“Hmm,” I replied absently, holding her hips as I eased inside.
“You don’t have to go easy.”
I stilled, meeting her hot gaze. She looked at me with such genuine understanding, like she knew how fucking hard I was working to hold back on what I wanted to take. What I wanted her to give me.
“Just let go.”
The last vestiges of restraint disintegrated. “Hold on to the counter, kitten,” I ground out. I pressed my palm into the center of her back as I pulled out all the way to the piercing and slammed back in. Tenley sucked in a sharp breath, but she met each hard thrust as I picked up momentum.
Gathering her hair at the nape of her neck, I wrapped it around my hand. I tugged, angling her head so I could see her face. I couldn’t get close enough like this, though, couldn’t get far enough inside her, couldn’t put my mouth on hers.
My muscles shook from the effort to stave off the inevitable. I didn’t want to stop, ever. Like my ink, I wanted her permanence in my world. I covered her body with mine, thrusting deep. My lips parted against her shoulder, my teeth leaving an impression in her skin. I worked my way up the side of her neck, leaving marks behind. Little reminders of my existence for when I wasn’t with her.
She held the edge of the counter tightly as I continued to pound into her, telling her how good she felt, how much I loved being inside her, how I always wanted her.
“I told him you were mine,” I whispered when her muscles started to tremble.
She craned her neck and grabbed me by the hair. I kissed her hard as she came, shaking and moaning into my mouth.
25
TENLEY
Hayden was still inside me, his mouth by my ear, breathing hard. His admission—soaked in guilt—hung in the air, fueling the already uncontrolled desire between us.
I’d already come twice and he was still going, endless and unyielding as he slammed into me. Every harsh thrust pushed me higher, sent another shock wave of sensation radiating through me.
He threaded his fingers through mine, gripping the edge of the counter with our twined hands to give him more leverage. I groaned as he went even deeper, that insidious steel ball stroking from the inside. I couldn’t push back anymore, pinned as I was, completely at his mercy.
“You feel so fucking good,” he said almost plaintively, his lips against my cheek, my neck, my shoulder as he continued to fill and retreat, over and over. “Do I make you feel good?”
“Yes,” I rasped, dragging in a ragged breath.
“Only me,” he murmured, releasing one of my hands. My fingers tingled with the sudden rush of blood. Hayden’s palm ghosted down my side and around my hip. Going lower, his fingers glided over my clit.
“Tell me,” Hayden demanded, but it sounded like a plea. “Tell me I’m the only one.”
“Only you,” I whispered, the truth in those two words more devastating than he could understand. I was so lost in him.
“That’s right,” he said with relief. His fingers circled in time to the heavy rhythm of his thrusts. I came again, the world spinning away from me, and Hayden followed behind, whispering words I couldn’t decipher.
He untwined our fingers and pushed up, the cool air against my damp skin a shock after the heat and weight of his body. Hands on my hips, he eased out with a low hiss, as if the sensation was unpleasant. The resulting emptiness settled in my chest, causing a frightening ache to swell. Sex with Hayden was always intense, but this was new. As primal and seductive as he could be, he always retained some element of control. Tonight he had struggled and failed. I’d never seen him so undone. And I’d never felt as connected to him as I did now. Even though it made me vulnerable, I wanted more of it.
I tested out my forearms, pushing up on them unsteadily.
“Ah, shit.” His fingers drifted along the side of my neck to my shoulder. “I was way too rough, wasn’t I?”
He hadn’t been. He’d been primal. I’d never felt needed so acutely. Connor had been a passive lover, nothing like Hayden. But beyond the physical possession, the emotional impact Hayden had on me was overwhelming. Every time we were together like this, the undeniable draw intensified.
“Not too rough,” I reassured him, “but I feel like I’ve taken orgasm-induced muscle relaxants.”
Hayden wrapped an arm around my waist, helping me into an upright position. He looked relieved as he scooped me up and carried me to bed.
*
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Again.
“If you don’t answer that, I’m going to throw the phone out the window. It’s been going off for the past ten minutes. Who the hell needs to get a hold of you at seven in the morning on a fucking Saturday?” Hayden grumbled and buried his head under a pillow.