Page 95 of Exchange of Heart

‘I was going to ask if you…’ He gulped as his gaze dropped to the cleavage above my towel.

An ache built between my legs, an ache I’d missed. When he looked back to my eyes, a fire burned through my body. He moved forward, and his fingers brushed my hair from my face, then slid around my neck and pulled me closer.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispered.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t, even if I tried. My throat wouldn’t work. Instead, I parted my lips and closed the distance between our mouths, allowing his soft lips to brush against mine. They were familiar and foreign all at once with a dizzying hint of relief.

When he pulled back, that annoyingly attractive smirk appeared as though summoned from my mind. ‘I wish I hadn’t waited so long to do that.’

‘So, I guess we won’t be friends then,’ I joked, because my heart would burst if I didn’t break the tension.

He shook his curly head. ‘I don’t want to be your friend.’

I’d been staring at that face every day for more than a week, but it became entirely his own again. From the slant in his lips to the crinkle in his eyes. Every tiny detail belonged to his soul, not just his body.

The rain eased, but his lips didn’t, and we soon found ourselves on the mattress on the floor of the living room. With his Egyptian cotton sheets under my body, and his skin like a raging fire above me, I rolled my hips against him, desperate for any sense of friction to relieve the ache between my legs. I reached my hand between our bodies and gripped his rock-solid length.

‘Fuck,’ he groaned as he buried his face in my neck.

Guiding him to me, he moved forward agonisingly slow, both of us moaning as he slid further inside. My fingers gripped the sheets as our bodies moved, his thrusting hips building pressure inside me until my nails drew harsh, red lines down his side, and my eyes rolled back. My whole body rippled in satisfaction, and a few moments later, Corey’s deep, rough sigh of relief followed.

By the time sunlight marked our mattress, my body had shuddered in pleasure two more times, and I’d slept for approximately three hours. A perfect mathematical combination to start our Sunday.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Corey

Bathed in sunlight, an orange glow surrounded Nora like an aura. I never would have even thought to use the word aura before. In fact, I’d never thought about a lot of things before her. Problems were solved with money and distance instead of communication and effort.

‘Corey?’ she mumbled, blinking lazily against the bright sun.

Her head rested in the groove between my arm and my chest, our peppermint and lemon combination my new favourite smell.

‘Hey,’ my voice croaked.

Lucky reluctantly lifted his head. The little furball decided it didn’t matter which body was which and had spent our sleeping hours switching between leg grooves.

‘So, ah, how are you feeling?’ Her teeth plunged into her bottom lip.

‘Like life couldn’t get any better.’ I grinned at the relief on her face.

‘I thought you’d change your mind,’ she admitted.

I didn’t tell her I’d worried about the same thing and, instead, let my body do the talking until she bolted upright with realisation an hour later.

‘I’ve got Pilates,’ she exclaimed.

If it were up to me, we’d spend the entire day on this mattress. I could survive for days with her as my only nourishment. Possibly even weeks.

‘You’re not going to skip it?’ I asked.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to spend the day locked in this apartment with you. It’s just… I’ve missed my body and being free to do something as simple as my regular Pilates class.’

‘I understand. It’ll be nice to use my own body for Muay Thai this afternoon.’ I stretched my arm behind my head as Nora walked to the bathroom. ‘Christ, that’s a sight I never thought I’d like to see.’

‘I’m not sure whether to be insulted or flattered by that remark.’

She was right. My thoughts were blasting out of my mouth before adjusting themselves into compliments.