Page 113 of Cherish

My hands clutch at him, pulling him closer.

My body wraps around him, cradling him in place.

And my veins light up like a Mardi Gras parade, noise and chaos and joy tearing through me with every sip he takes.

“More,” I whisper, holding him to my vein. “More, more, more.”

I feel his lips curve against the sensitive skin of my neck right before he starts to drink more deeply, more ravenously.

I give myself up to him, to this, offering everything inside me for his pleasure and mine.Moreis a chant deep inside me.More, more, more.

But this is Hudson, my Hudson, and his concern for me will always trump his own pleasure, and he’s pulling back way too soon.

“No,” I whimper, clutching at him, but he’s not having it. He holds me tighter, though. Lets his tongue linger on his bite mark as he slowly, carefully seals it up.

Then he’s sliding down my body, leaving a burning trail of kisses wherever his mouth touches. A flash of fang, a tug of fingers, and my panties disappear. Then he’s sliding up my body again. Moving slow and purposeful.

I cry out then, and he pauses, catching my gaze with those heavy-lidded eyes and blown-out pupils that somehow only make him hotter. “Okay?” he asks, leaning down to kiss me in a way that has everything inside me trembling toward ecstasy.

“More,” I manage to gasp out. “Please. More, more, more.”

He grins then, a wicked little twist of his lips that has me clutching at his shoulders even as I arch against him.

And then he’s giving me everything I’ve begged for and more as he takes me higher, higher, higher.

Until there is no yesterday and no tomorrow.

Until there is just him and me and the inferno that rages between us, growing hotter and wilder and more all-consuming with every moment that passes.

Until finally, finally, finally, he takes me up and over.

My eyes flutter open, and I bask in the sexy warmth of his gaze as he stares down at me. I smile back, reaching up to run a finger along his sexy lower lip for one second, two.

“I love you,” I whisper as everything inside me yearns toward him. “I love you so much.”

“Grace,” he murmurs. “MyGrace.”

It’s a plea as much as it’s a demand, and there’s only one answer I can give. “Yes.”

Eventually, he gets up and turns off the lamp, cracks a window for Smokey so she has a way back in, locks the door, and grabs a bottle of water from the mini-fridge as I watch him with sleepy eyes.

“Here,” he says, handing me the water as he climbs back into bed. “You need to drink.”

“I think you just like bossing me around,” I tease as I crack the water and take a long sip.

“Yeah, well, I’ve got to take advantage of it while I can,” he says with a little smirk that makes me want to kiss him all over again. “Considering this is the only time you let me.”

“Please,” I scoff. “You’d be bored if I made it too easy for you.”

He laughs as he pulls the covers over us. “You’re probably right.”

Hudson kisses me one more time, then rolls us over so that he can wrap himself around me. Because he always knows exactly what I need.

Most nights, he’s the little spoon and I’m the big spoon—being on the outside helps keep my anxiety from rearing its ugly head when I’m asleep—but tonight I’m worried, really worried, and the feel of Hudson wrapped around me makes it seem like everything is okay. Even if my brain is telling me otherwise.

But sometimes the illusion of security is all you’ve got, and as I finally drift off to sleep, I tell myself that no matter what happens next, everything is going to be okay.

Now if only I could get myself to believe it.

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