We’re connected by something precious, something bigger than ourselves. It’s led us through a million miles of separation and death and unimaginable pain. Where it takes us next, I don’t know. I can only focus on the present and the unshakable love I feel for him.
Pushing up on his arms, he widens his legs and forces mine to spread around his thighs. His urgency is palpable, reverberating through his grunts and the erratic thrusts of his hips.
“I’m close.” He twists his fingers in my hair. “I want to see your eyes.”
I haven’t looked away, and I won’t. Clutching his neck with both hands, I hold our faces inches apart and tighten my inner muscles. “Come in me, Cole.”
He chokes, gasps. Then he comes long and hard, groaning, panting, and spilling into my body as love spills from his eyes.
Moments later, we lie on our sides in a tangle of exhaustion, touching, kissing, and catching our breaths. The electronic melody of Latch by Disclosure thrums from my phone, injecting the atmosphere with mellow sensuality.
“Have you done that before?” I burrow against his chest and wrap a leg over his hip.
“Hmm?” He stares at my mouth with hooded eyes.
“Scuba sex?”
“No.” His gaze lifts to mine. “But we’ll definitely be doing it again.”
“Tonight?” My voice squeaks.
His recovery rate is unparalleled, and since he’s gone without for so long, I’m certain it’ll be a sleepless night. I just hope I have the energy to keep up with him.
“Not tonight.” He touches my face and kisses me tenderly. “Physical activity during a dive impacts decompression safety. You need to take it easy for the rest of the night.” He skims a palm down my back and slaps a stinging whack against my ass. Then his lips twist impishly. “You can just lie there while I do all the work.”
By letting him into my body, I didn’t just open the door. I ripped it off the hinges. There’s no turning back now. He’ll fuck me as often as he can, in as many positions as possible, until neither of us can walk.
I expect him to roll on top of me and take me again immediately. But he doesn’t. He climbs to his feet, all hard and naked and fully erect, and dives into the pool, entering the water like an aerodynamic bullet.
We spend the next hour gathering and storing equipment, cleaning up the area, and changing into warm clothes. As he leads me into the dark parking lot behind the building, there’s a chill in the air that seeps beneath my coat and shivers my bones.
I bend over the saddle of his motorcycle to unhook our helmets, and his hands catch my wrists. He stands behind me, his groin pressed against my ass as he wrenches my arms behind my back.
“Cole?” My whisper echoes in the dark silence, and my pulse accelerates.
“I thought I could wait until we got home.” He leans over my bent position with his breath ragged and hot on my neck. “But I’m done waiting.”
My gasp shivers the air with white plumes, my chest rising and falling against the bike seat. The parking lot is empty, and we’re tucked in the shadows behind the shop, surrounded by tree cover. But it’s a commercial property. There would be some kind of security in place.
I turn my head, straining to scan the perimeter. “Cameras—”
“We’re out of view of the lens.” He folds my hands together against my tailbone, his voice gruff. “Lock your fingers. Yeah, like that. Now rest your weight on the seat.”
I relax my chest against the bike and close my eyes. He unclasps the button on my jeans and yanks the denim and panties to my thighs with an impatient tug. Then he fumbles with his own fly, and the sound of his zipper spikes a jolt of heat to my pussy.
There, in the hush of a dark parking lot, he caresses me, fingers me, and sinks into my body with a hissing groan. The strokes of his cock are unhurried, the hands on my skin firm yet soft with devotion.
He rides me to orgasm before finding his own release. Then he takes me home and fucks me again and again.
Hours later, I curl up against his warm body in my bed and sink into a satiated sleep.
It’s still dark outside when I wake. I roll to my back and squint in the pitch-black of my bedroom. Sliding an arm across the mattress, I reach for him only to find the space beside me cold and empty.
I lift on an elbow and glance at the clock. 3:12 AM.
Where did he go?
As I shift toward the edge of the bed, my attention catches on the shadow in the corner of the room.
“Cole?”
The dark outline of his head lifts. I can’t see his eyes, but I can make out his slumped posture where he sits on the floor with his arms resting on his bent knees.
“What’s wrong?” I crawl across the mattress, closing the distance.
His inky eyes hold mine for an elusive moment before he rests his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling.
Dread slithers up my spine. I slide off the bed and kneel beside him.
“Hey.” I trail my fingers along the tense muscles in his face. “Talk to me.”
His nostrils widen with a heavy inhale, and he clasps his hands in front of him, pressing his palms together, fidgeting. Then he finds my gaze in the dark.
“I’m just…” A swallow bounces in his throat. “I’m dealing with some shit in my head.”
I run a hand through his hair, my whisper shaking with nerves. “Like what? Why do you look so scared?”
He releases a sharp breath. “I’m terrified that one day I’m going to watch you walk away with the one who stole my dance.” His eyes cut away before shifting back. “You won’t even glance back at me, because you’ll be so absorbed by the life he gives you. A stable future, your career, his philanthropy. And the breathtaking smile on your face… I won’t be the one giving you that, either. That’s when I’ll know, when I’ll really truly know just how badly I fucked up the best thing I ever had.”
“You didn’t fuck anything up.”
“I left you!” He leaps to his feet, knocking into the dresser in his distress. “I deserted you, chasing some bullshit career—”
“It wasn’t bullshit.” My heart hammers as I stand to face him. “It meant something to you.”
“You meant more. Then and now. But that fucking realization is too little, too late.”
“It’s not—” Uncertainty fists my throat, choking my words. “You’re not too late.”
“Then marry me. Tomorrow. Be my life, Danni.”
My breaths grow shallow and panicky, and my eyes burn with moisture. I want to say yes. I want to scream it, because I can’t bear the pain contorting his face.
You’re trying to determine who will be less heartbroken.
“Cole, I…” I press a hand against my mouth, silencing the tears in my voice.
“Dammit.” He rushes toward me and envelopes me in a constricting embrace. “I’m sorry. I’m not pushing you. I’m just…”
“Scared.”
“Yeah.” He kisses my head, my temple, then my lips. “I’m afraid to close my eyes. Afraid that when I open them, you’ll be gone.”
“I’m here.” I press my mouth to the corner of his. “I’ll be here when you wake. I promise.”
“Okay.” He nods, and nods again, as if assuring himself.