to meet you. And she’s not so bad when she’s not talking about my dad.”
I squeeze his hand, feeling like we’re already off to a great start. Dean pulls my hand up and kisses it tenderly before adding, “And I want you to know when I told you I felt unsafe with you, it’s because the stakes are high here. I don’t want to hurt you or for you to hurt me.”
My chin trembles at the vulnerability in his voice. “I feel the same way.”
He nods and squeezes my hand. “But Kate says love is worth taking a risk, and she has a self-proclaimed PhD in romance.”
I huff out a laugh. “As long as she doesn’t suggest swinging, she gives out solid advice.”
Dean kisses my hand again and looks around. “So, you’re selling your Boulder apartment for sure? Is that really necessary?”
I sigh and sit back to take in the place we’re in. “I kind of want to find a place farther away from the bakery. I need better boundaries in my life, you know?”
Dean nods thoughtfully. “And…Paris?”
“Paris,” I repeat with a grin.
He reaches over and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. “That will be awesome for you.”
I turn my face into his hand to kiss his palm. “I’m thinking Denver should be settled in a month, and then I can probably book my flight.” I narrow my eyes at him and add, “Do you really want to come out and visit me?”
“Fuck yes, I do,” he replies with a frown and puffs his chest out like a caveman. “I’m not letting your sexy ass run the streets of Paris alone.”
“Is that right?” I can’t stop smiling.
“Yes,” he growls and grabs my waist, pulling me onto his lap to straddle him. His eyes burn with possession as he adds, “I’ll give you space to do your thing, but not too much.”
“That sounds good.” I splay my hands out on his chest and lean down to brush my lips against his, wondering how I could ever want space from this man. I pull back and murmur into his ear. “You might be sick of me in a month anyway.”
“You might be sick of me,” he volleys back, letting out a little groan as he tastes my neck and slips his hands under the back of my shirt.
I inhale his perfect scent as though it was made just for me. “I doubt that.”
“I doubt that too.”
He undoes the clasp of my bra with very little effort, and my nipples are hard as stone as my breasts point directly at what I want. I straighten on his lap as he pulls my top and bra off and growls when his eyes feast on my breasts. He tosses his glasses to the side before leaning in to suck each nipple into his mouth in long, luxurious kisses. His chin whiskers cause delicious prickles to alight all over my chest as I grab his head and pull him closer.
“Dean,” I moan as my hips gyrate on his lap, my panties soaking with arousal as he continues worshipping my breasts, his hands clutching my sides possessively. “Dean,” I cry out again and pull his face up to look at me before I say, “Make love to me.”
“God, yes,” he croaks, and suddenly, he stands, holding me around his waist as he makes his way down the hallway toward the bedroom.
Dean drops me onto the bed and makes quick work of his clothes and the rest of mine. He crawls over me and kisses me fiercely, possessively, his lips reacquainting themselves with mine as his silky erection slides between us.
“I need you inside me,” I beg against his lips.
“One more kiss,” he says, rubbing his nose against my cheek before finding my lips again. “God, I missed you,” he growls as he pulls away and positions his tip between my legs.
“I missed you too,” I groan out as he drives into me hard and fast, stilling inside me like he wants to lie here and live for a while.
My hands clutch his back as I will him to move, and he gets the message. He pumps in and out slow and steady, moving his mouth to kiss my neck and collarbone and any other part of my body he can reach while still remaining firmly connected down below.
Our cries of passion fill the room as we both succumb to the coiled tension inside us. When I shatter around him, I grip his back so hard I’m