Page 91 of Love Bound

Catching me with his arm, he settles us on the bottom step, me on top of him. I can feel his erection. He slides his finger from my vagina. His bottoms are off, and he's got me by the shoulders, slowly lowering me onto him.

His skin glistens, wet with sweat and water and excitement. His dark hair curls around his ears and forehead, his chest slick. When he begins to enter me, he gasps, and I practically come right there.

We are weightless.

He thrusts up and pulls me down onto his shaft and in that one moment I come, wave after wave after wave, over and over. I arch back so hard he catches me, holding my head above the water. His head is buried in my damp neck as he comes as well, his body convulsing, not letting me go. He holds me to him, pressing me into him. I feel him quiver inside me as his orgasm finishes.

We sit in the hot tub for a long time, unmoving. My arms are hooked over his neck, my face on his chest. Slowly, I feel him slip out of me and I give him a goodbye squeeze. I try to speak, to tell him what he means to me, but he puts a finger to my lips.

Then he sits me up and massages each arm, using both the jets and his fingers, kneading along the biceps, deltoids, triceps, forearms. Then come the hand massages, each finger stroked, the palms of my hands stretched and kneaded.

"Oh, Finn," I say, finally limp. Leaning forward, I hook my arms back around his neck. I can’t even stand properly, and he’s on his knees.

What if . . .

What if I drowned? If I never met him? If he hadn’t come?

I finally start crying. Not just weeping, full-on sobbing.

He wipes my face, kisses me, steam and tears mixing enough for him to have to wipe my face a few more times. I lay a forearm against his bare chest, his skin smooth and his chest hair tickling my wrist—an intoxicating juxtaposition. My fingers sit on the slope of his collar bone, and I feel his heart thudding hard.

Then, he kisses me so deeply, so profoundly, clutching me to him in a sudden rush of love, that I well up again. "I love you, Claire Russo. Always and forever."

I swallow and try to steady my voice. "I love you, Finn Colton. Always and forever."

He kisses me once more.

***

It's been three weeks, now. I've gone from wobbly and sore to able to get to the Jeep and back. I dress, see a few clients, and was in surgery this morning with a cat who needed neutering.

It's taken longer than I thought it would to reenter the world.

Finn even let me make him breakfast this morning before we headed out to the hospital for my final chest X-ray. And he worked out yesterday while I was at the clinic. Progress for both of us. Except I’m starting to feel rather doughy.

We're sitting on the top steps of the back porch, looking out at the ocean.

"You know, I think I might take up running. I could go with Devon," I tell him.

He says nothing and glances at me.

My wet suit is somewhere in my closet at the clinic. I know he thinks I need to get back to swimming, but I've even had to let another vet take the cases out on boats. It's mid-summer and I'm not earning much money, but I won’t step foot in a boat. I just can’t do it. And I'm certainly not swimming in the sea by myself.

He changes the subject, reading a text from Laurel and relaying her question. "Anything else you need from the store?"

"Nope. Just you."

He pretends to text this back, and I throw a tiny clamshell at him.

Smiling, he tucks the phone back in his pocket. "I know one thing you need at the store."

Clueless, I shrug. "Coffee?"

He shakes his head. "I've been thinking about that imaging machine."

"You are not buying that for me. It’s too much."

He leans against me for a moment. "It's not too much."