Page 152 of Worth the Trip

I held his shoulders as the rhythm built between us. He stayed close, one hand at my hip and the other beside my head, his face never far from mine.

Exactly what I had asked for.

Exactly what I hadn’t known I needed until I said it aloud.

“Look at me.”

I did.

His control was beginning to slip. I could see it in the tension along his jaw, hear it in his breathing, feel it in the way his fingers held mine against the mattress.

I tightened my hand around his.

“I’m here, baby.”

The word left before I thought about it.

Landon stopped, not completely, just enough.

His eyes searched mine. “What you call me?”

Heat flooded my face despite the fact that modesty had lost every legal argument available to it.

“You heard me.”

“Nah, love.” His mouth hovered over mine. “I need that one again.”

I touched my lips to his. “Baby.”

Something in him broke.

Beautifully.

His mouth came back to mine with the hunger he had kept disciplined all night, one hand threading tightly through my fingers while his body moved with renewed rhythm. I said his name, then baby again, this time without embarrassment.

“Look at me,” he whispered.

I stayed with his eyes.

Pleasure built until thought stopped being useful. My body tightened beneath him, and Landon pressed his forehead to mine while our joined hands held firm against the mattress.

“I got you.”

The words reached me at the same time the rest of the world disappeared.

For several breaths afterward, neither of us moved. Rain whispered against the windows while Landon’s weight remained carefully supported above me, and our breathing gradually settled. He kissed my forehead, my cheek, then my mouth.

“You good, love?”

I dragged my fingers down his back. “Ask me one more time, and I’m charging a consultation fee.”

His laugh warmed my neck. “That mouth recovered fast.”

“It’s resilient.”

“I noticed.”

He kissed me again before leaving the bed long enough to handle what needed handling. When he came back, he had a warm cloth and a glass of water. No awkward shift. No distance. No strange retreat now that desire had gotten what it wanted.