I said it. It was out there. If he didn’t feel the same or wanted to break things off, that was his choice.
He didn’t say anything, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he was processing what I’d said or if it was the opposite. That he hadn’t processed the words as anything more than a flippant saying.
I hoped it was the latter, but I wasn’t that lucky.
“You love me?” Rhys asked in that intense, gravelly tone that sent goosebumps across my skin.
“Yes.” I stood quickly because being vulnerable emotionally and on my knees was too much for me right then. “Anyway, I’m done eating whenever you’re?—”
That was all I could rush out before he stood and pulled me into his arms. His hands cupped my cheeks. “Say it.”
“I love you.”
He kissed me with a bruising intensity that took away the breath I’d just caught. His tongue plunged in to take and fight and own as he moved my head where he wanted it. Fighting for more. To get closer when I was already plastered to him. He tore his mouth away with a pained whimper—one I echoed—before tearing off my clothes. It would’ve been a quicker process if he didn’t stop to bite, kiss, lick, and tease every inch of skin within reach.
Once we were both naked, he took my mouth again before walking me toward the couch. He nudged me to sit, and then it was his turn to kneel. He threw my legs over his shoulders as he repeated the same silly game I’d played earlier. Teasing me with gentle laps and light grazes until I was ready to beg. He didn’t make me. His mouth zeroed in on my clit, twirling his tongue while his thick fingers slid into my sex. My pleasure built quicklyas he worshipped me with his mouth. I couldn’t stop my hips from undulating as my thighs shook.
He eased back, and the precipice disappeared. Adding a second finger, he started the build again, going even faster that time. Eating my pussy like it was his fuel. His lifeblood. His sole purpose in life.
My mind blanked.
And then it came rushing back when he stopped again.
“Rhys,” I started, my mindless pleas ready to spill free.
He didn’t give me the chance. “Love the way you roll your eyes.” His fingers pumped in and out. “Love your badass side and your softer side.” He crooked them, hitting a spot that would’ve made my lids close if I hadn’t forced them to stay open so I could see the adoration in his blue eyes. “Love that you’re stubborn.” He used his thumb to stroke my clit. “Love that you submit to me anyway.” His thumb eased back. “Love that you put everything into all you do.” He turned and bit down on my thigh. “Love these fuckin’ thighs and the rest of your sexy body.” He repeated the action on the other side. “Love that I feel like I’m coming outta my damn skin when I’m not close to you.” He looked up at me without a hint of panic or doubt. “I love you, Luna.”
My chest squeezed tight even as my heart did its best to break through my ribs. “I love you, too.”
“You better ’cause now that you gave me every part of you, that’s it. I’m not letting go.”
“I don’t want you to.” I looked down at him. His muscular body. The fingers still deep inside of me. His hard-on straining towardme. I rocked my hips, desperately seeking the orgasm he held just out of reach.
“Need to come, baby?” At my frantic nod, he gave a wickedly indulgent smile. “Okay.”
Contrary to his words, he pulled his fingers from my sex and licked the shining arousal that dripped down to his palm.
He stood and took the spot next to me before lifting me to straddle him. Once we were positioned how he wanted, he stretched his arms along the back of the couch. He tipped his chin toward his waiting cock. “Prove it.”
I didn’t have to be told twice.
Lifting onto my knees, I fisted the base to line myself up. My wonderfully helpful thigh muscles tensed as I dropped down with an aching slowness. Testing his control and mine by going inch by long, thick inch. But even once I was fully seated, filled with him until I would’ve sworn I would be split in two, he didn’t take over.
He gave a lazy finger roll that might’ve been more convincing if his other hand wasn’t clutching the couch until his knuckles went white. “Take what you need. Fuck yourself with me.”
Again, I didn’t have to be told twice.
Using my hold on his shoulders, I started moving up and down his length. Swiveling my hips. Going faster as I found my rhythm.
And the whole time I rode him, Rhys’s gaze stayed locked on me. Our connection. My bouncing tits. My flushed face. My spread thighs.
He felt good. Amazing. Better than I had words for.
But it was the way he watched me that stoked my inner fire higher and higher until I worried it would leave nothing in its wake.
My neck arched. My breath turned to short bursts. My body tightened.
And Rhys’s control snapped.
