Page 146 of Unravel Me

“You can keep mine. It belongs to you.”

“Promise?”

“Swear it.” I hoist her onto the counter, pull off her panties, and spread her legs wide, running two fingers along her drenched slit as she sighs. “Love how fucking wet you get for me,” I murmur as I dip my fingers, smearing her wetness over her clit. I sink my hand in her hair and pull her gaze to mine. “Now tell me again, and not the way you tell the bus driver.”

She takes my face in her hands, and the love swimming in those sage eyes nearly knocks me to my knees. “I love you, Adam. For everything you are.”

I close my eyes as her words seep into my skin, a warmth that spreads through me.

I know this feeling. I felt it when Mom and Dad asked me if I wanted to go home with them, if I wanted to be a part of their family. When they promised to love me forever, and proved it time and time again when I messed up. I didn’t have to do anything to earn their love. They just chose me, day in and day out.

And that’s what Rosie’s doing now. She’s choosing me.

All of me.

“Thank you,” I choke out.

“For what?”

“Loving me.”

“Adam.” She sweeps her thumb beneath my eye, coaxing my heavy gaze back to hers. “Loving you came so naturally, like all these years I’d been saving it just for you, and when you walked into my life, all I wanted to do was hand you my heart and tell you to take it. So kiss me, please, because I’m ready to give it all to you.”

I’ve waited too long for this, a partner to walk through life with, a love I haven’t had to earn but simply deserved. Because, fuck, we all deserve to be loved without condition.

My mouth takes hers, a gentle nip of my teeth, begging for entry. A soft sweep of my tongue, tasting her slowly. Her back bows as I press two fingers inside her, an unhurried plunge while I savor the beauty below me, every one of her noises, the ones she makes just for me.

“I fell for you that first day, you know. Out there taking care of a dog you didn’t have an obligation to. Scared to give up control, to put your trust in anyone else, but willing to do it anyway and for a man you’d just met. Those eyes that smiled first, before anything else. And Jesus, Rosie, I just kept falling. That’s all I did, every damn day, fall further, harder, until there was nowhere left for me to go.”

I pull my fingers out as she watches me, sink them back in slowly, deeper, over and over, my thumb circling her clit as vines of red heat climb her golden skin and her steady breath turns ragged.

“The second I saw you with that little boy, I knew my heart was yours. You’re everything I was looking for. Kind and gentle, with so much love to give. Someone who works for the life they want and won’t give up without a fight. You’ve been through so much, Rosie. So damn much, and not once have you turned around and walked away. Even when I thought you might. When I prayed you wouldn’t. When I was fucking terrified you’d give up on me. You stayed, Rosie. And you chose me. Because of you, I know what it’s like to be seen, to have every single piece of me loved. I know because you do it every damn day, and fuck, Rosie, it feels so damn good.”

I cup her cheek, running my thumb along her lower lip as she struggles to breathe while I bring her closer to the edge.

“That’s why I love you, Rosie. I love you, and I’ve been loving you for a long time.”

“Adam,” she cries out, clenching around my fingers, grinding her pelvis into the palm of my hand while she comes.

“Love it when you come for me too,” I murmur. Dragging her off the counter, I push her toward the steam spilling over the shower door while the water beats down against it. I tug my shirt over my head and yank my pants down, my cock standing proud as I jerk my chin toward the shower. “Now get in there.”

When she hesitates, I smile, tsking.

“You feel like being a bad girl tonight, huh? That’s okay. I don’t feel like being all that nice.”

Bending, I grab her behind the knees, hoisting her over my shoulder.

“Adam,” she squeals, slapping my ass, making me laugh. “Put me down!”

I whip open the glass door, dropping her to her feet beneath the hot stream, pushing her against the tiled walls. My fingers tangle in her wet waves, melted honey and rose, and I press my mouth against her neck and my cock to her lower back.

“Ready to listen now?”

“No,” she breathes.

“Why not?”

“Because I want you to fuck me so hard, I forget all the time we lost where you could’ve been inside me.”

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