Certainty. Hope.
Love.
He believes in me, in us, even after everything he’s been through. And that faith, that simple truth I see in the way he looks at me, it gives me a new strength.
To believe that ours can be a different kind of love from the one I knew with Connor. Sweeter, kinder, safer.
A love that isn’t tainted with desperate insecurity, a love that doesn’t push my limits without a second thought.
He’s different. I’m different now. I have the strength to love him in a way I never have before.
Wordlessly, I pull his head down and meet his lips in a searing kiss. I let my faith chase away the darkness; Ryland’s tender mouth leaving no doubt in my mind.
I want this. I need him.
He scoops my hips up against him, easing my thighs apart. I catch my breath, my heart pounding as I fall into the dazzling brightness of this kiss, this touch, the inferno that he’s fueling. He slides his fingers against me again and I moan into his mouth.
Yes.
I reach between us, closing my hand around his hard, hot length and guiding him towards the very heart of me. Ryland rises up above me to hold my gaze.
Time stills as he strokes inside me, inch by perfect inch.
Oh God. I gasp at the fullness, the feel of his girth stretching me open, driving deep inside. I grip his biceps, arching up to take him completely. Ryland’s jaw tightens with tension, but he doesn’t look away, his eyes blaze into me and I surrender, caught in the spell of this exquisite pleasure. He’s everywhere: the shimmering in my bloodstream, the sweet rush that spreads through every part of me.
The mind-blowing sensation of his cock surging deep inside.
As if he can’t hold back any longer, Ryland’s mouth crashes down on mine. I arch up again, thrusting to find the surge of friction, and then oh God he’s plunging deeper, rocking back, surging into me in a dizzying slide that makes me lose my mind. He rolls us, gripping my hips tight, and now I’m straddling him, bearing down as he thrusts up inside me.
“Ryland!” I cry out, feeling him grind even deeper now, surging up to hit a new pulse of pleasure. I rock against him, riding him, my hands flat on his chest and my body swaying with this new fevered rush. I’m climbing, cresting, his hands urging me on, his mouth moving to lick and suck at my breasts. God, it’s almost too much, the sensation crashing through me.
He thrusts up deep, grinding his hips against my clit, closing his lips around my nipple to suck in a sharp burst of delicious pressure and oh, I come undone. Pleasure ricochets through me, a wave of release, but Ryland doesn’t even pause. He flips me over again onto my back and lifts my legs over his shoulders, opening me up so that his next thrust drives even deeper, hits me even sweeter.I scream in delirious pleasure as he rides out my climax with another long, thick stroke. I’m breaking, over and over in his arms. It’s too much, too hard, too good, but Ryland captures my mouth again, deepening the storm of a kiss as he fucks me hard and deep. I cling on, sliding my hands over his bare skin, beyond control now. I break for air, throwing my head back and crying out in pleasure as his rhythm speeds. All I can do is surrender to the feel of him, the white-hot fire in my blood and the tidal wave coiling higher, higher.
“Tegan,” Ryland groans my name, and then he grinds his hips, circling against my clit and thrusts in unison and I break apart all over again, crying out with the frenzied explosion of ecstasy as I feel his body shudder and surge with the force of his release.
This is all I want, I think through the breathless haze.
There’s no going back.
26.
I lie there, gasping, as pleasure rushes in my veins. Ryland rises up on his elbow beside me, looking down as I clutch the couch for dear life, reeling from the force of the climax.
“Hey,” he whispers, reaching to push back a sweaty lock of my hair.
“Hey,” I manage, breathing heavily. I fight to pull myself together, but then I just give in to the afterglow, my heart pounding, my body heavy and sweet. “Wow.”
“I’ll take that,” Ryland grins. He dips a gentle kiss to my lips, and I pull him in harder, kissing him hot and deep as the glitter in my veins slowly melts away.
“Wow,” I whisper again. Pleasure is making me stupid, my mind still a haze.
Ryland chuckles. “You already said that.”
“Well, it bears repeating.” I grin, reaching to thread my fingers through his.
I sit up and look around. Ryland’s clothes are scattered on the floor, one of my sandals is kicked in the corner, the other is balancing precariously on the low coffee table. I giggle, pulling up the straps of my dress. Right away, Ryland catches me against him and buries his head in the hollow of my shoulder.
“I thought I told you, you’re wearing too many clothes.”
He slides my dress up over my head and tosses it to join the jumble of clothing on the floor. I try to twist to face him, my heart suddenly racing again. My bare stomach slides against his, and the feel of skin on skin is so damn good sends a new shiver of lust through me.
I reach up to hold him, but struggle to keep my balance lodged between the pillows on the narrow seat.
“This couch is too small,” I complain.
He raises an eyebrow. “We’ll just have to do something about that.” With a lazy smile, Ryland pulls both of us down to the floor, rolling at the last minute so his body cushions my fall. I slide to the ground. The carpet is luxuriously soft beneath my bare skin, and although I feel the loss of our close contact, now I have the freedom to relax back and run my hands over him, feeling every swell and ridge of muscle in his perfect body.