Page 55 of From Grumpy to Forever
Our warm-up in the shower had been just that—a warm-up. I needed more from him. I needed all of him.
Mine.
The word, fresh off his own lips, sent a shot through me. But the last thing I wanted to do was think about what it might mean.
My breath hitched and my fingers tangled in his damp hair. Cool air from the ceiling fan washed over me, a sharp contrast from the heat of my body, but it did nothing to cool the fire flowing through my veins.
Reid groaned, his hands tightening on my hips as he backed me up until my legs hit the mattress. His hands were there to steady me before I fell. His mouth trailed slow, deliberate kisses down the curve of my neck. A gasp escaped me as he lowered me down, his weight settling over me, his gaze dark with something I wasn’t quite ready to name. But I knew I wanted this—I wanted him.
Badly.
“Reid.” His name was little more than a plea on my lips.
He sucked in a breath and stilled above me. “You drive me crazy, Avery. In all the best ways.” His fingers traced a slow path down my side, sending shivers up my spine and straight between my legs.
“Good.” I reached for him and pulled him down. “Because I don’t want you to stop.”
He growled as his mouth found mine. With his tongue twisting with mine, Reid used his thick thigh to push my legs apart. I pressed my hips up to meet him, his hard length notched to my core.
We hadn’t discussed birth control. The idea that I’d need to talk about such a thing with my husband struck me as funny, but I swallowed back my laughter when he pulled away, the question in his eyes.
“I’m on the Pill,” I whispered. “And I’m…there hasn’t been…”
“There hasn’t been anyone else for me either,” he said. “Not for a long time. It’s only you, Avery.”
His words and the way he looked at me made something deep inside me clench.
It’s not real. It’s not real.
But it sure as hell felt real when Reid’s hand found my cheek, he tilted my head, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, “Only you.”
Too many emotions slammed through me, so I did the only thing I knew to do. I kissed him. Every feeling I couldn’t name, every emotion I was scared to acknowledge—I poured it all into that kiss.
I was completely lost to him. It was only when he thrust deep inside me that I once more found myself in the moment as I cried out.
Reid pulled away just enough to look at me. There was a storm of emotions in his eyes. I had to close my eyes to keep myself from getting pulled in.
“Avery. You…”
“Yes.”
None of it made sense. It didn’t have to. Because the only thing that did make sense was the moment. Him and me. Together.
“Yes,” I said again as he moved rhythmically inside me, stoking the flames that burned brighter and brighter until finally, I couldn’t hold it in for a moment longer.
My hands clawed at his back as my muscles tightened. A second later, my orgasm tore through me.
I cried out as my body rode wave after wave. I barely registered it as Reid took his own release, joining me in a powerful climax that left us both wrung out, exhausted, and, at the same time, completely and totally satisfied.
A moment later, he rolled to the side and pulled me with him so my head rested on his chest. I drifted off as he stroked my hair. The last thing I remembered thinking was how not only had he succeeded in taking my mind off my rough day, but he’d somehow managed to make me feel whole in a way I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Reid
For a moment, I thought I might still be dreaming when I woke up to the morning light filtering through the curtains with Avery curled up against me, her hair fanned out over my chest and her small hand resting directly over my heart.
The memory of the night before hit like a slow, rolling wave. The way she’d looked at me like she saw something more than the gruff man everyone else assumed I was. The way she fit against me when she finally let go.
