Her fingers dance through my hair. “Yes, I know that.”
We sink into the pleasure of each other’s lips, and she reaches between my legs to touch me over my shorts.
I hiss as the heat of her palm presses against me. “Missed those hands.”
“They missed you too.” She strokes me into a frenzy, and before I know it, I’m naked and crawling onto the massage table.
She welcomes me between her legs, and the second we make contact we both suck in a breath as her heat envelops me. I grit my teeth and edge in slowly, terrified of hurting her, and the sensation is beyond imaginable. Little by little we come together completely, her chest pressed to mine so much I can feel her heart pounding against my ribs.
I slide my arms beneath her back, my hands coming up behind her to grip her head. I ease out and in with intentional strokes, savoring every lick of pleasure she coaxes from me.
“Yes.” Her chin tilts to capture my lips, and I kiss her with the intensity of a man starved for a year.
Our movements turn feverish in an explosion of emotion from a year of being apart. This isn’t the slow connection I was hoping for, but we’re too lost in each other to go slow, giving in to the passion that burns hot between us. Her breath hitches with every thrust until she cries out so loud I cover her mouth with mine. She bites and sucks on my lips as I work her through her orgasm, only sending my own to crash in behind hers.
She locks her heels at the backs of my thighs as I ride out my release and nuzzle her neck to keep my own moans from carrying out of the room.
My head is light with euphoria that has more to do with the woman than it does the mind-blowing finish. “You’re perfect, everything…” Emotions pull me in every direction, and I drop my forehead to her neck. “I needed this.”
She sighs and releases her lock on my legs. “You needed…this.”
There’s a coolness in her voice that turns my blood to ice. I pull back and stare down at her, but she’s looking away.
My gut clenches and my chest aches. “What?”
She wiggles beneath me, and I push back to my knees so she can get up and off the table. “I made a mistake.”
“What?”
“I can’t do this.” She pulls her clothes off the floor and scurries behind a folding wall, hiding her naked body from me.
“Do what? Have sex?” My gut churns with anger. “Because it’s a little too late for that, sweetheart.”
Her breath hitches behind the thin paper divider, and I grit my teeth, wishing I could take it back. I scoop my shorts up off the floor and slide them on, searching for the right combination of words that will diffuse the explosion I feel coming.
She steps around the screen, fully dressed, smoothing her hair back into a ponytail. “That is exactly why…” She turns to face me and there’s fire in her glare. “You need to go.”
I stand firm and shake my head. “No way.”
Her jaw falls open, and she shoves her finger toward the door. “Go!”
“No.”
Her glare sharpens, and I could swear I hear a purr-like growl rumbling in her throat. “What are you doing?”
“I never should’ve listened to you when you told me to go.” I step into her space. “I’m not going to let you push me away again. Not now. Not ever.”
“You don’t get a say in what I do.”
“I do now.”
She stomps a foot, and if I weren’t so pissed, I’d laugh. “No, you don’t!”
“Have you not been listening? I am in love with you—”
“Don’t do that!” Her eyes glisten with tears.
I want to touch her, to pull her to me and hold her tight until she understands, but I can tell by her rigid stance that’s not what she wants. “Axelle Rose Daniels.” I take a step closer, pleading with her to hear me. “I love you.”
“Stop saying that.” She shrinks back and her lip trembles. “Stop saying you love me when you’re leaving for London next week.”
My pulse speeds, but my blood feels like mud in my veins. “How would you know that? No one’s supposed to know—”
“Cam said—”
“I’m not sure if I’m leaving.”
She blinks up at me. “So, you’re staying? In Vegas?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“I thought I’ve been making this clear. It depends on you. If you’ll give us a shot, I’m staying to take it. But if this is all we have left, me holding on while you’re kicking me off, Ax…” I shake my head, unable to complete the thought let alone say the words. “I’ll fight for us, but I’ll need you to fight too.”
“You love the damsel in distress. I’m not her anymore.”
“I love you.”
She huffs. “I’ll drive you crazy with all the reasons why we won’t work out. I’ll push and push, and one day I’ll push you past your limit. You’ll walk away from me, Killian. I know you will.”
I reach to pull her in my arms, to prove to her with my body what I’m trying to communicate with my words, but she shrugs me off and pushes past me.
“Axelle, I won’t.” I make the X across my heart. “I promise.”