Page 120 of Promise

“Gonna always be here for you, Trin. We’ll get through anything together.”

As he kisses me, I kiss him in return. His ear. His neck. His jaw.

I need him closer. I need to feel the certainty radiating off him.

Together, we’ll get through this.

How often had he said it before? How many times did we make it through difficult situations? Together.

While I’m still in my scrubs, Dart is wearing jeans and a white tee, plus one of his favorite ballcaps. Reaching for the hem of his shirt, I tug it free from his jeans.

“Whoa.” He chuckles, rough and confused. “Trin?”

“I need you,” I whisper, hasty and low. “I need to be closer.”

With a hand on his belly, I absorb more of his heat before I cup the back of his head with my other hand and bring his mouth to mine, linking us in some way. Lips and tongue. Awkwardly, I shift until I’m straddling his lap. The thinness of my scrubs and the stiffness of his jeans are still too much of a barrier between us.

With every stroke of his hand over my head and down my back, touching me all over in an attempt to soothe me, the frenzy to be closer rises.

“Closer,” I demand against his mouth, grinding against him, like I can break through the cotton and denim and bring him into me.

Dart’s hands move to my hips, tugging on the waistband of my scrubs. I shift off him, banging my knee as I twist to sit beside him and remove my pants.

When I scramble back on top of him, he has shoved his jeans below his knees.

I don’t need foreplay. I just need him inside me, and I balance on the tip before bringing him into me. Taking him deep until there’s nothing more to give. He and I are one, and I cling to his neck, coiled around him, like it still isn’t close enough.

“I’ve got you,” he says again, running his hands up my back and down my arms. Over my hair and down my back again.

We don’t move. We settle. Absorbing the warmth of each other, soaking in the nearness.

“Forever,” he whispers, every ounce of his love for me in the word.

Something inside me ignites. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I peel myself from his chest and move, disappearing in the moment. Him inside my body. Inside a part of me that’s deep and hollow without him.

He fills my soul. He is my heart.

“Can’t lose her,” I whimper, closing my eyes and setting my forehead on his. “Can’t lose you.”

Dart claps his hands on my backside and thrusts upward, bucking like a wild bull.

My eyes open at the rush of movement, and we lock gazes.

“Not going to lose anyone,” he groans, lifting and lowering me, dragging me to the tip, and then dropping me to engulf him.

I’m so alive like this. With him. Only him.

And I can’t go back to where I’ve been. Trudging through life, feeling empty without him. Empty without her.

“Dart,” I grunt, riding him hard and fast in return, needing him to let go inside me.

He slips his hand between us, stroking his thumb in that place that triggers everything.

“I don’t need it.” I don’t need to come. I just need to feel him.

“Not without you.”

My head is a mess. I can’t think. I can’t process. I can’t relax like I need to.