“I’ll tell you what I want, and then we can go from there. How’s that?” He waited for me to nod before saying anything else, probably experiencing the same nerves that I did. “If you want to stay here for two years, I want you under my roof. Whether that’s this house or we move to another one, I don’t care, I just want you with me. And then after you pick the university you want to attend, I’ll find a job at a school there.”
“I like that plan,” I said with a grin.
“Bree, I see myself marrying you, raising a family with you, and growing old together. That’s honestly what’s taken me a month to work out. I was scared you weren’t ready to hear that. Or that you’d realize how big the world is and want to take advantage of your freedom after high school.”
“I only want you, Axel. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Not now, and not in twenty years. You became my confidante without even realizing it. Then you were my friend. You’re my best friend. What we have isn’t physical or perverse, it’s real. It’s honest. And it’s so damn good. The best thing I’ve ever had.”
He lifted his hand to my face and wiped off a tear I hadn’t even known was there. “What’s this for?”
“I’m happy. I don’t think I’ve ever cried happy tears before.”
“Tell me why you’re happy, Bree.”
I didn’t need to think of the answer, and I had not one ounce of hesitation. “Because I’m in love with my best friend. And I think he loves me, too.”
“Think?” he asked, pretending to be offended. “Then, baby, I haven’t done my job right if you aren’t sure about how I feel. I love you more than history.”
My laugh hiccupped in my throat. “And I love you more than furniture.”
“I love you more than Romeo loved Juliette.”
“So cliché, Axel. So cliché. I love you more than Jack loved Rose.”
He cocked his head, clearly confused.
“Titanic. He loved her so much he let her have the wooden door to float on while he froze to death in the icy water. It ended up killing him. Probably not the best idea, and I’m sure he regretted that decision as his frozen body sank with the ship, but eh…it was out of love. A lot of love. And I love you more.”
“Damn, baby, we sure do love each other a lot,” he teased before I melted my lips with his, pulling his body flush to mine. His heart thudded against my chest, matching the rhythm of my own.
His hand tightened on my hip, the other held my face to his. After a second, he pulled back slightly, and I thought the kiss was over. But then the warmth of his tongue graze the seam of my lips, and it caused me to gasp in surprise. Axel used the opportunity to push further, invading my mouth completely.
I was swept up in the storm of his passion, my mind hazy with lust. Tingles spread through me, coating my skin in chills. I had lost all sense of everything as my hips began to roll into him on their own. Moans and grunts mingled in the night air, creating our own soundtrack as our bodies collided.
Our lips separated and heated breaths filled the space between them as we both fought to gain control. Yet it seemed impossible to do—our bodies rubbing together felt too good to concentrate on anything else.
“Fuck, Bree,” he said in a throaty whisper.
At the sound of his desperation and the feel of his excitement, my pleasure spiked. The once enjoyable ache spread into my lower belly, and I had a hard time controlling my body.
“Axel,” I whimpered breathlessly into his ear as I hovered on the verge of collapse.
The fire just kept growing and growing, and I knew that at some point soon, it would explode.
I gasped and my motions turned jerky. Axel’s hands tightened on my hips, his fingertips digging into bone. But then in a flash, he flipped me over. I don’t know how he did it—one second I sat on his lap, and the next, I landed on my back with his hard body covering mine.
“Bree…Bree,” he whispered with heavy pants, focusing on my eyes. “Let’s slow down. I’m sure we just crossed about ten lines. We don’t have to do this.”
I lifted my hips, the ache too much to bear. “Please, Axel. I need this. I’m going to explode without it.”
“Baby, you’ll explode if I give it to you, but we shouldn’t be doing this. Especially outside where anyone can see us.”
“It’s dark, no one can see who I am.” My excuses were pathetic, but I didn’t care. I continued to thrust my hips into his, seeking release for the pleasurable pain that plagued me between my thighs. “I need it. Please.”
He harshly leaned into me once, pushing me back into the ground. “What do you need, Bree? Tell me. Say it.”
“This…” Instead of words, I demonstrated what my body needed by opening my legs wider and rubbing my covered sex along the hardness that strained against the zipper of his dress pants.
He groaned and pulled away slightly. “Fuck, Aubrey. We can’t do this.”
“I love you and you love me. I’m not asking you to take me right now. I just need you to help me make this go away.”
“It will go away on it’s own. You just have to let the blood settle.”
“No.” I shook my head vehemently.
“And what about after this? What happens after you see how good it feels?”
“I can’t think that far ahead right now, Axel. Do something…or I will.”
He studied my eyes, probably trying to see through my threat. “You will what?”
I didn’t answer him, only trailed a hand down my body to the now damp part of my panties. For added effect, I bit down on my lower lip, arched my back so that my chest brushed against his, and moaned. Embarrassment didn’t even have time to set in before he slapped my hand away, gripped my hip hard, and rolled his pelvis into mine.
Sparks flew behind my eyes and the heated pressure in my lower stomach intensified. The air in my lungs depleted, but I couldn’t think enough to refill them. All my focus centered on the building fire threatening to burn me alive. The closer I came to the peak, the more my head tilted back, opening my neck for Axel’s blazing lips and sweet breath.
With my hands fisting his shirt at his sides, I gasped, falling over the edge. My entire body became overheated, yet freezing cold at the same time. My legs quivered uncontrollably as his body started to slow between them. And no matter how much air I tried to take in, I couldn’t draw in more than short, useless pants. I felt out of control and incapable of thought. Confused, yet completely understanding. Numb, but at the same time, overly sensitive.
Axel’s thrusts slowed to a stop, but he remained settled on top of me, between my legs with his face buried in the crook of my neck. Our heaving chests fought against the tight space between them, both needing it at the same time. I may have been taken care of, but the evidence that he remained unfulfilled, swelled against my pelvic bone. So when he finally pulled away, holding himself up by his hands on either side of my head, I used the opportunity to reach for him.
“Aubrey, no,” he said in a harsh rush of air, grabbing me by my wrist before I could do anything more than timidly touch him.
“Why not?”
He must have heard my insecure tone. His grip loosened and his expression relaxed. “Because, I don’t need you to do that. You can’t do it. That’s going way too far.”
“Don’t you want me to?” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice.
He gave me a quick peck before completely removing himself from my body, closing my legs together and fixing the skirt part of my dress to cover me. “Of course I do. That’s a stupid question. We should’ve never let it go that far, but I couldn’t say no because I wanted you too much. But we have to stop. This is what I was telling you, Bree. In the heat of the moment, it becomes far too hard to step on the brakes.”