Page 219 of My Real Love Affair

“Get some sleep,” Cash said. “Tomorrow’s going to be intense, but we’ve got this.”

“We do,” I agreed.

I let myself into my townhouse, exhausted and wrung out and ready to collapse into bed. I kicked off my heels in the entryway and walked into the kitchen to put the leftovers in the fridge. A lamp was on in the living room.

Austin sat on my couch, looking at me with that crooked smile that made my heart skip.

“How did you get in here?” I said with some alarm.

“I have my ways,” he said, standing up. “I couldn’t let you spend tonight alone. Not after everything.”

I dropped my purse and Dane’s leftovers on the counter and walked straight into his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said.

“I’m so glad I get to be here.”

CHAPTER 69

AUSTIN

“Imissed you,” she breathed against my lips. “God, I missed you so much.”

“I was literally with you an hour ago.”

“An hour too long.” Her hands were already working to pull my shirt off. I took over, pulled it off, and tossed it on the floor. “I had to sit across from that woman and pretend I hated you. Pretend I wanted to destroy you. Do you know how hard that was?”

I caught her hands, stilling them. “You were incredible. So brave. So perfect.”

“I was terrified.” She looked up at me and sighed. “The whole time, I kept thinking—what if this doesn’t work? What if she sees through me? What if I lose you because I mess this up?”

I cupped her face in my hands, making her look at me. “You didn’t mess anything up. You saved me, Melody. Saved my family. Saved us.”

“We saved each other,” she corrected, then pulled me in for another kiss.

The kiss was slow at first, like we had all the time in the world now. I let my lips linger, tasting the faint note of wine that was still on her breath, and when her tongue tentatively tracedthe seam of my mouth, I opened for her immediately. The soft, hungry sound she made spiked straight through my core, and the next thing I knew I was walking her backward toward the hallway.

“I’m so fucking proud of you,” I whispered against her neck when we broke for air. She had been flawless, fearless, and I wanted to crawl inside the warmth of her, disappear after the adrenaline.

Her fingers dropped to the waistband of my jeans, tugging the button loose with that light, mischievous little pop I loved. “I kept thinking about doing this for the last hour,” she said, sliding the zipper down slowly. “Sitting across from her, pretending I hated you, and I kept thinking about all the times I’ve seen you naked. That I’ve made you orgasm.” She bit her lip, gaze flicking up to mine. “To know I had you and she never had and never would.”

I let out a shaky laugh that felt delirious. “Baby, I have been dying to get you naked all night.” I yanked her blouse over her head, the silky fabric whispering over her skin. She had on a pale blue bra with lace fringe. I dropped to my knees right there at the foot of the stairs and undid her pants. I slowly peeled them down and watched her step out of them. I kissed over the blue triangle of fabric that matched her bra before getting back to my feet.

I licked a slow line between her breasts, then upward until I could reach the hollow at the base of her throat. My thumbs circled her nipples that were pushing against the thin fabric of her bra.

“Austin,” she breathed, fingers burying themselves in my hair, tugging gently. “Bedroom. Please.”

I scooped her up, tossed her over my shoulder like I’d been dying to do for too long. She squeaked—half protest, half giggle—as I hauled her upstairs toward the bedroom.

I let her slide down the front of my body, skin against skin, until she landed on her feet in front of the bed. It took me about two seconds to unhook her bra and pull it away. And then I slid her panties down and knelt to get them past her ankles. I looked up at her naked body, her hair falling around her as she looked down at me. I licked my lips. Seeing her in this way made me feel primitive and possessive.

I kissed my way back up her outer thigh, lifting one leg to drape over my shoulder so I could taste what I loved the most. The first long lick, slow and deliberate, had her knees almost buckling.

I hummed against the silky slick heat of her, branding her with my tongue the way I wanted to brand my name on every inch of her skin. She was wet, swollen, ready. When I sucked her clit between my lips, she was gone. She fell backward. Her back hit the mattress. One of her hands tangled in my hair hard, the other frantically clawing at the sheets like she needed something to anchor her because the pleasure was going to blow her apart.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned, breath hitching.

I didn’t. I shifted my shoulders wider, pushed her thighs open more, drank every broken sound she made as my tongue drew tight circles around her bud then dipped inside her with the slowest thrust. She clenched with tiny pulses I could feel when I slid my fingers in two deep and curled, adding pressure. I added a third finger until she was so full she sobbed my name into the dark room.