Amusement crinkles in his stormy gray eyes as I wrap my legs around his waist, linking ankles behind his back, my hands on his neck.
His are roaming all over my skin. “Welcome home.”
His gaze drops to my mouth, and I can’t hold back another second.
Kissing him feels like breathing.
I inhale, filling my lungs with his comforting, familiar scent—zesty, fresh soap, sweet air, and home. I hold it, letting my body absorb him before exhaling. All the tension in me melts away into his solid chest.
For a moment, we’re still, letting our bodies reset. Then we fall into our rhythm. We’re a mess of ragged breaths and jerky movements, knocking into cabinets as he fumbles to turn off the fire before we burn the house down.
“You weren’t kidding about starving, huh?” In one solid swipe, he clears space on the island, lifting me up onto the cool, smooth surface. “Is this a thing? Like, do rehearsal dinners usually make you—”
“Ravenous? Excited?Horny?”
Linc chuckles. “Wow, all of that?”
“Mm-hmm. Oh,yeah,” I say, laughing into the kiss. “Nothing like processional music on repeat and knowing that in less than twenty-four hours, this project will be complete. So hot!”
Linc glides his hands up my calves, slowing along my inner thighs until his fingers reach the thin fabric of my panties, and my entire body pulses with need.
For a beat, he pulls back, searching my eyes, the anticipation beyond intense.
“So, we’re celebrating?” His voice drops, turning hard and tortured as he slips two fingers inside my panties, no doubt finding me wet and slick with heat. “Oh, dearGod…”
“Mm-hmm.If you want to,” I say, slipping my hands underneath his shirt, physically overwhelmed by how badly I need to feel him moving inside me. “Hard and fast, no holding back…”
He shifts his gaze to mine, and heat swarms my body. “Yeah?”
I nod so many times, I feel like I’m glitching. My heart jackhammers against my ribs, my hips grind against him of their own accord, and it’s so surreal—almost like an out-of-body-experience.
“Baby, I wanted tolasttonight.” Linc grabs my hips roughly, stilling them in place, but it only turns me on more. His huge hand unyielding, his fingers flex into my aching skin, taking control of me. It feels so amazing.
I close my eyes, my lips parted, arching into his hand until I feel like I might come undone, andohhhhh…
“Please,” I whisper.I don’t want to think.I don’t say that part aloud. I keep it locked in my head with all the other things I’m dying to say to him but haven’t found the words for. “Sorry, wait…”
Linc stops and slowly pulls back, searching my eyes, so sweet and amazing—which only makes me want to cry more.
Lately, being this close to Linc does this to me.
One minute, I’m having fun, teasing, kissing, and pondering how I can inject orgasmic fireworks into our celebration. The next, my emotions intrude on the moment, their mere arrival disrupting the flow. And suddenly, there’s an awkward silence and forced small talk, making everything uncomfortable.
Just because I finally know whatIwant, there’s no guarantee that Linc wants the same thing. Not by a long shot.
And what if those red lights weren’t telling me to pause and celebrate? What if they were signs to stop with all this romanticizing and carrying on because I’m not a teenager, and this isn’t a fairytale?
So I keep the words buried inside, and smile, letting my hands say what my mouth can’t—yet.
“Baby, is there anything you want to tell me?” Linc asks. “Did something happen today?”
I want to tell him that this isn’t just love for me. I’m deeplyinlove, and all I think about is spending my life with him, in his house or my condo, or traveling the world together. I don’t care—as long as forever starts now.
But I can’t say any of that yet and risk what we’ve just started building together.
So, instead, I say again, “Please… I’m ready now,” letting it spill out on a whimper, begging Linc to help me stay in this moment with him.
As if he’s somehow able to understand what I need based on that simple phrase, Linc drags my panties down, letting them fall to the floor. He kisses me with all the hunger I feel. Then he skates his lips over my chin, lower to my neck, and behind my ear, lingering on the sensitive skin, relishing in my tiny moans. As he curves a hand to my ass, scooting me to the edge of the counter with his other hand, he tugs at his sweatpants, already hard, palming himself shaft to tip.
