Page 50 of All At Once

“Uh-hmm.” He pressed her face into his throat, thrusting into her easy hold. Pre-come dripped from the head, her palm wet around him. “Holy hell, that’s good.”

She smiled a secret smile into his skin, inhaling sleep-warmed soap, the merest hint of Chanel. Between her legs, intimate flesh felt swollen and heavy, a sweet pulse of anticipation beating into her core. Sliding her palm up his erection, she twisted around the head, and he hissed, hips jerking.

“Okay.” He wrapped his fingers over hers, stopping the caress. “We gotta stop that, or I’ll be done before we get started.”

Under his hot palm, she fanned her fingers over him, pressing her torso to his. She licked the tendon in his neck, loving the way he shuddered. “The girls aren’t here. We have all morning.”

“I want to be inside you the first time.” He disentangled their hands, nudging her to her back before shucking his boxers. “Not rushing this.”

Watching the play of muscle in his torso, she eased off her own shorts, desire blooming into a heavier ache.

She’d missed him, too.

Sitting up, she stripped her camisole over her head, then reached for him. They didn’t have to rush, but she was ready for him, aching and restless.

“You in a hurry or what?” She caught a flash of his grin as he leaned over her, a hand tangled in her hair, the other making a foray down her abdomen. He groaned when he slipped his hand between her thighs. “Lord, you’re wet.”

With the soft stroke of his fingers drawing her need into tight coils, she arched into him. “Tesoro. Please.”

His breath whooshed out, and he made a desperate grab for the nightstand. She ignored the pang below her breastbone when he ripped the foil packet open, smoothed the condom on and added a palmful of lube.

She could not urge him to make her pregnant on impulse. She couldn’t.

With firm hands, he spread her thighs, positioned himself and pushed inside her.

“Oh.” Her body contracted around him, almost as sharp and pleasurable as a climax, and she let her head fall back, catching her breath from the wave of pleasure.

“I love when you make that sound,” he gritted next to her ear, forearms planted either side of her head. She folded her hands about his neck, slid her palms to his chest while he moved inside her. “That’s so good, Cait.”

She hummed an agreement against his throat, kissing under his jaw, a strong surge of affection twining through the building arousal. She loved him, and in his arms, with him inside her, she was fiercely glad he was the last man to ever share her body.

She was his.

“Il mio.” He murmured the phrase into her hair, really the only Italian she ever heard him use seriously, thrusting deep, hard, into her, claiming her, binding them together all over again. His hold tightened on her hair. “Mine.”

“Si.” She smiled into the curve of his throat, lifting into each downward stroke, wrapping her ankles over his thighs. “Ti voglio bene.”

“Love you, too.” He lifted his head, face set in fierce lines. “More than you know.”

“I do know.” She touched his pulse, her body filled with him, with desire and love and affection, so full she didn’t know where he ended and she began, so full the grief had no room to exist in this moment. “I’ve always known.”

Chapter Fourteen

Coming Up For Air

Frowning, Tick flipped the report over to the next page. That activity out of Texas City looked—

His phone buzzed with two rapid notifications. Still frowning, he reached for it. Beech and Ransome could follow up on that. Scratching out a note, he dropped his pen and glanced at his phone. The two calendar notifications sank in, and he grinned.

The weekend blocked out for them, and a fifteen minute appointment slot starting in about sixty seconds. He leaned back in his chair, gaze on the door, and sure enough, within moments, she appeared in the doorway, bearing coffee and biscotti.

“Thank you.” He accepted the cup, warm against his palm. “You’re the best, Falconetti.”

“How was your meeting with the US Attorney?” She laid out two biscotti, the orange-peel studded ones he relished.

“Fairly productive.” He dunked a cookie and chased a bite with fresh brew. “What have you been up to this morning?”

“Reviewing a couple of cold cases with Beatty.” She grimaced. “Trust me, you don’t want any details.”