Briggs (Carolina Reapers 7)

She whimpered and pushed against the arm of the couch for leverage as I started to move my hips, sliding in and out of her just how she liked it, deep and slow.

“So good,” she said, her voice muffled.

“It’s a good thing your balcony has a privacy screen because no one gets to see you like this but me.” I pulled her hips into my next thrust, taking her harder.

“Cormac!” she cried out.

The line of her back in the silvery light was incredibly hot. It was all…incredibly hot, but she was too far away, and my heart screamed at me to pull her closer, to eliminate every inch between us.

“Come here.” I reached up to her waist and lifted her up at the same time I sat back on my knees, bringing her back to my chest as I slid into an even deeper angle.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, reaching to palm the back of my neck as we moved together.

My hands stroked up her taut stomach to cup the swells of her breasts. They filled my hands, her nipples hard between my thumb and forefinger as I teased the swollen nubs.

We were plastered against each other, skin to skin, but I still wasn’t close enough to her. I wanted to be the very air she breathed. Tilting her face toward mine, I kissed her deep, thrusting my body in rhythm with my tongue. She was completely, utterly perfect.

“I love that. Yes, just…yes,” she keened against my mouth.

“I love you,” I replied. My tempo faltered for a breath. What the fuck did you just say? How the hell had I let it slip? Where was that self-control I was so damned proud of? Maybe she didn’t hear it.

She pulled her mouth from mine and held my gaze for a torturously long second. Then her lips curved into a stunning smile. “Good, because I love you, too.”

My entire body threatened to give out in sheer relief. She loved me. She loved me! There was nothing better or bigger to say than those three massive words, so I didn’t bother speaking. Our bodies were better at communicating, anyway.

I sealed our mouths and made love to her, taking her over and over, knowing that she was taking me, too. It was more than ownership or claim. We belonged to each other. We belonged with each other.

When we rose to that edge again, and her muscles trembled and shook, I slid one hand down to her swollen clit and sent us both reeling, kissing every moan and gasp she made in the throes of her orgasm as mine shuddered through me.

We came down with heaving breaths and sweat-slick skin, clinging to each other.

I loved her.

She loved me.

And if we sat here much longer, the inevitable problems we’d just created for each other with those declarations would come up. We’d be forced into the reality of what it meant to be in a relationship eight-hundred miles apart.

So before either of us could come to our senses, I scooped her into my arms and carried her back to her bedroom. As usual, we only had one night, and I chose to bask in the happiness of her love.

We’d deal with the reality tomorrow.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” Bristol muttered the next morning, scrolling through her cell phone as I packed up the small overnight bag I’d brought with me. She was still in the soft, terry cloth robe she’d put on after the five-minute shower I’d planned had turned into twenty minutes of bliss, but now I was fully dressed.

“What is it?” I asked, zipping up the bag. This part—the part where I left her without knowing when I’d see her again—was brutal. There was a part of me that wished I’d just kept my mouth shut last night. What good was loving each other if this moment was inevitable every time we managed to steal some time together?

"We just got an offer from that editor at GQ to be a part of a massive spread.” A smile spread across her face. “It's an outdoor-themed spread for their August issue." Her brow furrowed.

“That’s amazing! Wait…is it not amazing?” I was missing something here.

“That means we would have to shoot it next month.” She nibbled on her lower lip, which I was beginning to understand as a sign of her thinking something through.

Wait. Next month?

My stomach sank. We’d just won in the first round, but with the Reaper’s positioning in playoffs, I wasn’t even sure I was going to get to see Bristol in the next month, let alone have time to shoot something, which meant she was going to have to hire it all out. “You’re going to take it, right?” The bed softly gave way as I sat on the edge beside her. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of models on your roster after fashion month or whatever it was called.”