bacon in his mouth.

“That I am. Now get some rest.” She kissed each of them on the top of their heads and went on her way.

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