Page 52 of Hudson
He carried her to the bedroom without a word.
He laid her down slowly, like he wanted to do this right, then straightened and looked at her for a moment. Something moved across his face. Reverence, maybe. Or the last of his patience giving way.
His hands went to her clothes, careful at first and then less so, and the room was quiet except for their breathing and the soft sounds of fabric giving way.
He stripped off his own clothes without looking away from her, unhurried despite everything, like he wanted her to see. She did. She couldn’t look anywhere else. His body was amazing. All tight and muscular. The six-pack stomach had her salivating, but when she followed that happy trail down to his hard cock, she wanted to beg him to take her. Then he lowered himself over her and began kissing his way down her body, slow and deliberate, his mouth tracing her collarbone, the curve of her ribs, the soft plane of her stomach. She tangled her fingers in his hair and tried to remember how to breathe. When he reached the juncture of her thighs he paused, and then his tongue moved against her and she stopped trying altogether. Her back arched off the bed. She said his name once, quietly, like a confession.
He took his time.
When he finally moved back up her body, pressing kisses along the same path he’d taken down, she felt undone in the best possible way. He reached for his wallet on the nightstand, removed a condom and took his time rolling it on while she watched with her heart loud in her chest.
He paused, just looking at her with those darkened eyes, his breath slow and deliberate like he was reining himself in.
“You sure?” His voice was rough at the edges.
She answered without words, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him to her. He eased into her slowly, giving her time, his forehead dropping to hers as he did. She exhaled against his mouth and he stilled, just breathing with her for a moment, lettingher adjust to him.
Then he began to move.
Slow at first, deliberate, like he had all the time in the world and intended to use every bit of it. She matched his rhythm without thinking, her hands sliding up his back, feeling the shift and pull of muscle beneath her palms. He pressed his lips to her throat, her jaw, the corner of her mouth, unhurried even now, even like this.
She didn’t know how he managed it.
She arched into him and he responded, deepening the angle, and she caught her breath at the sensation. His mouth found her ear.
“Okay?” he murmured.
“More than okay,” she managed.
He smiled against her skin and kept moving, steady and sure, and she felt everything in her begin to tighten and climb. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and held on. He seemed to know, seemed to read it in her breathing or the way her body was responding, because he shifted just enough to change the pressure and she came undone completely, his name leaving her lips before she could think to hold it back.
He groaned low against her neck and followed her, his whole body going taut before he finally stilled, his weight settling heavy and warm over her.
For a long moment neither of them moved.
Afterward they lay still in the dark, her head against his chest, his arm heavy across her back. Neither of them spoke. Outside, everything carried on as if nothing had changed.
Inside, everything had.
After a while, Hud stirred, pressing his lips to the top of her head. She felt him smile against her hair.
“Come on,” he said quietly.
She tipped her head back to look at him. “Where are we going?”
“Bath.” He glanced toward the bathroom door. “You strike me as a woman with a good tub.”
She laughed softly. “Jacuzzi. It’s why I took the place.”
Something in his expression shifted, warm and unhurried. “Even better.”
He filled the tub while she sat on the edge of the counter watching him, his T-shirt hanging loose off her shoulders, still feeling soft and loose in all her limbs. There was something she hadn’t expected about watching this man move quietly around her bathroom, easy and unbothered, like he belonged there. She found she didn’t mind it one bit.
When the water was ready he held out his hand. She took it and he helped her in, then stepped in behind her. She leaned back against his chest and felt his arms come around her, loose and warm.
The bathroom was quiet. The water was perfect. Outside the window the last of the storm had blown itself out and left nothing but still air and a clean dark sky.
She felt his heartbeat slow against her back and closed her eyes.
