Page 131 of Under Pressure

I adjust my position, ignoring the mild throb in my knees from the porcelain tub. He slides another inch in, and then another. A cry bunches in my throat, and I have no choice but to let it out when he shifts beneath me. Out, then in, this time working half of his shaft inside.

His fingers dig into my sides, my back. I focus on not letting my eyes roll back at the coiling pleasure in my belly, needing to look at him.

“Let me in all the way in, Quinny.Fuck. You’re so tight—so fucking perfect,” he groans, the words thick and tense.

I watch in awe as his abdomen flexes beneath the water, completely visible now that the bubbles have disappeared between us. The brace he left the clinic wearing is wet now, yet neither of us makes a move to pull it off. I want to take care of him, even now when all I can think clearly about is seating myself on him and letting him pound into me.

“Keep your eyes on me. Look at how you make me feel.”

My palm glides down his neck, taking hold of it as my other pushes against his chest, tracing the muscles all the way down to where we’re connected. His chain is there, a cool contrast against his skin. With every shift of his hips, I start moving mine. My clit throbs, pure bliss melting my thoughts as I grind down and then rock back in time with his short thrusts. The pressure dims my vision, keeping only him illuminated.

My thighs burn, and his neck muscles bunch tightly beneath my fingers. Neither of us thinks we’ll be able to drag this out this time. That’s not the goal. We just need each other and to feel the way we both belong to one another without a sliver of doubt left to stand in the way. This is the first time we’ve had sex without my walls up between us.

They’re shattered, leaving only fragments scattered in dark corners of my mind that I never want to visit again.

“Say you’re mine this time,” he grunts a beat before his teeth clench, jaw working.

I don’t hesitate.

“I’m yours.” My lips coax his open again, relaxing him despite the urge that’s riding us both to let go. “And you’re mine.”

His grip tightens as his thrusts grow loose, off tempo. I whimper, nodding approval.

“Come with me.”

“Quinn,” he groans, my name both a prayer and damnation as we tip over together.

The sickness and cure, he’d said before.

He’s wrong. If I’m the sickness, then he’s the cure.

That’s the reason he was the only one who could heal me.

EPILOGUE

“Run! Blow it!”I shout down at Kellan.

Our third-base coach has his hands up in front of him, gesturing for Kellan to stop on third instead of running home. He’ll make it if he speeds up. I know he will.

The ball Jett hit slid right past the opposing team’s shortstop and hit the back wall. Their centre fielder bobbled it a beat after his glove made contact, creating the opening that I’m demanding Kellan take. From up in the stands, I try to project my voice as loud as possible.

He can’t hear me, but I try anyway.

“Don’t stop, asshole!”

Whether from some weird best friend mind connection between us or his own instincts, he passes the coach without a second look and tears up the dirt in the catcher’s direction.

I’m standing, watching anxiously as the third baseman jumps to make the catch from his outfielder, and my toes dig into my shoes. The fingers threaded through mine remain there, grounding me as I lean as far forward as I can and grin like a fucking fool when Kellan drops to the dirt and slides to home plate. His legs spread out wide, and the tip of his cleat collideswith the bag a millisecond before the ball is in their catcher’s glove. He drops to tag him on the back, but it’s too late.

The home crowd screams as the run gets added to the tally, and the Havoc take the lead for the first time tonight. Only once he’s got the ridiculous storm-cloud hat placed on his head and a slap on the ass from a recently returned Asher do I sit again.

“He’s really good,” Quinn notes.

I drop into my seat and bring the back of her hand to my lips, rubbing them across it. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll implode with arrogance.”

“Do you know how to bat?”

Aubrey’s choked cough reaches me from three seats over, and I lean past Quinn to glare at her. She’s not looking at me on purpose.Wuss.