Page 111 of The Space Between Heartbeats
His forehead drops to mine, both of us breathing hard, the space between us charged with aching need. When he kisses me this time, there’s no tenderness in it. I’ve pushed him past that point. And for the first time since the accident, I stop holding on so tightly and just let go.
Chapter 25
Knox
Sawyer makes a sound against my mouth that I feel in every single fiber of my being and I think,this is it. I’m completely undone. Her hands in my hair, those fucking lips. I’ll never ever be able to come back from this.
And I don’t intend to.
I’ve kissed her before. The whole drive over I reminded myself of that, like the memory could strengthen my armor, build up my wall.You’ve kissed her before and walked away. You survived it. Not just once, but many times. You know what this is.
I didn’t know shit.
All of those times could be explained away. Anger and whiskey. Grief so heavy it needed somewhere to land. Desperation and weakness from the world falling apart around us.
I barely survived walking away then.
And here in her bed that smells like strawberry shampoo, with her soft body beneath mine and her breathing unraveling against my ear, there’s nothing to blame it on…no crisis, no argument, no fear.
This is finally just us. No barriers left except the truth we’ve been running from our entire lives.
This is the one I won’t fucking survive.
But it doesn’t matter because she’s worth every single thing this is going to cost me. I’ve hit my breaking point and I’m done pretending otherwise.
“You want me to show you?” I let the question loose against her ear. “I’ll make sure you feel me for days.”
Giving her wrists a squeeze, an unspoken command to keep them above her head, I drag my hand down her cheek, caressing her soft neck, slowly wrapping my fingers around it and pressing gently. “You were always going to end up here.” My grip tightens until she gasps so beautifully. “With me. Ready to be filled. By me.”
Her throat hums under my fingers. The sound goes straight to my cock.
I hold her gaze, opening myself for her…it’s all out there now. Everything I’ve kept locked down for years, every wall stripped bare, and I want her to see it. Her chest is heaving, lips parted, eyes glazed, and she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. She always has been.
“Knox.” It’s barely a whisper.
Fuck.
She’s saying my name.Only my name.
I release her neck and hook my fingers in the band of her underwear, yanking them down her legs. She spreads for me, moaning little sounds, so desperate and needy.
“Say it again,” I murmur against her mouth, hovering my palm right over her cunt. “Saymyname.”
“Knox.”
I swallowhisname off her lips as I cup her cunt, sinking the palm of my hand against her hot flesh. Her back arches into my touch. She wants more.
“Say it again.”
I grind my palm against her clit, sliding the tips of my index and middle finger into her entrance. Jesus Christ, she’s soaking wet for me. I’m losing my mind.
“Please, Knox.”
It’s music to my ears. I push inside her and swallow her cry with my mouth. She clenches around me immediately, tight and perfect, and I have to close my eyes for a second just to hold myself together.Years.I’ve waited years to have her like this and I refuse to rush it, no matter how badly every nerve in my body is screaming otherwise.
“Keep saying it.” I curl my fingers and feel her whole body seize. “I want to hear you say it until you can’t remember any other word.”
She moans, hips rolling, chasing my hand, and something dark and possessive rises up in my chest that I refuse to push down anymore. This body is mine. This cunt is mine. Sawyer is mine. Every sound she makes, every arch of her back, every desperate little whimper—fucking mine.
