“Oh God,” she gasped, her mouth falling open and her back arching.
Releasing a shaky exhale, Reid slid his hands underneath her, the angle deepening his long strokes and pushing him closer to the edge. She tensed, her body stiffening before she cried out and began to spasm around him. It was all Reid needed to let go. He kissed her with a groan as the fire in his stomach ignited, spreading through his veins like a drug. With each pulse of pleasure he drifted higher; weightless and sated.
Unable to support his weight, Reid rolled to his back and pulled Chloe against his side. With his arm around her back and her head nestled on his chest, he kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. Never had he felt more complete, more at peace, than he did holding Chloe next to him. Covering their bodies with a blanket, he pulled her leg over his hips and relaxed into the mattress.
“Chloe,” he whispered, smiling when the sound of her soft, even breaths was her only response. Feeling the lure of sleep dragging him under, he laced his fingers around her and sighed.
“I love you.”
The beginning traces of dawn were filtering through the window when Chloe began to wake. The first thing she noticed was how warm she felt. The second was the source of said warmth. Blinking once, then twice, Chloe’s vision came into focus. For a moment, blinding panic crashed over her before the previous night came rushing back. She was with Reid. He was single. And he said he was in love with her.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and a soft smile curved her lips. Tilting her head, she placed a kiss to the underside of his jaw. When he didn’t respond, she laughed softly and turned to slip out of the bed. As soon as she moved, Reid tightened his arms around her and groaned.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
Reid opened one eye no more than a slit, his face twisted with displeasure. “Fine, but hurry up.”
Chloe patted his arm and stood, grabbing his shirt off the floor as she made her way to the bathroom. When she turned on the light, she grimaced. Dark smudges of mascara ringed her eyes and her hair was a disaster. Slipping Reid’s shirt on, she grabbed the neck and pressed it to her face. Faint traces of laundry detergent and body wash filled her senses. It was a simple thing, smelling his shirt, but the intimacy of wearing it while doing so caused warmth to spread through her.
With a silly smile, Chloe cleaned up a little before tiptoeing back into the bedroom. Reid was in the same position, his chest rising with deep, even breaths. For a moment, she just stared at him, wondering how in the matter of a few hours everything could be so different. Not wanting to wake him, and unable to go back to sleep, Chloe grabbed her phone and earbuds and settled in the chair across the room with her notebook. Flipping through the pages, she stopped when she found the lyrics she’d written about Reid. The memory of the night he kissed her then left her feeling hurt and ashamed came rushing back. She smoothed her hand across the words and sighed.
There were millions of songs and poems about unrequited love. The longing. The loneliness. The self-loathing. But to experience those feelings when she stared a little too long or allowed her thoughts to venture down a reality that didn’t exist could never be put into words. Flipping to a blank page, Chloe turned on her music and started writing random thoughts, rhyming words, and fragmented sentences that would eventually come together. Nearly an hour passed before her stomach rumbled. Rubbing her bleary eyes, she gasped when she realized Reid was sitting up in the bed staring at her.
“I didn’t know you were awake.”
Reid smiled. “I don’t think you would have noticed a tornado tearing through the room.”
Chloe shrugged and ducked her chin. “You should have said something.”
Reid smirked and stood, his boxers hanging low as he crossed the room. “I liked watching you. I’ve seen you writing in that thing for months but never while wearing my shirt.” He slipped his hand under the material and squeezed her thigh. “Good morning.”
Chloe leaned forward and touched her lips to his. “That it is.”
“Are you hungry?” he mumbled, moving his lips to her jaw.
“Starving.” Chloe worried if he kept kissing her like he was, they would die of starvation before she allowed either of them to leave the room. Apparently reading her mind, Reid placed a final kiss on her neck and stood.
“Why don’t we get ready and go grab some food?” he asked, pulling her to her feet. “I’ll run to my room then come back here, okay?”
Chloe reluctantly agreed before stripping out of his shirt and handing it to him with a smirk. “You might need this.”
With a mischievous smile, Reid slowly pulled the material from her hand and dropped it to the floor. Tracing the curve of her waist to the underside of her breast, he stepped closer. “I think breakfast can wait a little.”