His back hits the door, his own eyes glazing over as his body sags into the wood. The sight of Miller Hart fighting to prevent his tears from falling rips my heart from my chest and makes my knees buckle, sending my body folding to the floor. My chin hits my chest, and my hair tumbles over my shoulders. And I cry. The broken man before me has always made my eyes hurt, but this time it’s not with pleasure at his beauty. This time it’s seeing him looking so tormented. Desperate. Ruined.
I’m engulfed by him in a nanosecond, his warm arms wrapped tightly around me, my face pushed into his chest. ‘Don’t cry,’ he whispers, pulling me onto his lap. ‘I need you to be strong for me.’
I’m scooped up and carried to the bed. ‘It ends here,’ he says, laying me down gently and spreading his body over me, burying his face in my neck. I don’t fight. I let his body melt into mine, let his strength seep into me, holding onto him like my life depends on it. He does the same. Each of us is squeezing tightly, both of our hearts pounding a strong, steady thrum. I can hear the beats. We’re both coming back to life.
His head lifts slowly until I’m staring into blue eyes filled with anguish. ‘I’m so sorry.’ He wipes my eyes. ‘I know I’ve run away, too, but I accept it now.’ He dips and kisses me gently, his soft lips wanted and terribly needed. ‘I need you to do the same.’ He sits up and pulls me onto his lap with ease, swamping me with his arms and kissing my face repeatedly. ‘What we have is beautiful, Olivia. I can’t give it up.’ He grasps my dress by the hem but doesn’t set about removing it. ‘May I?’
I answer by pushing his suit jacket from his shoulders, and he drops my dress to allow me to rid him of it. I need his na**d skin on mine.
‘Thank you,’ he breathes, removing my dress and casting it aside. His lips find mine and begin a delicate caress, his tongue tentative and soft as it slips into my mouth. My mind blanks, but my body responds instinctively. I accept his kiss, returning his soft, lazy pace, soaking up the emotion pouring from his entire being. His warm hands are all over me, touching and feeling everywhere, reminding me of the lack of skin beneath my palms. I start unbuttoning his waistcoat, then his shirt, until my hands are diving inside the material, feeling him everywhere for too short a time before I’m pushing the garments from his body, refusing to release his lips, not even to take in his perfect torso. Once his arms are free again, he unhooks the clasp of my bra and slowly pulls it from my body, exposing my tight, tingling ni**les. He breaks our kiss, and I whimper in protest, reaching down to unfasten his trousers.
That hypnotising mouth is parted, allowing breathy pants to escape, and his eyes are focused on my modest br**sts. I pull at his trousers once they’re undone, impatient for him to be naked.
He rips his eyes from my chest and looks up at me. ‘Taste me.’
I waste no time, but I seek out his neck rather than his mouth, nibbling on his throat and taking a long inhale of his manly scent. I’m all over him, making him moan and mumble in gratification.
‘My mouth,’ he groans, and I divert immediately to his lips with his plea. ‘Oh Jesus, Olivia.’ Big palms find my cheeks and hold my head securely while we kiss, soft and slow. ‘I can’t imagine anything could feel better than kissing you,’ he says against my lips. ‘Tell me you’re mine.’
I nod against him and meet his swirling tongue as he takes me down to the bed, letting me quickly push his trousers down his long legs. He abandons me momentarily, producing a condom from nowhere and slipping it on, hissing and clenching his eyes shut before falling back down to my body. I whimper when he settles between my thighs and I feel the broad head of his erection nudging at my entrance.
‘Say it.’ He bites at my bottom lip, rearing back. ‘Don’t deny me.’
‘Yours.’ There’s no question.
He rests his forehead on mine and pushes into me on a controlled surge of breath. ‘Thank you.’
‘Miller,’ I sigh, feeling the pieces of my fallen heart merging back together. My eyes close on a satisfied exhale, a peace settling over me, and he begins a lazy sway of his hips. With my hands free, I can touch him, and I make the most of it, slowly sliding my palms everywhere, feeling every inch of him. Our tongues are dancing sweetly, his h*ps are rolling gently, and reverence is pouring from him. He’s fully redeemed, his attentiveness extinguishing the horror scene of this hotel, this perfect moment reminding me of the sweet, gentle man he is when he’s worshipping me – the man I need him to be. The man he wants to be. For me.
‘I’m never freeing your lips,’ he declares, our sweaty bodies slipping languidly. ‘Never.’ I’m rolled from beneath him so I’m straddling his lap, still full to the maximum, the movement sending him so incredibly deep.
‘Oh God!’ My palms slap into his abs and brace, my chin hitting my chest.
‘Fuck!’ Miller curses, grinding up into me, his hands gripping the tops of my thighs. ‘Olivia Taylor,’ he whispers. ‘My most precious possession.’
‘You’re never freeing my lips,’ I choke through the desire, then gasp as his palm is quickly secured on my nape and yanking me down to his face. He thrusts up again. I cry out.