I squeeze my eyes closed because he knows damn well I wouldn’t. “No.”
“Exactly. Come on. Let’s go back to bed. I think he’s okay now.”
“Did you check on him?” I ask, my own worry rising to the surface as my anxiety falls away.
“Yeah, I peeked in at him. He was crying out in his sleep, but he didn’t wake up. I didn’t want to wake him. So I just left him alone like I do with you, but I sat here in case he woke up and needed me. Must have fallen asleep.”
I open my eyes to look at him. “Like you do with me?”
His expression shifts to sadness. “Yeah, beautiful,” he says with a sigh. “Like I do with you. You have nightmaresand cry in your sleep at least a couple of times a week. You only remember them if they wake you up or ifIwake you up. So I don’t mention them because I don’t want to bring up bad memories.”
I blow out a breath, my stomach sinking. “I’m sorry.”
He chuckles, but it’s tinged with sadness. “Jesus. Why are you sorry?”
“That you have to put up with that.”
He slides his fingers into my hair and pulls me to him, dropping his lips to mine. He kisses me almost lazily, like he’s trying to infuse all the love he has for me into it. And truthfully? It’s working. My heart swells as his tongue seeks entrance, but then he pulls back. “Let’s go to bed, okay?”
I stand and hold a hand out to him, and he follows me to our room, shutting the door behind him.
In a move straight out of our eighteen-year-old lives, he backs me up against the bed and gives me a soft smile. “Arms up, beautiful.”
I grin at him, lifting my arms in the air so he can take my shirt off. Then he’s stripping off my shorts and boxers. “In the bed, please.”
I do as he asks, watching as he strips down. Then he’s climbing on top of me, settling his warm body on mine. He covers my lips with his and kisses me gently. He pullsback and brushes his lips against mine, and I shiver. “You wanna know something?” he asks, his lips moving along mine with his words.
“Always,” I whisper, my body already burning for him.
He tilts my head back and kisses my throat. “I spent ten years missing you.”
I whimper, half because of his mouth and half because of the heartache in his voice. But he doesn’t let it deter him. He works his way slowly down my body, his lips ghosting over my collarbone. “I’d cry myself to sleep and squeeze that stuffed rabbit to death.”
Tears burn my eyes. I gasp as he drags his tongue over my nipple. “You’re not something I have to put up with, beautiful.”
He pulls my nipple between his teeth, biting down lightly. “I will listen to you cry, and rage, and scream, and lose your fucking mind.”
He stops talking and kisses his way back up my body before bracing himself over me and staring into my eyes. “Do you know why?”
“Why?” I ask, my voice shaky as tears start to drip down my temples and into my hair.
He rubs his nose against mine. “Because it means you’re here. You are never, ever something I have to put up with. You are the thing I’m most proud of. My most prizedpossession. The owner of my fucking heart, beautiful. Never a burden. Never a thing I have to deal with. You’re the one thing I’m thankful Igetto have. You’re so fucking precious, and you don’t even see it.”
A sob catches in my throat as he seals our lips back together. I reach blindly toward our nightstand, slapping my hand around to find the lube. Beck chuckles into our kiss and pulls back, grabbing it for me.
He looks at me, and I know he knows what I want without even needing to say the words. I swear, it’s like the two of us speak a language only we understand, and I’m so fucking thankful for it.
He adjusts, getting me ready for him as he explores my mouth with his tongue in unhurried strokes. After a minute, he climbs back on top of me, pushing my leg back and sinking into me in one slow motion. He presses his forehead to mine, and our breath mingles as he works himself in and out of my body. “You’re so wanted, Roman,” he whispers, bringing our lips so close I can feel the shape of his words as he says them. “And so loved. Never a burden. I ached for you for ten years. Nothing. Not one single thing about you is undesirable to me. You’remine.”
I gasp against his lips, and he swallows the sound as he presses his lips to mine, kissing me as his hips rock and my body moves with his. He reaches between our bodies andgrabs my cock, and the second his hand wraps around it, I’m coming. My back arches as I groan, my entire body tingling and shaking. “That’s it, beautiful,” he rasps, and then he tucks his face into my throat, his breath coming faster as his hips lose their rhythm.
He pulls his hand from between our bodies and collapses against me, leaving lazy, open-mouthed kisses against every inch of skin he can reach. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath as his love soaks under my skin, making me feel whole, just like it always does.
Chapter 6
Beck
The sound of my phone ringing pulls me from a deep sleep. I roll over and grab it, fumbling for the button to answer. “Hello?”
