Page 65 of Secret Paths

“Better.”

“Was that sufficiently unsentimental?”

“Just about.”

I kiss her again.

This time when I move, she moves with me.

The careful rhythm starts to break down, not into the frenzy of the first night, but into something we are both controlling now.

Her breathing gets quicker.

Her fingers dig into my shoulders.

“Don’t stop.”

“I won’t.”

I slide one hand between us.

Mandy gasps when my fingers find her.

“There?”

“Yes.”

I keep the pressure steady while I move inside her.

Her legs tighten around me.

She is close now.

I can feel it in every part of her.

“Peter.”

“I know.”

“Do not get smug about that.”

I laugh against her mouth.

“I’m trying.”

“You’re failing.”

Probably.

Then she stops talking.

Her body tightens beneath mine and she comes, her face turned into my neck, my name breaking from her on a breath.

I keep moving through it, slower now, feeling her pulse around me.

That is enough.

More than enough.