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Not rushing in with a response, I lie there quietly enjoying our time together, but then I realize that his words are different from his actions. “But you’ve cleared your schedule and opened your life up to me.”
He places the phone on the nightstand and rolls us over until he settles on me. I wrap my legs around the back of his legs and rub the back of his neck, going higher into his typically perfectly styled hair. It’s not today. It’s sex-messed, and he’s never been hotter. I love that he gets a little messier for me and lets me see his carefree side.
“You gave me a good reason. I knew what I would miss if I let you slip away.”
“Which is?”
“A chance to have a life.”
I kiss him, wanting to give him everything he needs, and it quickly deepens. But when our lips part before we get a chance to tangle beneath the sheets, I stare into those eyes that have quickly gone from stranger to safety. “What if I was brought into your life to help you remember who you really are, just like you were brought into mine?”
Loch is still, so still that I worry I said something wrong. He places a kiss on my neck and then higher until our gazes catch again. “Maybe we both needed saving.”
A hurricane of emotions storms through his irises before he reaches into the nightstand. There’s something about how rough he is when his knee spreads my legs farther apart, his hand pins my hip to the bed, and his eyes roam my body that tells me I need to hold on—to him, to this bubble we’ve created, to this moment before it slips away.
When he pushes into me, my eyes close, and I allow myself a moment to feel not only our physical connection but also the emotional one that’s been blooming all along. The fullness inside me makes me realize that it’s not only my body that’s complete but my heart doesn’t ache anymore.
Loch is a part of all my existing memories. He’s been with me since before I woke up. Standing steady by my side, he’s a pillar I can cling to day or night, and now the only one who knows me inside and out. I memorize this moment with him, wanting his fingerprints to mark me as a reminder of how much he’s become my life.
It’s too late to save myself. Despite how people warn about not rushing into relationships, I’m already so invested in him. Nothing else matters anymore.
Driving me wild, Loch pushes my body to the brink of ecstasy before pulling me back to reality and sending me soaring again. I come before he does but give myself wholly to this man, eagerly riding him until he can no longer hold on. The tips of his fingers dig into my hips. I want to be marked, to be owned in this way by him. If I need to leave tomorrow, I want to feel where Loch left his fingerprints.
Breathless and tired, I lie on top of him. His hands stroke my back, and he kisses on my head. Life in the present has suddenly become precious, now knowing that everything could change in an instant.
“Are you nervous?”
Loch looks down at me, our hands clasped tightly between us. “Not nervous, just . . . I’m not sure. It’s my brother and Dad, Lark. They’re great and good fun. We get together all the time.”
“Not with a woman on your arm.” I’m not naive enough to think he’s an altar boy. As a matter of fact, I know he’s not by how talented his mouth is, and yes, he didn’t lie when he told me his mouth was magical. My body still vibrates in the aftermath of what he did to me on his kitchen bar. The stone counter may have been cold, but his mouth, ohhhh my . . . I fan my face, not wanting to be beet red meeting his brother and sister-in-law. Much less embarrassing myself in front of his father again.
Just outside the entrance to the restaurant, he pulls me around and holds my hand between us. “You’re not arm candy, Tuesday.”
I rock forward, trapping the heat we’re creating between us on this wintry night. Smiling up at him, I ask, “What am I, Loch?”
“Not one rational thought comes to mind.”
“Then tell me what does.”
“Girlfriend . . .” He looks away and takes a deep breath as if he’s tempering what he really wants to say.
I understand too well. I’ve been feeling much the same. I press against him. “Nothing about us or this circumstance makes any sense to me either, but I can’t imagine anyone else I would rather be with.” When I falter, not afraid of him in any way but of acknowledging my true feelings out loud, he brings his arm around me and holds me closer, giving me the confidence to share my heart. “I’ve been going along for the ride to see where I end up. But maybe it’s not about being a passenger on this journey, but instead the driver, directing it where we want to see it go.”
