I throw the pillow away while he gasps for air. “So you’re killing me?”
I shove his chest. “Yes! You can’t just say those things. You need to lead them in like. oh hey, I got you a pair of shoes, expensive shoes, and a dress; I bought you a car to park in your new garage and want to see your tiny starter home I rebuilt from the ground up wearing nothing but jeans and carrying a hammer around and—”
His eyebrows shoot up. He smirks. “No, no, please continue with this sexual fantasy of me shirtless with a hammer; I’ll wait.”
I shove him again. He grips my wrists and pulls me against his chest. “You know what I mean.”
“Truly, I don’t, and it’s not like I’ve had time to share all about the house building since it was literally getting built, sadly not by your shirtless husband, but by others while we were away. They finished today.”
“Just tell me you put in one nail with the hammer, and I’ll be happy,” I tease, loving that he’s smiling again and looks more like himself before I waltzed into his life and ruined everything by way of marriage.
Maybe it really is all my fault.
His hand lightly taps the side of my face in two small smacks. “Sorry was just trying to get rid of that look on your face.”
“You jerk!” I shove against his chest.
He bursts out laughing, and then I’m kissing him, not because I have to, but because I’m choosing to taste him.
He throws me onto my back, his mouth never leaving mine. It feels natural and perfect this moment. I smack him on the cheek the way he did me and laugh against his mouth when he curses against my lips, then try to scramble away when he grabs me by the ankles and tosses me over his shoulder, slapping my ass. “Nope, not letting you get away that easy.”
“We should sleep!” I say from my spot over his shoulder.
He smacks my ass again. “Later, when I feel like it. I am the Capo, after all.”
“Oh wow, arrogance, how surprising.”
He pinches my ass then slaps it again. “Oh, sorry, did that hurt?”
I start banging my hands on his back, smiling so wide my face hurts. He walks us back around the room and onto the bed, tossing me lightly against the remaining pillows. “Tell me no.”
“Wh-what?” I lean up on my elbows. “What do you mean tell you no?”
His eyes flicker with moisture. “Every time I have you, I want more, and right now, I’ve lost, or could potentially lose—everything.” He licks his full lips. “So don’t give me what I want just because I want it; give it to me because some small part of you wants to. Right now, I can’t handle—I can’t handle any more loss, Del, and I never even had you to begin with—I just need—”
I kiss him so hard I swear my lips will be bruised for years, and I won’t even care; I’ll stare into the mirror and see the markings and go that was the moment King was no longer the boy I married, but the man I wanted to live with.
I know Roman’s standing at the door.
But I’m not thinking about Roman.
My heart is sad for Roman, but right now, I’m King’s, and the very thought of having a countdown for our moments together makes me want to get sick.
“Let me be with you,” I say between kisses. “Tonight. Tomorrow—let me.”
It’s like King has no words. He grabs my cami and pulls it over my head. His hands immediately run down my shoulders, my breasts in awe and wonder. It’s impossible to look away from him, and I don’t want to.
Our eyes are locked as he pulls my shorts down then tosses his own shirt off to join the rest of the clothes on the floor.
“Bummer,” I tease. “No hammer.”
He bursts out laughing and then starts shoving down his black briefs. “Doesn’t mean I still can’t nail you.”
I laugh so hard I have tears coming down as we tumble in the sheets, I feel his smile against my neck, and I never want this moment to end.
This moment where the King is set free.
It’s everything, and even though I can feel hot against my thigh, I just want him to keep laughing, so I push him further. “Show me how hard, big boy.”
“Was probably a carpenter in another life.”
“Sexy.”
“So fucking sexy, even had my own tool belt.”
“Ah, did it come with the plastic tools they gave you at Fisher-Price or—”
He tickles my sides, his lips on my neck feel warm, his teeth graze my skin up and down the side until goosebumps rise on every inch of skin I have. I can’t contain my gasps as he tastes me, leaving no part of me unloved or untouched.