And I realize it’s because in this moment, she’s mine.
Truly mine.
“Hi,” she whispers, clasping her hands behind my back.
“Hi,” I say back. I bend to kiss her, both of us sucking a long sigh of a breath at the contact, and I savor the way she tastes, the way it feels to know this kiss isn’t stolen, isn’t the result of a moment of passion.
It’s just ours.
It’s us.
Grabbing her hand, I lead her silently up the stairs, dragging her into her bedroom and locking the door behind us.
Just in case.
I hung Christmas lights in her room, too, a small tree in the corner with faux gifts underneath it — that was Julia’s touch. And in the soft light coming from those lights, I slowly, purposefully, unwrap my girl like she’s my Christmas present, one piece of fabric at a time.
She does the same to me, our eyes roaming each other as more and more clothing litters the floor. Her shirt, my tie, her jeans, my jacket, her bra, my dress shirt, her thong, my pants. We kiss and touch and strip each other down between shaky, shallow breaths, and then I grab her by the hips and tug her to the bed, sitting down and backing my way up to the headboard.
“Come here,” I whisper, pulling her to straddle me.
Her cheeks flame, and she hides behind the curtain of hair let loose once she took out her ponytail holder. Her hands tentatively find my shoulders, but she doesn’t sit all the way down, balancing on her knees like she’s shy.
“What is it?”
She shakes her head. “I’m heavy. I don’t want to—”
I suck my teeth, not even letting her finish that sentence before I pull her fully into my lap. I wrap my arms all the way around her, savoring every warm place our skin touches, and I look her right in the eyes when I say, “I’ve got you. Always.”
She smiles, sexy and seductive, and then her lips are on mine, her hips rolling, nails digging into my shoulders when she feels the hard length of me slick between her lips.
I hold her to me, hands squeezing her ass with a groan as I guide her up and down my shaft. She slicks me with her desire, both of us moaning at the feel of it, and then I flex my hips, just a little, just enough to press the tip of me a centimeter inside her.
She sighs, leaning back to lock those magnetic eyes on mine as she slowly, achingly slowly, lowers herself onto me.
My arms cage her, holding tight as I withdraw and flex into her again. We both groan, her hands pulling on my hair until she can capture my mouth with hers once more. A nip of my lip has me growling and pumping into her deeper, and then she moves my hands to her hips, sits back, and starts to ride me.
She’s a fucking goddess, her unmitigated masterpiece of a body rolling and grinding as she takes me inside her. Again and again, she lifts and lowers, swallowing me a little more each time. And when she reaches down to touch herself in that sensitive place I know will take her over the edge, I grab her hips and steal control, rhythmically fucking her until she finds her release.
It’s long and powerful, her cries echoing off the walls as she rides it out. Then, I roll her into the sheets, slipping between her legs as soon as she’s on her back and hiking her ankle up over my shoulder. It only takes me a few deep, powerful pumps before my own climax blinds me, and I kiss her hard as I whisper her name, along with a silent promise to myself that I’ll do everything in my power to never, ever let this woman go.
* * *
It’s after midnight, the candles burning low and Amanda drawing lazy circles on my chest. She looks even more tired after our rounds — particularly the one we just finished, where I had her ride my face until she came on my tongue. Still, she’s pensive, and I smooth a thumb over the line between her brow, eliciting a soft smile.
“Want to tell me what’s on your mind?”
“A lot of things,” she confesses. “Mostly, just trying to figure out how this is ever going to work.”
I frown, sitting up a little bit and pulling her into me. “What do you mean? It’s going to work because it’s us, because all the obstacles are out of the way now.”
“Are they?” she challenges.
“David is cool with it.” I pause. “Well… as cool as he can be, anyway. But he’ll see. In time, they all will.”
“Josh won’t be happy.”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck Josh. Let him be mad all he wants. And let him take his alimony and shove it right up his ass.”