“That’s it,” he praised, his voice thick with lust. “You’re amazing. So beautiful, Lyss. Just like that.”
His words washed over me, combining with the physical sensation to push me higher. I chased the release I had been denied for so long. The coil tightened, tighter and tighter, until it finally snapped. I came with a scream, my body convulsing, my pussy clamping down around him. The orgasm ripped through me so violently that I started to go limp, my arms and legs giving out.
He didn’t let me fall; he pulled me forward, flattening me against his chest, and thrust up into me, pounding us through it, prolonging the pleasure until I was a sobbing, trembling mess.
I collapsed onto him, completely spent. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. I just lay there, listening to his heart hammering in his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me tight, sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. He never let go of me, keeping me cradled in his arms as he stood up and carried me to the bathroom. My legs dangling, my head on his shoulder.
He sat me on the seat near the tub and turned on the faucet. The water rushed out, steam rising into the air. While the tub filled, he grabbed a washcloth from the shelf and ran it under the warm water.
He wiped me down gently, while peppering my shoulders, my neck, and my face with soft, sweet kisses. His touch tender now, the dominance gone, replaced with a deep, caring intimacy.
Somewhere out in the bedroom the music was still going, and for the first time in what felt like forever, a song came clear to me again, the tail end ofMy Heart Belongs To Youby Jodeci. I didn’t know how many songs had played while I was gone out of my own head. But I caught this one,coming back to myself in his arms with the water running. It felt less like a song that happened to be on and more like something the room had decided to say for me.
“You mad at me?” he asked softly, his lips brushing my ear.
I turned my head to look at him. I tried to glare, but I was too satisfied to pull it off. I gave him a look that saidyou are impossible, and he laughed, as he stood up with me in his arms, then lowered me into the tub. The warm water enveloped me, soothing my aching muscles. I sighed, sinking down until the water covered my shoulders.
He sat on the edge of the tub, watching me like there was something he wanted to say, but didn’t.
I looked up at him, my heart feeling so full it might burst.I love this man. So much.I thought to myself. The truest thing in the room sat there in the steam between us, unsaid, and I didn’t reach for it, didn’t manage it, didn’t need to call it out loud to be sure of it.
I closed my eyes and let him bathe me.
38/
best race i’ve ever run
julian
“Stop pacing.You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”
“I’m not pacing. I’m walking with purpose.”
“You’re pacing.” I pulled the pasta off the heat. “Your training’s done. Your legs are ready. Your gear’s laid out upstairs. There’s nothing left to do but show up.”
Alyssa dropped onto the couch with a sigh. “What if I hit the wall at mile twenty and can’t finish?”
“Then you walk. Or we slow down together.”
“What if I hold you back?”
I turned around. “I’ve run this distance six times. Tomorrow I have one goal only, and it’s getting you across that line. I don’t care about my time.”
“You could PR?—”
“I don’t care about a PR.” I sat next to her and pulled her legs across my lap. “This isyourrace. I’m along for the ride.”
“I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of not being able to do it. Your whole family’s coming.”
“Four months ago your longest run was thirteen miles. Last weekend you ran twenty like it was a warm-up.” I worked my thumb into the arch of her foot. “I’ve watched you train. I’ve watched you get up at dawn when you were exhausted. You’ve run through rain you could’ve skipped, pushed past the point where most people fold. You’re the toughest person I know.”
“Tougher than you?” She grinned.
