Page 110 of If I Stopped Haunting You

“I don’t want to go,” he grunted as his fingers toyed with her lacy underwear.

Penelope moaned as he rubbed a finger along her clit. Fuck, she was already so wet. Had she already been turned on?

“It’s not fair,” she whimpered, hands tangling in what was left of his curls. She tugged his mouth back up to her and kissed him hard, her tongue parting his lips. Penelope tasted like summer wine and afternoons in the sun, and he groaned against her, rocking his hips. She slid along him, the friction making them both moan.

She made him come undone.

“Neil.” Still, she didn’t get up or stop, one hand scraping against his scalp, the other reaching down to pull her dress above her hips.

Smiling against her lips, Neil slipped one finger in and hooked it just the way she liked. She rode his hand, gasping as he slid in a second finger, her walls tightening around him. His thumb rubbed small, tight circles over her clit, and though she opened her mouth as though to chastise him, the words died on her tongue.

“Ohmyfuckinggod,”she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck and clamping her teeth down just below his ear.

“I could stop…” He trailed off, pulling one finger out of her.

One of her hands reached down and tightened on his wrist, stopping him.“Don’t you fucking dare.”

Her hands scrambled for his pants as he laughed, working his fingers in and out as she struggled to focus. Slipping aside her underwear, she positioned his hard length against her opening.

“Let me grab a condom,” he gasped, eyes squeezing shut as she gripped him tighter, the tip nudging and sliding against her.“Fuck,”he groaned, hands clamping on her ass.

“You better hurry up,” she rasped.

Neil reluctantly lifted her off his lap and scrambled for a condom, ripping the foil and rolling it on. Penelope was there in an instant, straddling his lap and guiding him. She always took him slowly, one inch at a time, but today she took all of him with a gasp.

He closed his eyes, picturing old dogs, abandoned dark halls,anythingto make him last as she rocked her hips slowly. She gripped him, her insides squeezing tight as her nails raked across his skin and her lips parted.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asked, kissing her jaw. God, she feltso good.

“Good… question.” Penelope bit down on her lip and moaned, arching her back as he reached up with one hand to grip her hip, the other slipping into the space between them.

He moved faster, lying back on the bed and thrusting into her as they sped up as one, hips meeting, hands scrabbling at one another. It only lasted a moment longer, both already so close to the edge. He finished with a grunt, followed by a sigh. Her eyes flitted open with disappointment, but he held up a finger as he came back to himself before he pulled out and knelt at the edge of the bed.

Humming, he bent between her, his knees weak beneath him as he tasted her, the combination of his fingers and tongue tugging her over the cliff and into the chasm. She’d shown him, dragging him to each spot over the last year until he knew her body inside and out, and even still, he found it no less attractive when she adjusted his fingers, positioning him just right.

When she was done, she kissed the corner of his mouth, lingering as her body settled and her legs clamped together. “I love you.”

His breath hitched as he whispered, “I love you too.”

It had taken them nearly a year to say the words, and he was no more used to them now than he was a month ago. She shiveredas she pulled off her underwear and tossed it aside, disappearing into the ensuite.

“You’d think we would’ve had enough of each other,” she said breathily.

“Never.”

He watched lazily as Penelope pulled on a fresh pair of plain cotton underwear before brushing her hair and pinning it back. Her phone buzzed and she glanced down at it.

“Shit.Neil, we’re going to be late.”

She threw on her jacket and grabbed her bag, motioning to him.

Neil groaned as he tugged his pants back on and buttoned up his shirt, his fingers stumbling in their haste. “I don’t see why this is necessary, Penelope.”

Penelope laughed as she shoved him out the door toward the bookstore a few blocks down. She responded to a DM on one of her socials before closing the app and pocketing her phone, grinning.

“Come on,” she drawled, “you wrote a blurb, and Daniela dedicated this book to us. It’s kind of expected that we’d come.”

Neil muttered to himself as she pulled him into the bookstore. Penelope had only moved to New York six months earlier with her grumpy cat Apawllo, but already she knew the city better than he. After nine months of traveling coast to coast to see each other, she’d taken the plunge, ever the courageous one, and moved into his apartment.