He wanted her.
He loved her.
Mercedes wrapped her arms around him and held him close, the tears breaking free as he continued to kiss her.
Never in her life had she felt like this. Like her entire being was made up of air, and she was going to float away if she didn’t hang on. God, if this were what love felt like, then she knew for a fact that she’d never even come close to loving someone in all of her life. Not like this.
Long minutes passed before Xander pulled back. When he did, Mercedes was scared to let him go. She didn’t want to wake up to find herself alone in her bed – to find out that this had all been a dream.
Xander chuckled as he pulled her arms from around him, taking her hands in his and leading her toward her bed.
“I want to make love to you,” he told her, his eyes mysteriously shiny. “Just you and me. No Doms or submissives. Just the two of us tonight. Understand?”
Mercedes nodded, lacing her fingers with his and allowing him to pull her closer as he sat on the edge of the bed.
This time when he pulled her against him, she gave in. She allowed herself to feel everything he was offering her. Allowed herself to love and be loved at the same time. Something she had always been too scared to do.
Her Domme armor crumbled into dust just from his touch. She knew there was no going back. Not at this point. But Mercedes didn’t want to go back. He’d stripped her emotionally and built her back up all within a breath. With just three words that she had longed to hear, longed to feel.
I love you.
Another rush of tears filled her eyes, but she let them fall.
It didn’t take long before they were naked, their bodies in perfect tune with one another as Xander hovered above her on the bed. He was still kissing her, and she was still hanging on for dear life. In fact, Mercedes wasn’t sure she was ever going to let him go.
Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
“Love me, Mercedes,” Xander whispered against her mouth as he slid inside of her.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she urged him closer, trying to feel the full length of his body against hers. But Xander was on to her because he shifted positions, lifting her right leg up which changed the angle, and he penetrated her deeper, making her moan.
He stopped kissing her, his eyes locked with hers as he slowly thrust forward, pausing. “You’re my everything, Mercedes,” Xander whispered.
Mercedes couldn’t stop the next wave of tears. But he must’ve realized they weren’t from fear or pain. They were tears of hope and love. Tears she never expected to cry, but for this man, she realized anything was possible.
Mercedes still couldn’t speak, her heart lodged in her throat. The best she could do was breathe and fight to keep her gaze locked with his. She wanted him to see everything she felt, to know exactly what he meant to her. Dom or sub, it didn’t matter. Just like he said.
“Mercedes,” Xander growled softly, his hips moving, his strokes deepening until she felt all of him. “Baby.”
When his eyes closed, Mercedes reached up and cupped his face. “Look at me,” she begged. Although she’d meant it as a command, it came out more as a plea, but Xander opened his eyes. “I love you,” she whispered to him and Xander stilled. Right there, lodged deep inside of her he went stone still.
“Aww, hell,” he growled. “Say it again, Mercedes. Tell me you love me.”
Mercedes thrust her hips upward, trying to drive him deeper. The movement elicited another groan from him, but then he was moving again, never looking away from her face.
“I love you, Xander Boone. I love you so much.”
“I can’t hold back, baby. I need you too much.”
Xander growled, his release clearly taking him by surprise. And her too because as soon as he came, Mercedes saw everything she’d been hoping to see right there in his beautiful eyes.
And that’s when she tipped right over the edge with him.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Six months later, January…
At the grand opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Mercedes said, a pretty pout on her lips.
“I always know what I’m doing,” he assured her. Granted this time he wasn’t quite as confident. He’d already attempted this once, and he wasn’t exactly sure what made them think it would work a second time, but here they were.
Acting as Mercedes’s submissive for this one last scene was going to take a certain set of skills he didn’t think he even possessed. It wasn’t all that much different than the night at Devotion, but he remembered clearly how that had turned out. A total fucking disaster.