certain I’ll leave bruises, and at the same time, he swells inside me and then shudders his own release.
We both heave for breaths together, and I can’t help the contented smile that lifts the corners of my mouth.
Dean pulls back and looks at me, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. “You happy, sugar lips?”
“Definitely,” I reply, wrapping my legs tighter around him and wishing we could stay in this moment forever.
“Want to go again?”
“Definitely.”
A few months later
“Dean!” Norah’s voice calls out from behind me, and I turn away from the luggage carousel to see her running toward me, full steam ahead. I drop my carry-on in time to catch her as she barrels into my chest, arms tight around my neck, legs snug around my hips.
She’s like my own little spider monkey.
I band my arms around her waist and turn my freshly shaven face into her neck and hair to inhale deeply. Thank fuck Paris hasn’t changed her scent. God I’ve missed this smell.
I’ve missed this woman.
It’s been two months since she left Boulder, and I only had six weeks with her before she left. It wasn’t enough. I didn’t come close to getting sick of her. Not even when she talked me into staying with her in Denver when the bakery ended up requiring more of her time than she originally anticipated.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re actually here!” she cries into my shoulder, her body shaking against mine.
I laugh and squeeze tighter before lowering her back to the ground. “Let me get a look at you,” I say, pushing back the hair from her face that’s grown out a lot since she left eight whole weeks ago. “You look well-traveled.”
She smiles and wraps her arms around my waist, pulling me close. “Well, I am…I’ve been to six countries since I’ve arrived.”
“And which city is your favorite?” I ask, pinning her with a look.
Her eyes warm as she reaches up and cups my face in her hand. “I’m going to have to go with Boulder.”
“You are such a suck-up,” I growl and dip my head to kiss her.
Holy fucking hell, it’s been too long since I’ve felt these lips. Way too fucking long. It’s amazing how easy it was to fall into a relationship with Norah.
I reach around her and grab her ass, giving it a hearty squeeze right in front of all the other people waiting for their luggage.
She squeals and swats me on the chest, effectively breaking our kiss. “What are you doing?”
“I’m seeing if that big ass you’re working on is coming along nicely.”
“Well, stop…there are people around.”
“Don’t care,” I reply, dropping a kiss to her nose. “Besides, isn’t this the city of love? Surely, a cheeky ass grab isn’t that shocking.”
We retrieve my luggage from customs and make our way out to the bank of taxis on the curb. Norah sits in the middle of the back seat, our bodies entwined as she talks a mile a minute, pointing out various landmarks as we make our way to her friend Chelle’s pied-à-terre.
It’s incredible being near Norah again. It’s shocking how I’ve lived most of my adulthood avoiding relationships, and the minute I find myself in one, she bags off to Paris for three months. I wanted to come out and surprise her a month ago, but I held back. She and Chelle were doing some amazing backpacking, and as much as I missed her, I didn’t want to be that guy who couldn’t let his girlfriend off the leash for too long.
But now that I’m here, she’s going to have to fight me off with a stick.
Norah bites her lip and shoots me a wicked smile. “I have a surprise for you.”
“What?” I ask, waffling our fingers together as we pull down a residential street.
“Chelle is away for the full two weeks you’re here. She found someone to cover for her at the restaurant, and she’s staying with a friend in Belgium.”
“You’re kidding,” I growl, dipping my head in to kiss her lips. “So, you’re saying we have her place to ourselves for two whole weeks?”
“Yep,” Norah chirps as I bite her neck and suck a little.
God, I seriously need to get her naked, fast.
The driver turns down several weird angled streets before stopping at a tall apartment building with tiny terraces and café-lined squares outside of it. After we grab my bags, I follow Norah inside the lobby of the building, and by the time the elevator door closes, my lips are