"You don't even know me."
"I know more than you think I do."
"You don't know everything."
"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere, isn't it?" he murmurs, brushing his lips across my crown. "We have all the time in the world to learn everything there is to know about one another. But nothing I learn about you will change the fact that you're it for me, Piper. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you. I felt you in my fucking soul in that bar. I still feel you in there. That's all I need to know."
"Okay," I whisper, praying he means it.
"I'm keeping you," he whispers in my ear. "You might as well get used to it."
"Stop wiggling, pretty baby," Cortez groans, wrapping one arm around me and pulling me deeper into him. "My cock can't take much more."
"Cortez?" I blink my eyes open, confused. Soft light filters in through my bedroom windows, alerting me to the fact that it's morning. I vaguely remember dozing off on the couch last night…and that's it. I have no idea how I got to my room. Or why Cortez is in bed with me. "Why are you in my bed?"
"Didn't want you to wake up without me again," he murmurs, pressing his lips to the back of my neck. His scruff tickles my skin, sending tingles of desire through me. Warmth shoots through me at the same time. "I learned my lesson last time, sweet little Piper."
"Oh," I whisper, melting into him. His body cradles mine, spooning me from chest to calf. "You got me undressed."
"You were out of it. How long has it been since you had a full night's sleep?"
"A while." Between dreaming about him and morning sickness, I'm constantly exhausted. Closing my eyes, I take stock, surprised to realize I don't feel that way right now. If I dreamed last night, I don't remember them. For the first time in months, I feel rested. "I haven't been sleeping well."
"Me neither." He runs his lips up the back of my neck. "You've been haunting me."
"M-me too," I whisper.
"Yeah?" His voice is gritty with sleep, low and sexy. I feel it between my thighs. "You been dreaming about me, Piper?"
"Maybe."
"Were they good dreams?"
"Maybe," I whisper.
He nips me right where my shoulder and neck meet. "Keep fucking with me, and I'll be fucking a confession out of you, little girl," he growls.
"They were good dreams," I gasp, squeezing my thighs together at his threat. "W-we were together again. Like that f-first night. Except you weren't gone when I woke up. You were still in the bed with me."
"Did I wake you with my face between your thighs, Piper?"
"Cortez," I whimper.
"Did I?"
"Yes."
"Did you make a mess of my face when you came on my tongue?"
"Y-yes."
"Goddamn," he growls, nipping at my shoulder again. His hand slips down my abdomen, splaying across my stomach and then creeping lower. His fingers brush against the top of my panties. "How many times did you make yourself come thinking about me, pretty baby?"
I shake my head, groaning.
"How many, Piper?"
"None!" I cry, lifting my hips, trying to get his hand where I want it. "I c-couldn't. I tried and tried, but I couldn't get myself there without you."
"Fuck," he breathes, flipping me onto my back. His blue eyes search out mine, hot and wild. "Last night was the first time you came since the last time I touched you?"
"Yes," I whisper.
"Are you feeling better today, pretty baby?"
"Yes."
"Good." Heat blazes in his eyes, flaring brighter than the sun rising outside the windows. "Tell me I can eat you, Piper," he growls.
"I…"