“Good. I don’t want to be gentle.” She opened the button of my pants, and I forgot everything but the sound of her breath next to my ear and the soft slide of her lips against my neck. In the blink of an eye, I had convinced myself we could share this last moment before real life bashed us over the head and demolished everything we’d worked so hard to build over the last few months. It was selfish of me, but I didn’t want to fight this any more than I wanted let her go. There’d be plenty of time to sort this out tomorrow.
Groaning, I shoved my pants and boxer briefs down my legs and climbed into the tub with her. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped her legs around my waist. She smelled like soap, shampoo, sunshine, and everything Hattie. I ached to fill her again and make her believe in me, in us, no matter how fleeting the emotion.
“God, Hattie. You have no idea how much I missed you,” I said, resting my forehead against hers.
Hot steam swirled around our bodies, cocooning us in a world where only the two of us existed. I cupped her breasts, and she arched into me. Heat surged through my nerve endings making every point of contact between our bodies flame to life.
“Show me,” she moaned.
Leaning back, my cock slid along her slippery sex. My last shred of common sense fled, and my mouth crashed against hers. Her tongue captured mine within seconds, and we devoured each other. My head spun from her familiar taste. Stopping was no longer an option. My muscles pulled tight like the string of a bow and sweat beaded on my forehead from the heat of the water. Urgency coursed through my veins like my soul knew this might be the last time I’d ever hold her.
The last time she looked at me as her savior.
The last time she surrendered to me unconditionally.
The last time she loved me.
If I concentrated hard enough, I could almost hear the minute hand of our life together counting down to the end of us. Maybe time had conspired against us from the first moment her beautiful golden eyes landed on mine.
Reverently, my hands cupped her breasts and then skated along her ribcage to her waist. Her back arched in invitation, and I had to taste more of her. I sucked her nipple in between my teeth. A gasp exploded out of her mouth, and I grazed her sensitive skin with my teeth.
“Ryker,” she moaned, and I switched my attention to her other breast.
Licking.
Sucking.
Biting.
Showing her that this moment was about pleasure and pain, rather than just pleasure because, for me, that was exactly how it felt.
Pleasure that I could touch her one final time.
Pain that I had to let her go.
Within minutes, her entire body tensed like a coiled spring, vibrating with need as she rode the edge right along with me. Erotic whimpers tumbled from her mouth one after another until they blended into a symphony punctuating every lick, bite, suck and swivel of my hips. Desire and need hummed through my veins like morphine.
I couldn’t wait another minute.
I had to be inside of her.
I had to feel the perfection of us.
I captured her mouth with a mind-drugging kiss. Every flick and roll of my tongue told her without words that I belonged to her even if I couldn’t be with her.
Her hand snaked between our bodies and circled my length, sliding up and down in slow, lazy strokes. A desperate moan spilled from my mouth. Fuck that felt good. I closed my eyes and rocked my hips, but it wasn’t enough.
The pads of my fingers trailed down her waist, following the line of her body to her sex. Simultaneous groans tumbled from our mouths as I slid my finger inside of her. I moved in and out of her slick entrance.
“Do you like that?” I asked even though I knew she did. She was flushed and trembling. Her chest heaved with every breath.
“God yes,” she mumbled as her water-kissed lashes fluttered closed.
Her moans grew louder and louder with every pass of my fingers. Her facial expressions reprioritized my thoughts until I was hyper focused on her and her only.
Her parted lips.
Her heavy eyelids.
Her glowing skin.
She couldn’t have looked more beautiful if she tried.
Just as her muscles contracted around my fingers, I pulled my hand away.
“No,” she whispered, her pupils dilated.
“Shh. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” I lifted her hips and pressed the head of my cock against her sex, sliding it back and forth. “I want to be inside you when you come.”
“Mm.” She nodded as she bit down on her lower lip. Her gaze dropped as I lowered her hips, her lips kicking up into a hedonistic smile.
“See,” I said as lowered her slowly, watching until I disappeared inside of her. I felt like I was home again. No matter what happened she’d always belong to me and I’d belong to her.
A shaky exhalation whizzed through her lips, and I held my breath trying to control the need to claim her like a man possessed. I counted the seconds, giving her time to get used to me.
One.
Two.
Three.
And then, her walls clenched around my shaft, and my entire body shuddered. I didn’t even need to move to be on the verge of exploding. Fuck it. I bucked my hips up and down in time with her, and her breasts bounced. I clenched my jaw, trying to stave off the lust roaring like a ball of fire through my body.
My hands bit into her hips, and we rolled together. Water splashed over the rim of the tub. Her golden skin flushed pink. Her nipples hardened into tight raspberry buds that made my mouth water. Our jagged breaths echoed off the marble tiles.
Her body undulated as my fingers dug into her hips. I gave her everything I had. Going slow wasn’t an option. I forced us higher and higher until it felt like we were flying in a blur of bliss. Pleasure built at the base of my spine and static buzzed in my ears. I desperately needed to come, but I wouldn’t go without her. If this was our last time together, I wanted her to remember it.
I reached between her legs, rubbing energetic circles on her clit. Her movements became frenzied. Then, her muscles tensed, and a scream tore from her lips. I couldn’t stop my orgasm if someone had a gun pressed to my head. My muscles knotted, and I tipped over the edge with her. Satisfaction mixed with the emotional pain of goodbye ripped down my spine. My groans wrapped around her pleasure-laced cries.
When our orgasms faded, I lifted her out of the tub and carried her back to my bed.
I tucked her damp hair behind her ears. “Now you can sleep.”
Smiling lazily, her hand clamped around my waist. “Stay until I fall asleep. I don’t want to be alone anymore. I need you.”
My heart squeezed and despite my better judgment, I crawled in next to her. The minute my head hit the pillow, the last five days slammed into me like a wrecking ball. More than ever, I regretted the need to force Hattie out of my life, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to break her heart. I just hoped I’d be able to make it up to her somehow.
I lay quietly, bone deep tiredness claiming my limbs. My body begged me to sleep. I closed my eyes and drew her into my arms, my hard thighs pressing into her back and one arm possessively positioned around her waist. I promised myself I’d do what needed to be done tomorrow. Right now, Hattie was safe, and she was still mine. That’s all that mattered.
Chapter Thirteen
Hattie
The heavy coffee colored wood door to the bedroom opened. The hinges whined.
“Miss Covington, are you awake?” Ignacio asked, peeking inside.
I yanked the sheets up to my neck. “Yes.”
I couldn’t find my suitcase or anything belonging to me, so I put on one of Ryker’s t-shirts about an hour ago. The lack of adequate clothing kept me from roaming the house. I kept thinking Ryker would come to check on me any minute, but he hadn’t.