Page 34 of Secret Paths

I bend over her, planting one hand beside hers.

My chest presses to her back as I keep moving.

She turns her head and I find her mouth.

It is an awkward kiss at this angle. Messy and breathless and somehow more intimate than anything we have done tonight.

Her fingers close around mine on the mattress.

And suddenly I notice that more than the sex.

Her hand holding mine.

The small shift in the way she leans back against me.

The fact that neither of us is making a joke.

I could straighten.

Break the moment.

Instead, I lace my fingers through hers.

“Peter,” she says against my mouth.

Just my name.

No punchline.

I kiss her once more, then straighten enough to slide my free hand around her hip.

She drops her head when my fingers find her clit.

“Tell me what you need.”

“Don’t slow down.”

“Anything else?”

“For once in your life, stop fishing for praise.”

I laugh.

But I keep exactly the rhythm she wants.

Her thighs begin to shake.

I feel her tightening around me.

“I’m close.”

“Good.”

I keep my fingers moving.

A few seconds later, Mandy comes with my name breaking from her, her whole body pushing back into mine.

That does it.