me and sucked in her bottom lip. “Next time, can you wear the Harry Potter glasses?”
I pulled back and studied her face, her features, the way her lips were parted, the way her breathing was labored when I thrust back inside her. “Are you going to pretend I’m Harry when we have sex?”
Her fingernails dug into my ass, and she moaned. “Technically … I’m legally blind without my glasses, and I can’t see a thing, so I can pretend you’re whoever I want you to be.”
I pushed into her deeper, harder, faster.
She groaned. “I’m kidding.” She lifted her head, her eyes heavily lidded, her cheeks flushed. “It’s only you. Only you, Brad.”
I kissed her with unrelenting passion, and we fell into a delicious tempo of back and forth and push and pull. Every moan was mine. Every word of praise was mine. Every shiver and kiss was mine. I wanted all her pleasure, and in that moment, I knew that no one mattered before her, and there would be no one after her. With every push and pull of our bodies against each other, I knew I loved her, truly, madly, and completely.
A hot tide of passion raged through both of us, and I gave everything to her as she shivered in ecstasy, letting go and screaming my name. I sank deep inside her one last time, clutching her to me as I had my own release.
Moments passed.
There was no itch to leave, no urge to get up and run like there had been in the past with other women, just an overwhelming need to hold on to her tighter and never let go.
When my heart rate slowed, I opened my eyes and brushed my nose against hers. I kissed her soft and sweet. “I love you.” It needed to be said. “So much.”
She took one savoring breath and brushed her thumb against my lips.
She didn’t respond, so I kissed her again. If she wasn’t ready, I’d wait. I’d wait forever for her to feel the same.
I flipped her over, so she was lying on my chest, and we were both breathless and content. I was on the craziest high.
I tightly wrapped both arms around her, and I knew I’d fight differently this time, for her, for us. I had lived my life fighting to win—in games, in arguments, in takeovers with other companies. I’d never fought with something to lose, and holding her in my arms, I knew life would be different. You fought differently when you had something to lose; you fought with every fiber of your being and until your very last breath. I’d fight for her happiness, her joy, her feelings for me.
When the shine of the moon highlighted the curve of her shoulders, it only confirmed that I was truly in love, just how she’d once described it.
“Have you ever been in love? So deeply in love that you want to be with them all the time and the sun rises and sets on their face and they’re the last person you want to see at the end of your day?”
Now, I knew what she’d meant weeks ago because I wanted the sun to rise on her face, to see the morning glow on her every feature.
I gently kissed her at her temple because I wanted to live in this moment, have her in my bed, in my life, and for her to be the last person I saw every single night.
“I love you,” I whispered again, now knowing what it felt like and hoping to God I’d never lose it.
Chapter 23
Brad
“Girls,” Becky yelled, walking back into the kitchen. “Get down here, please. You’re going to be late.”
“They’re dragging this morning.” Charles kissed his wife and continued to make Sarah and Mary’s lunches on the kitchen island.
Becky flipped the pancakes on the stove onto the plate already full of eggs and bacon. It was interesting, watching how they moved in domestic completeness, Charles with his sandwich-making skills and Becky with her perfection of the pancake.
Becky was a cook, just like my mother. It was nice, having them home, and I was enjoying being back at home. I’d been spending most of my nights at the condo with Sonia because the things I did to her could not be done in the vicinity of my nieces, my brothers, or sister-in-law.
Truth be told, Sonia was a screamer. There was no doubt, my neighbors heard us multiple times a night. I could tell by the knowing looks in