Page 102 of Cautious Love

Ledger’s eyes grow heavy, taking me in, and I lift my hand, dragging it over his chest, the hair scratching my palm.

“Beautiful,” he rasps.

I need himnow.

Sitting up, I clutch the back of his neck, pulling him down to me.

He fits himself between my legs, and I gasp as our bodies brush.

“I want you,” I rasp.

He hums, kissing me, and it feels primitive. Claiming. Ruining.

His hand slips between my thighs, and I tip my head back on a moan. But it’s not enough. I feel empty without him.

“I need more,” I breathe. “I needyou.”

He leaves me for a minute, pulling his side table drawer open and rummaging around in it until he finds what he’s looking for. He rips the package open with his teeth. When he’s done, he crawls back over me and hems me in between his strong arms. My ankles lock at the base of his spine in a silent plea for him to connect us.

His hips angle, pushing into me, and my eyes roll back.

He curses, and I grasp for purchase, digging my nails into his skin as he moves slowly, watching me unravel beneath him with short, deliberate thrusts.

I trail my fingers lightly over the back of his neck, and his hips buck.

I sigh, and he captures it with his mouth, building a rhythm between us. It’s slow and intentional. I can feeleverythingbetween us. It’s too much and not enough.

He groans long and low.

My eyes spring open at the sound. I want to hear it again.

I lift my hips to meet his thrusts, and he makes the same sound, burying his nose in my neck.

“Shy,” he grunts into my skin.

“I could get lost in you,” I say, breathless. My eyes slip closed, astonished by every spark and graze of our bodies.

There are no words. My heart feels as if it lifted from my chest.

My body is desperate for him, and he’s giving me everything.

He lifts his head and looks me in the eye, propped up with one arm while his other hand holds my hair back, and I grip onto his ribs.

Without words, as if our bodies have their own language, pick up speed. I can feel the edge, and the longing in his eyes undoes me.

Mouths closer, breaths short, and seeking. “Let go for me, baby,” he rasps, hips quickening in pace, somehow deeper, stronger.

His hand slips between us, and I let go, giving into the indescribable emotions building as we fall deeper and deeper, plunging beneath the depths of each other. We ride the wave together, wringing it out for all it’s worth. He stares at me as I take him in, and the jagged pieces of myself soften. Our mouths meet again, and the flicker of heat builds between us once more.

I don’t want to let him go. As much as it scares me, that seed sprouts roots again and they latch on to all the doubts I’ve lived within my life. I need to snip them for good.

Chapter 26

Ledger

Istareather,struggling to catch my breath. She stole it, along with the rest of me.

“Are you, okay?” she asks.