Page 107 of Under Water

I rock into him as his fingers curl around me and squeeze. “Yeah. Yes. Always for you.” As I speak, he gives me a slow, firm stroke, and my dick jumps in his hand. “You’re everything I have ever wanted.”

“You’re everything I didn’t know I did,” he says, repeating his earlier words to me. It had been a simpler time back then. When things made sense.

Now, it’s all upside down and inside out, and the only thing steady is him.

“Make me come,” I tell him.

He lets me go, but only to yank me down by the legs until I’m flat on my back, and then he straddles me and slides his cock up against mine. “I don’t have condoms.”

“It’s good just like this,” I say, then lose my words for a second when he takes us both in one hand and rocks his hips as he strokes so my dick is being tormented by the rhythm of his body. “Fuck. More.”

“Yeah. I love watching you fall apart because of me. I can’t wait until you can be inside me again. I want you to fucking wreck my ass. I want to feel it the next day.”

I grunt as I reach down and close one hand around his, then with the other, yank him by the neck until he’s bent over and kissing me. He moans into it, and then his tongue slides in and out of my mouth in a mimic of the fuck I know he wants.

And he’ll get it. As soon as we have time and space, I will make sure that not one atom in his body regrets choosing me.

“Harder,” I groan against his lips.

He squeezes his hand and rocks his hips faster, and it’s not long before I feel my orgasm cresting. It steals my breath, and he swallows down my moans as I let go, and it’s not long before he’s making a mess on my stomach, right next to where I spilled.

His hips slow as he smudges kisses over my parted lips, and then his forehead knocks into mine. “Do you think it’ll always be this good?”

“No.” He pouts, and I laugh as I roll him over and press the mess from my stomach into his. He pulls a face but makes no effort to move, and that sends honey-thick affection pouring through my veins. “Sometimes, it’ll be better. Sometimes, it’ll be worse. But it’ll always be worth it.”

He takes a breath. “Rune…”

My entire body goes still. There’s a weight to his voice, like his next words are important. I say nothing, and eventually, he puffs a sigh out over my collarbone.

“I should get a cloth to clean us up with.”

That wasn’t what he planned to say. I could feel he was on the edge of those three words, and part of me wants to say them now so he knows that they’re not conditional. That he doesn’t have to love me for me to love him the way I do. But right now, they won’t come.

So instead, I nod, but then pull him in for a kiss. I curl my hands around his face and hold him there, letting my tongue taste his. After a few moments, I let him go, and he pulls back, his eyes locked on mine.

“This means everything to me. You know that, right?” he whispers.

I nod. “Yes. I know exactly what you mean.”

TWENTY-TWO

RUNE

Elio and Easton are still asleep when Daphne pulls up into the driveway just after seven. I was already awake when her text came through, so I slip out of the room, past Elio’s half-open door, and let her in.

She drops her bag, then immediately throws her arms around me, and I let myself sink into her embrace. It’s been a while since I’ve needed her like this. She used to be my rock, and I was hers.

But we were young and unsure about what we wanted in life. I loved her so much I thought I could pretend I was someone else—that I didn’t need something else from a romantic relationship. And it nearly ruined me.

Getting Elio out of it was the best gift, but if I had handled it any differently, I might have lost her, and that thought nearly takes me to my knees as I pull back and grab her hand.

“Tea?”

She scoffs. “Coffee. Espresso, actually. If you have it.”

“I think North and Leo have everything,” I tell her as I lead her into the kitchen. The sun isn’t all the way up yet, but the sky is a gentle grey with heavy storm clouds that have been rolling by since yesterday.

The rain is falling slowly but steadily onto the back deck, and I watch it for a moment as the espresso machine starts to warm up.