That was the moment I realized how much he meant to me. How much he’d always meant to me.
He’d been the guy who’d told me my high school boyfriend had been messing around with another girl, and then he’d taken it upon himself to take me to homecoming so I wouldn’t have to go alone. He was the guy who picked me up from the first house party I went to when I’d had too much to drink. Only now had it become clear he’d stayed sober that night for me, just in case. He made sure I’d never been taken advantage of by a car salesman, a contractor, or a realtor. Shit, even my vet had been vetted by Hudson.
And when I’d needed him to protect me from the vast pit of agony I’d fallen into after Brenden’s accident, he’d been there too. Driving me to and from the hospital at all hours, when he had a one-year-old and a brand-new business. He made sure I didn’t starve or fall into a never-ending sleep when Brenden finally passed. He even went as far as rationing out the sleeping pills I’d been prescribed to make sure I didn’t take too many “by accident.” Without me even telling him, he somehow knew how low I’d gotten and what I’d considered a time or two to ease the pain.
My other friends and family had been there for me too, but it was the man above me who had driven me to the beach and told me to heal there and say goodbye.
Hudson was right. He’d always protected me, even from myself. It wasn’t often when I let my mask slip, when I showed exactly how vulnerable I was, but he was right. With him, I was safe.
As his thumb rubbed a circle on my cheek, I leaned into his palm and kissed his hand, holding it with my own.
“No condom. I want to be the only thing you feel tonight, Hudson.”
He growled and claimed my mouth, and I fell under his spell again, not even noticing when he heaved me up the bed to the pillows. The way he moved was so smooth and intentional and effortless. He didn’t rush, but he worked with such intensity that my head swam with an all-consuming sensation.
When he couldn’t get his hand up the front of my dress the way he wanted, he roared again. I loved the idea of him wanting me so badly. But before I could help him, he slipped an arm under me and masterfully worked the zipper in reverse, and then in one deft motion, my little black dress was a little black pool of satin on the floor.
Holding his weight on one elbow, he studied me with his eyes and hands. His mouth open and his breathing labored, he tenderly traced my peaked nipples and my bare breasts, the line down my stomach, and the outline of my black lace underwear. He cataloged every square inch of me.
For a moment, while I had my wits, I watched him too. It was probably a silly thing to notice, but the way his face had gone slack and soft as he took me in made me feel beautiful, precious. Ever the explorer, Hudson pulled my panties to the side with his thumb and gazed at me bared to him for the first time. His blue eyes flared, and he licked his lips.
Instinctively, I spread my legs, but that wasn’t enough for him and he draped my right leg over his hip as he shifted to his side and smoothed his long fingers back and forth over my lacy center.
It felt so damn good and all he was doing was touching me over the fabric, but just as I thought that, he stopped the pads of his fingertips over my clit and rubbed circles until all I saw was the backs of my eyelids.
Then, like he had at the restaurant earlier, his gravelly voice rumbled against my ear, “I don’t know whether to be angry with myself for taking so long to do this…or to be thankful. Because I swear to fucking God, Alexis Lawson, if I would have known how fucking perfect you were this whole time, I wouldn’t have got fuck all of anything else done.”
A moan slipped out of my throat as he moved my panties aside again, but this time, he didn’t just look.
He sucked air through his teeth and pressed his forehead against my temple as