Page 33 of Payback
“Do you really want to?” She held herself still, her eyes questioning him.
“Sweetheart, I…” He wanted nothing more than to make love to her without anything between them, but he didn’t want to push his luck. She’d already given him so much to be thankful for. “I want whatever you want. You just need to say the word.”
“Have you been, um, careful?”
She knew he had a full physical at the start of every season, but it had been months since his last one and she had every reason to be cautious. “I have. Every. Single. Time.”
She nodded. “So have I.”
He suspected she’d only been with one man since they were last together, but knew he didn’t have the right to ask since he’d rather not share meaningless numbers with her. “Then we’re good?”
She answered him by sliding down his shaft with one lunge, making him gasp, as he held her hips to steady her so he could adjust to the sudden rush of being inside her again.
“So good.”
He guided her hips slowly at first until she took over, picking up the rhythm until she was grinding against him, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe. He reached between them, intent on getting her off before he lost it.
“Oh, that’s it, right there,” she whispered, her body tensing while he worked her over, his thumb drawing slow circles.
It was taking everything he had not to let go, but it was more important to him that she was satisfied. Just watching her come undone for him again was the highlight of his year. Not the no-hitter he’d pitched or the Cy Young Award he’d won. Not even their championship could match making love to her again.
Her body stiffened as she dug her nails into his shoulders. Her full lips formed a circle as her eyes locked on his and she was gone, riding the waves of pleasure until the tremors stopped rocking her body.
She collapsed against him and he curled his hand around her cheek so he could take her sexy mouth in a sensual kiss that had her gliding against him and moaning all over again. He deepened the kiss, his need for her stirring a ferocity and hunger unlike anything he’d experienced before.
He’d had drunk sex, angry sex, make-up sex, and every other imaginable type of sex. But this was different. This was like fueling an addiction, an obsession. The more he got, the more he wanted and needed her.
“Not letting you go,” he said, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck when they finally had to come up for air. “Ever. Just know that.”
“Not going anywhere,” she said breathlessly, as she clenched him purposefully.
He groaned, swearing softly as he tipped his head back and gave into the inevitable, spilling deep inside of her while experiencing her throbbing only intensified his release.
He reached out, hauling her against him and wrapping his arms around her. He could feel her heart beating against his chest while their breathing slowly returned to normal, but the last thing he wanted to do was let her go.
“Don’t move,” he whispered in her ear. “I just want to hold you like this for a minute.”
His face was buried in her neck, hiding his fear and weakness. He knew if she looked into his eyes now she’d be able to read the truth: he was so in love with her there was no going back for him. Life without her wasn’t an option for him anymore.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking his hair. “Feels so amazing,” she said, softly. “Being with you like this again.”
“I never want to take you for granted, Bella. This… you… it means everything to me. More than my career or money or fame. None of that means shit if I don’t have you.”
Her eyes were soft and moist when she finally pulled away to look at him. “When you say that, I actually believe you.”
He knew it would take time for them to build trust, given their history, with others and each other. But every day, in small ways, he was determined to gain ground. “You better believe me, ‘cause I meant every word of it.”
She smiled, a sweet smile that made his heart race. It felt like she was telling him, without words, how much he meant to her. He knew the words would come eventually, and in the meantime, as long as she kept looking at him like that, he’d be good.
“Spend the night with me?”
She grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
