Probably a combination of all three.
Daniel’s tongue on her clit slammed her back into the present. He kissed her there like he had every other part of her body on his journey south, like she was the most precious thing he’d ever come across. Like she was as beautiful as he kept claiming.
His hand drifted over her scar, and she tensed, but he didn’t stop what he was doing with his tongue, and it took a grand total of two seconds before she was too busy trying not to squirm to worry about his fingers stroking her jagged skin. She closed her eyes, but that only made the dual sensations more prominent. Hope hissed out a breath. “Danny, you don’t have to do this.”
“This is part of you.” He shifted, pressing a butterfly kiss to her knee, the most mangled part of her. There was no hesitation, and when she looked down her body at him, for once there was no guilt in his eyes. Just a slow appreciation that always seemed to show up when he had her naked. He’d looked at her like that when she was eighteen and, silly her, she’d been sure that would never happen again. Apparently she’d been wrong. He kissed her calf at the bottom of the incision they’d made for the knee replacement. “I said it before, and I’ll say it until our dying day—you’re beautiful, inside and out. You’re so damn strong, it humbles me. That car crash would have broken anyone else who went through what you did. I…” He paused, obviously struggling with the words. “You don’t need my validation, but I am so fucking proud of you. And I am so damn sorry that I missed out on the last thirteen years.”
He reached up and pressed his hand to her stomach just below her belly button. “I let my own head space get in the way of what needed to be done back then, and I promise I won’t do it again. I’m going to be here for you and our baby every step of the way.”
It was what she’d always wanted to hear from him. She wanted nothing more than to give in and relax and just believe, for one damn second, that he was telling the truth. There was no doubt he meant every word of it, but their past had left its mark on her, body and soul. She couldn’t help feeling that things, even as chaotic and insane as they were, were going too well and that the other shoe was about to drop.
“You don’t believe me.” He traced a circle around her belly button with his thumb, the light touch making her shiver. “It’s okay. I damaged your trust, and it’s going to take time to win it back.” He smiled, the expression showing one of the rare hints of the happy young man he used to be. “We have our entire lives ahead of us.”
“I…” There was nothing to say. He was trying. She was trying. Neither one of them could guarantee anything about the future or what it might look like. “Kiss me.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He crawled up to brush his lips over hers, gentle and sweet and full of things she wasn’t ready to name. Except she already had, thirteen years ago. I guess I never really stopped loving Daniel Rodriguez. She pushed him onto his back and straddled him. It wasn’t a position she could hold indefinitely, but she could hold it long enough.
Hope reached between them and gripped his cock, squeezing until he inhaled sharply. There were too many things to say, none of them right, so she didn’t say anything at all. She guided him to her entrance and inside, sinking slowly, inch by inch, until he filled her completely. His hands on her hips urged her on, and she rode him, slowly, luxuriously, the building pleasure so sharp it almost hurt.
“Fuck, darling, this is as close to heaven as I’m ever going to get.”
She kissed him before he could say anything else, trying to draw out the feeling of weightlessness. It was no use. Being with Daniel, having his hands on her body, was just too good. Her orgasm swept over her, stealing any worries about the future, drowning her fears, and leaving only a wonderfully sated feeling in its wake.
He flipped them, pushing deeper yet, and kissed her. He maintained that contact even as his strokes became less smooth and his grip tightened on her. It was almost like he needed her to breathe, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was mutual. Hope clung to him as he came, a small part of her believing it couldn’t possibly get better than this.
But what if it could?
Daniel collapsed next to her and pulled her against his chest. She lay staring at the ceiling, a kernel of hope taking root in her chest. There were so many reasons why this would never work, but really, they only needed one for it to actually go the distance. She turned to face Daniel and ran her hand down his chest, needing to voice the realization she’d come across earlier. “I never stopped loving you. Not really.”