Page 46 of Puck Me Up

“Really?” she whispered.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

My hands were on her hips, my fingertips digging into her soft skin through the thin fabric of her dress. I moved one hand between her thighs, wedging them a little farther apart, and then I found her wetness and sank my middle finger to the knuckle inside her. She gasped, still staring at me, her mouth hanging open as she rotated her hips, grinding down onto my hand.

Fuck, I needed her. So badly I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything but want her.

I crooked my finger forward against her G-spot and she let out a little cry.

“Do you…want to know me?” she asked breathlessly. I heard a tremor in her voice, almost like she was afraid I would say no. Didn’t she know by now that I would throw myself in front of a bullet, lay down in front of a bus, anything for her?

“Do I want to know you?” I asked disbelievingly. “Hope, you’re all I want. I think about you from the second I wake up, and I dream about you every night. I’m in real fucking deep, princess. All in. I want to know every last little thing about you, from how you like your eggs to your favorite color to your most embarrassing memory. I want to make up for every minute I’ve spent away from you.” Her eyes widened as I spoke and I knew I should stop, but I couldn’t. So much for playing it cool. The words spewed out of me, unstoppable. I could feel the most horrifying, terrifying word of all rising in my throat.

Thankfully, Hope’s lips spread into a grin and then they covered mine. The kiss was rough and wet and needy. She moaned into my mouth and that was it. I couldn’t take another second of this torture. I had to have her, right now.

I lifted her up, positioning her pussy over the drooling head of my cock. I raised my hips at the same time that I dropped her weight back into my lap, and the angle was just right. The head of my cock tipped inside her, and then she was sliding down, taking me to the hilt.

“Oh, god!” Impaled on my length, she leaned back in my lap and moaned. “Oh, my god.”

I fisted my hand in her hair and used my grip to bring her face back to mine. Her eyes flew open, locking on me.

I held her gaze as my lips twitched, a breath away from hers, and then I whispered, “Call me Rowan.”

58.

Hope

I let the loud laugh in my chest bloom from my throat. I felt the joy of the moment, the overwhelming light that poured out of him into me. I couldn’t believe, now, that I’d waited so long to be alone with him like this. The heat, the spark, had been there from the beginning. There was no question. But over the last few minutes, it had blazed into a wildfire, running rampant through my body.

Rowan held me in place, his fist in my hair as he kissed me hungrily, like he was trying to swallow me whole.

This was far from our first time together, but somehow it felt brand new.

I had intended to talk to him in depth about our relationship, and whether he wanted more. I couldn’t just go off a hunch with something as big as this. I wanted him in my life, for real. For good. But did he want me in his? Or was he A-okay with keeping things the way they were? Casual, no strings?

The problem with that was, there were already strings. He and I were tangled together, intertwined and tied up in knots. I could no longer deny it, and I refused to believe that I was the only one feeling this connection.

I broke the kiss, gasping as he speared roughly up into me.

“I want all those—ah—things, too,” I panted. His thrusts slowed and then stopped as he stared up at me. I swear he was holding his breath. “Everything you said. I want you, Rowan. I want you to be my partner, just like Jamie is.” His brows disappeared into his hairline and his eyes dropped to my mouth as I went on. “You said you’re all in. Well, so am I.”

His eyes snapped back to mine, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he still wasn’t breathing. And then I was surprised to see the tell-tale shine of tears gathering in his lashes.

“Rowan,” I whispered, cupping his cheek with my hand again. He turned his face into my touch, pressing a kiss to my palm. His eyes fluttered closed and for a beat, we just stayed like that. We were breathing again. The room filled with the sound of it. I knew I was crazy, to say what I was about to say. But I also knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was true. “I love you.”

He blinked, and twin tears fell down his cheeks. I wiped them away. He leaned his head back against the couch and gazed up at me, not bothering to hide his emotion.

“Really?” he asked, his voice breaking around the question.

I held his gaze as I nodded slowly, firmly. With that, he must have decided to believe me. He broke into a brilliant grin, more tears spilling down his face as he laughed an incredulous laugh and wrapped me in his arms, pulling me hard against his chest and covering my mouth with his again. I sighed happily into his kiss.

He just felt right.

He pulled away and I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout. He stared at it with a dazed look on his face.

“I love you too, by the way,” he said.

My pout transformed instantly into a satisfied smile.

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