Page 106 of Every Thought Taken

Hot, staggered breaths paint my lips. “I want this.”

Reaching for the hem of her shirt, I drag it up her body and peel it off. “Tell me you wantme.”

She fists the cotton of my shirt and hauls it up and over my head. “I want you,” she breathes out. “Ineedyou.”

The back of my fingers skim the exposed skin of her belly a beat before my arms circle her waist. I trail my fingers up her spine and pause when I reach the hooks of her bra. “Tell me you want me, this, us. Forever,” I whisper.

Knuckles graze my abdomen, igniting fire under my skin. She flattens her palms and rests one on my pec, the other over my brutally beating heart. The room quiets, the eerie, lengthy silence a slow knife to the heart. Hour-long seconds pass as she doesn’t utter a word. I start to hyperventilate. My mind swirling with darkness. My ribs crushing my lungs as fear cripples me from the inside.

Not again.A shiver rolls up my spine, and I shudder beneath her touch.No, no, no. Not like before. I won’t survive. Not again.

I push up on my toes, ready to take a step back and erect my walls. Prepare to protect my heart.

But my feet never move.

Her hand over my heart shifts to the side. Leaning in, she presses her lips to the skin over my heart and doesn’t move. The kiss is simple, tender, a caress of the lips. Butdamn, it means every-fucking-thing.

She straightens her spine, drags her hands up my chest, my neck, her nails scratching the wiry hair of my beard before she cups my cheeks.

“Anderson Gregory Everett, I have never wanted anything more.” She presses a chaste kiss to my lips. “Iwantyou.” Warm lips kiss the corner of my mouth. “Iwantthis.” She kisses the opposite corner. “I wantus.” Another kiss, dead center.“And more than anything, Iwantforever with you. Only you. Always you.”

I crash my lips to hers as my fingers unlatch her bra. She shimmies the cotton down her arms, tosses it aside, snakes her arms around my waist, and squashes her breasts to my chest.

Fuck.I skim the length of her spine with rough fingers, clutching the back of her neck and pinning her in place.

A whimper falls from her lips, the sweet sound a direct line to my aching cock. I spin us and ease her onto the bed. Hook my hands under her arms and slide her up until she hits the pillows. My fingers drag down the sides of her rib cage, over the dip of her waist, and stop at the waistband of her leggings.

“Please, Ander,” she begs, voice raspy.

With a curl of my fingers, I clasp the band of her leggings and panties, tugging them down, down, down until they hit the floor. Hooking my thumbs in my sweats, I shove them down my legs and kick them aside. I lift a leg, press my knee to the mattress, then pause.

Reality hits and I am dizzy. My arms shake and legs wobble as the moment rocks me with uncontrollable force.

I’m here. With. Helena.I suck in a sharp breath.She loves me. She wants me.My limbs quake harder, almost violently.She wants forever.

Arms and legs band around my body and hug me with indisputable ferocity. She rests her cheek on my chest at the base of my sternum, her lips ghosting my skin. I wrap her in my arms and pin her to my frame. Whisper apologies with every other breath. Absorb her softI love yous in between.

And when the tremors fade, she loosens her hold. Sweeping her legs under her butt, she pushes up onto her knees and frames my face in her hands.

“I love you, Ander.” She kisses my lips and inches back on the mattress.

My knee hits the bed and I move toward her. “Love you, North.”

Her hands slide down the sides of my neck and spread across my shoulders. “So much.” She leans forward and kisses the hollow of my throat.

My eyes roll back and I reach for her hips. “So fucking much.” The words staccato on my tongue.

Slowly, she shifts to her back and brings me down over her. Supple fingers trail down either side of my spine, splaying as they reach the swell of my ass. Delicate hands grip my glutes, kneading the muscles as she rocks her hips.

Bracketing her face with my forearms, I sweep a finger across her forehead and brush the hair from her face. Lips a breath from hers, I hold her greens with my blues in the dark.

“I crave you, Helena.” I drop my lips to hers and kiss her with slow hunger. “Your words. Your touch.” My lips trail the line of her jaw and drift down the column of her throat. “Your lips. Your taste.” I pepper kisses on the swell of her breast until my lips graze her pert nipple. “Your love. Your heart.”

My tongue darts out and circles her nipple. A gasp leaves her lips as she bows off the bed and thrusts her breast deeper into my mouth. I palm her other breast, massaging the swell of her flesh before taking her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, pinching.

A hiss fills the air, her fingers clawing their way up my back and fisting my hair. “Please,” she begs. For what, I’m not sure.

My mouth kisses a path to her other breast, gifting it equal attention. A whimper echoes in the room as her nipple pops from my lips. But it is soon replaced with ragged breaths as I kiss my way down her belly, past her navel, to the thin tuft of hair at the junction of her thighs.

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