Page 78 of F*ckboys

My eyes blink open to find her gazing up at me, lips curving in a sleepy smile. "Morning." We seem to have made it from the couch to the bed, although I can't remember how we got here.

I glance at the clock. "Well, 2am isn't quite morning." I brush a stray lock of hair from her face, struck anew by her beauty. "How are you sleeping?"

"Best sleep I've had in ages so far." Her smile widens, turning impish. "Must have been all the exercise."

Heat floods my cheeks. "Minx."

She laughs, the sound like music to my ears. "You love it."

I catch her chin, tilting her face up to mine. "I love you."

The words slip out before I can stop them. I tense, heart pounding, as her eyes widen. Shit. Too soon. I've ruined—

Then she surges up and kisses me, effectively cutting off my panicked thoughts. I groan into her mouth, clutching her close. She kisses me with a fierce tenderness that leaves me breathless.

When she finally pulls back, her eyes are bright. "I think you're quite alright yourself, Aksel King."

Joy explodes in my chest, nearly painful in its intensity. I crush her against me, burying my face in her hair to hide the sheen of tears in my eyes. She loves me, or she's getting close.

After a long moment, she nudges me onto my back and straddles my hips, her hair tumbling around her face in a riot of curls.

"Round two?" she asks with a wicked grin.

I grip her hips, heat already pooling low in my gut. "Thought you'd never ask."

She leans down to nip at my lower lip, eyes gleaming. "Let's see if we can outdo last night, shall we?"

A laugh rumbles in my chest. "Challenge accepted."

And then she's kissing me again, and I lose myself in her once more.

Chapter 43

Aksel

The morning sun burns through my eyelids. I stretch, a lazy smile spreading across my face. The warmth radiating from what feels like a body curled into my side tells me Fallon stayed the entire night.

My contentment evaporates when I open my eyes to find rumpled sheets and an indentation in the mattress where she should be, only a pillow remaining in her place.

What the hell?

The clock reads 7:23 AM. Too early for her to be up and about, especially after the exertions of last night and how long round two took, because that was magical. I grab my phone, but there are no messages.

A sour taste floods my mouth as I throw back the covers. She left without a word, like I'm nothing but a means to an end. I thought we had something more.

Damn it, Fallon.

Fallon

The sun peeks over the horizon, its golden rays chasing my heels as I dart down the street away from Aksel's stylish high-rise. My chest burns from the brisk pace, but I can't slow down. Can't think. Can only feel.

Feelings I have no intention of examining.

I fumble with my key in the lock of my front door, hands shaking. The lock tumblers click into place and I stumble inside, sagging against the heavy wood.

Aksel was supposed to be a distraction. A way to turn off my brain for a sweet night while I used the opportunity to find out how to take him down. Instead, he's awakened something inside me, a yawning chasm of longing and need I've kept carefully contained. It was one thing having rough sex to mirror the primal no-strings-attached interludes I've long used as a distraction and a way to numb my feelings. But last night? The way he looked at me, the way he worshiped my pussy with his mouth, his hands, his cock. That was much more than just a physical act. It was mental, spiritual. Not to mention he used the L word, although, to be fair, he seemed as taken aback by that as I was.

I shake my head and try to push the feelings away. No. I will not go down that road again. I have too much at stake.

---