Page 22 of But For You

I was coming, and that was all there was—the release, the euphoria as I spurted over the rippling muscles of his abdomen.

“Jory!” he gasped before he emptied himself inside me, flooding my clasping channel, his hands keeping a death grip on my thighs as he held me against him, even as he straightened. He rose to his knees and hauled me up off the couch so I was plastered to his skin.

We stayed there, heaving for breath, both of us shivering with aftershocks, until slowly, carefully, Sam slid me back down under him and then eased free. I felt hot liquid dripping from my ass, rolling down my inner thighs, before his T-shirt was there, wiping and cleaning.

“This room smells like sweat and cum,” he grumbled, bending to kiss me hard and claiming. He sucked on my tongue a moment before pulling back, the look on his face the same as it always was after sex—smug and satisfied. “And you look all used up.”

“You still have to tell me what happened with Rico,” I informed him, bursting his postcoital happiness bubble.

He groaned and stood up, and only then did I notice that his jeans were pushed only to his thighs.

“Really? You didn’t even get naked?”

“I was in a hurry,” he grumbled at me, but couldn’t hold on to it.

“What?”

He smiled suddenly, his eyes heating fast. “I never get tired of seeing you all marked up and flushed after sex. It’s so fuckin’ hot.”

I stood up in front of him, head tipped back because, as close as I was standing to him, I had no choice. It was amazing how big he was and how small and fragile I felt every time we stood together. The man was a mountain of hard muscle, and I was not.

“Love?”

“I need you to talk to me.”

“I promise, right after you get out of the shower.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but his hands encircled my hips, and he tugged me close. He bent his forehead to mine and closed his eyes.

“Sam?”

“I’m so lucky you love me, that the kids love me, that the stupid cat loves me. My life is perfect, and I won’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

“I know.”

“I swear to God and you, I didn’t love Kevin Dwyer. Not for a second. That’s why it ended. I’ve only ever loved you.”

We were standing together, quietly breathing, and I felt the calm wash over me.

“Lemme look at whatever is in the envelope that White dropped off, and then I can explain everything, okay?”

I nodded, and he kissed my nose before I eased out of his grip and darted naked through the living room to the stairs.

“Hey!”

I turned at the landing. “What?”

“You look good, running around bare-assed.”

“That’s charming. Thank you,” I teased him before I ran up to the second floor.

I could hear him laughing.

I came down half an hour later in jeans and a lightweight black sweater. Sam had changed, and his hair was wet, so he’d obviously used either the kids’ bathroom or our guest one while I was using ours. He was back in the same jeans, but the T-shirt was gone, thankfully, replaced by a long-sleeved one. As always, I admired the lines of the man, and he was not so deep in thought that he didn’t look up and smile at me when I neared him.

“You’ll be happy to know, I have on clean underwear.”

I chuckled. “Thank you for letting me know.”