“Then why should we fight this?”
“I can’t think when you touch me,” she said, sighing when he kissed her neck, then trailed his tongue along her shoulder.
“Then don’t think. Just feel.” His hands slipped inside her dress and he pulled it slowly away from her br**sts, letting the fabric float to the floor, leaving her standing before him in nothing but a scrap of lacy black fabric covering her core.
“Oh…” he said in a long rush of breath.
She smiled at the passion in his gaze, confidence now shining in her eyes as she spun in a circle in front of him, letting him get a good view of her rounded derrière, then facing him and showing him the perfection of her br**sts, her ni**les peaked with desire.
Unable to keep himself from touching her, he brought his hands to her hips, slid them over the curve of her behind, slipping his fingers under the soft material at her hip, moving higher, covering her stomach, and then caressing her br**sts, his palms rubbing across her hard ni**les, making her gasp, making her entire body shake.
He walked her backward until her legs made contact with the bed, and she fell; she lay sprawled out before him, her hair gloriously mussed, her eyes shining, and her chest heaving, her body begging for his mouth to claim every inch of her skin.
He ran his mouth along the smoothness of her legs, spending extra time on the delicate skin of her toned thighs, and then he skimmed across her womanhood, encouraged by the moans escaping her throat, loving the way her body arched to reach for his mouth.
His hands roamed where his tongue wasn’t, and he touched and kissed every inch of her, leaving his mark on her thighs, stomach, chest, and neck, and making her mouth swollen from his kisses.
She writhed beneath him, begging for him to complete their union, begging for release — and he gave it to her. He returned his complete attention to her heat and helped her fly over and over again, leaving them both exhausted as he continued stroking her flesh, tasting her, loving her.
When he moved up her body, he took her br**sts fully in his hands, weighed them, squeezed them, then sucked her ni**les deep into his mouth, nearly giving her another orgasm.
“Please, I want you inside me,” she begged, her head twisting back and forth on the mattress, her skin covered in a light sheen of sweat, her eyes half open, a remarkable light shining from them.
Removing the last barrier between them, he quickly took care of protection, and then spread her legs wide as he pressed against her core. Inhaling deeply, he took a moment just to appreciate the beauty of her beneath him.
“Now, Bryson,” she commanded, in her need for him, now sure both of herself and confident he would comply.
“Like this?” he teased, slipping an inch inside her. This game was killing him, but having her struggle beneath him made his misery worth it.
“No!” she shouted, her short nails digging into the skin of his h*ps as she tugged on his body.
“Mmm, like this?” he asked, pushing another couple of inches inside her, before pulling back out.
“I swear…” As she began to threaten, he thrust fully inside and buried himself deep, taking their breath away at the perfect fit.
“You were made just for me,” he groaned. He pulled back again before quickly sheathing himself in her heat once more.
“Yes…yes…yes,” she moaned, gripping his skin so tightly that he was sure to be black and blue.
He didn’t care.
Minutes or hours passed. He didn’t know. All he knew was that each time he pulled from her, he was empty, and each time he sank back into her folds, he was complete. A glorious pressure built, limbs and mouths entwined, and somewhere along the way, they became one, one breath, one heart beating, one body, reaching for paradise.
When they peaked together, both moaning out their pleasure, she opened her eyes, and he gazed into them, knowing this was it — this was their moment. Their fates were sealed, and he would never let her go. With a guttural cry, he exploded, his body shaking from the intensity of his release, while her body clung to him tightly as it pulsed around him.
With barely enough energy left to move, Bryson still managed to pull her into his arms and stroke the slick skin of her back as the two of them floated back down to earth, reveling in what had just occurred.
Bryson was no fool. He knew this moment was beyond anything he’d ever experienced before. He knew when he had everything he could ever dream of.
As he fell asleep that night with her in his arms, he knew that the rest of his life was going to be right.
He just didn’t know that there might be a few bumps along the road.
Chapter Twenty-Two
She’d assumed she’d be relieved to head back home, away from her brother and everyone else in the house. What if they knew exactly what she’d been doing under their impressive roof?
They probably did; she couldn’t miss their knowing looks. Thankfully, no one had called her on it. She would have been mortified. So when it came time to leave for the airport, it was almost a relief — almost being the key word.
No, saying goodbye wasn’t as easy as Misty had thought it would be.
She couldn’t repress a few tears as she and Bryson pulled away; the sight of Joseph and Katherine, Damien, and Sierra with the baby all standing on the step waving made her heart ache in a way she hadn’t experienced before.
For right now, they appeared to have embraced her as one of their own. If they still felt that way when the newness wore off, she’d be more than happy to be a part of their family.
Family. That was something she’d never thought she’d have — and she certainly wasn’t going to throw it away.
Soon the case would be over, and Jesse would be locked behind bars. She had to tell herself that. And then she’d grow more confident about the future. Then, her real life could begin.
For now, she had Bryson at her side. He was there to keep her safe. He was there to make sure this man who had terrorized her for so long never got the chance to do it again.
But she had a bigger fear than Jesse. Was she confusing love with something else? Bryson had been the one to show up and tell her Jesse wouldn’t be able to hurt her again; he’d been the one to show her how wonderful life could really be. He’d taken her to the edges of paradise and beyond and then slowly floated back down to earth with her.
But did all that mean that she was falling in love with him, or was she actually just grateful to him? She hadn’t ever fallen in love before and had no idea what true love felt like. She knew what her heart felt, knew that the thought of being with him for the rest of her life sounded just about perfect, but she didn’t know if she could trust what she was feeling.