Setting Delilah’s suitcase off the side when the door clicks shut behind us, I guide her to the chair near the window. I lower us both into the seat, so she’s pressed against me in my lap. “Are you the reason Hen’s been so persistent about checking in on me?” I let my hands roam over her legs and hips. Still in shock that she came, and this is real.
“He was worried about you, but he was also on a mission to help me find you.” She relaxes into my hold, covering my hands with hers and linking our fingers. “I didn’t want to let you down again if I couldn’t get here in time.”
“Is that what you think? That you let me down?” I shift us, so that she’s straddling me. “You’ve never once let me down. All these years you’re the thing that’s kept me going. When I lost my brother, I had a gaping hole in my soul. You helped mend me and make me whole again, Delilah.”
“I should have been here with you. It was selfish to leave to deal with this on your own.”
I trap her chin between my fingers, forcing her to look at me. “No. You’ve made me strong enough to handle this on my own.”
“I was so scared, Cruz. Afraid that I was going to lose you to your grief, that you’d come back to me the shell of yourself that you were when we met. Then, with your injury, I was terrified that you were going to push yourself beyond what you could handle.”
I run my nose along hers, whispering against her skin. “I understand, but I’m not just doing this for Jarrett. This was for us, too. You rebuilt my heart and soul, first by being my friend and now by being mine. You showed me I can still have the future I used to dream about.” I take a deep breath before I continue drawing off the strength she gives me just by being here. “I will always miss my brother. Without him here, there will always be a part of me that is broken. But I don’t want to live in the shadows of his death any more. No matter what happens when we leave St. Louis, we move forward.Together.”
I pull back so I can see her face. The fear has faded from her gorgeous face and the lines that were etched on her brow moments ago have smoothed. They’ve been replaced with a gentle understanding. My lips tingle to tell her that she’s the love of my life and that the only future that’s worth all of this is one with her.
I can’t do that, not yet. I need to finish what I started when I came to St. Louis, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show her. She leans in, bringing her forehead against mine.
“I want that. The future with you, all of it. You’re not the only one that our friendship saved. When I felt worthless and shattered, you made sure to always give me what I needed. You lifted me up and helped me gain back my confidence. You gave me security. I didn’t know I was missing by being there. Most of all, you made sure I knew I had value beyond being just a trophy on someone’s arm. At every turn, you put me first, above everything else, without asking for anything in return.”
Her words make my pulse race and my stomach flip. There’s a sincerity in her voice and her eyes are filled with adoration. Delilah fucking loves me, her broken best friend. She just needs me to say the words first.
Her shaky breath fans across my face before she places a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Are we okay, Cruz?” It’s barely a whisper as she kisses the other side.
“We are more than okay and right now I’d really like to show how spectacular we can be.”
“Yeah?”
“Fuck, yes. I need to be inside you like I need my next breath. Being here without you, knowing you were hurting. It was like I was missing all my most important pieces.” I fight off a shudder as I remember the hollow feeling that overcame me the second the plane took off in Denver. It felt like I was leaving half of myself behind. The higher we climbed, the worse it got. “Not a single second passed that I didn’t regret the way we left things.”
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. It’s me and you now.” Her breath shudders as I dip my hands under her shirt, pulling her to me as I tug it up and over her head.
She’s quick to do the same to me, running her hands over my chest and torso once she’s freed me from my shirt.
“God, you look so perfect. I’m not sure it’s possible, but I swear you got even more fucking beautiful.”
She laughs when I lower my mouth and kiss the swell of her breast, my hands climbing up her ribs and cupping her through her bra. My lips blaze a path across her heated skin. Moving to the other side and giving it the same attention. “You just missed me. I’m a mess from the plane and running my hands over my hair while I was waiting for you.”
“Not true, but I know a few ways to make you a mess.” Without warning, I wrap my arms tightly around her waist and stand. Her ankles link around my back as I walk us across the room to the bed. “How do you want me first?”
“First?” Her chest is heaving when I lower her to the bed, dropping to my knees and making quick work of pulling her leggings and underwear down her hips. In a blink of an eye, I have her stripped to just her bra.
“Bra off,” I say, pushing her knees apart. “I’m going to have you so many times tonight that you’ll be begging me for a break.”
She whimpers, her legs falling apart on their own. “Oh, god.”
She’s fucking soaked—swollen and wet. “It looks like you need it just as bad as I do.” I tug her forward by the knees so her ass is hanging off the bed.
“I do. I’ll always need you.” She begs when I run my middle finger through her slickness. “Fill me up. Please, don’t make me wait.” Her hips push forward, trying to suck me in. I’m not going to make her wait. I need her just as badly. My cock strains against my pants, but it’s not his turn. He’s just going to have to wait because Delilah’s right. I’ll always put her first.
“I’ve got you. Now and forever. Hold those knees for me while I make you feel good.” I murmur against her center, lapping at her clit softly as I ease my fingers inside her slowly. The pace I set is achingly slow. Working her up and pulling her back from the edge over and over again.
“No more. I can’t take it. I need—” Her knees close around my head as she trembles under my touch.
“That’s not how this is going to happen,” Itsk, withdrawing my fingers to the tip and kissing her inner thigh lightly. “Who knows your body better than anyone else?” I ask, biting gently at her inner thigh.
She moans as I suck the spot to soothe it, leaving a pretty little red mark behind. “You . . . you do.”
“That’s right, and I always give you what you need, right?” I ask, sliding one finger back inside her.
