“Hey, if you ever want kids, I would advise against it.”
I stop laughing and still in his arms. “You want kids?”
“Sure. Someday.”
“With me? You said if I ever want kids.”
He squeezes me tighter. “I guess I did.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I don’t say things I don’t mean. You should know that by now.”
I spin around to face him. “What’s changed?”
He shrugs. “Nothing. I’ve loved you since high school. Loving you is easy. I just wasn’t in love with you back then.”
I raise a curious eyebrow at him. “But you are now?”
A short pause passes between us.
“Yes. I don’t know why I froze when Will asked me.” Ethan tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear and smiles. “I’ve never been in love before. Until you, my life was nothing but parties and women. And hockey. Will’s right, though. I’ve done a lot of fucked-up shit over the years. I don’t deserve you.”
“You keep saying that, but I disagree.” I take his hand in mine and bring it to my mouth to plant a soft kiss. “You’re what I need, E. I’ve been in love with you, on and off, since I was fifteen. I’m even more in love with you now than I was back then. I spent a lot of years hating you, but underneath it all, I still loved you.”
He moves his hand to my shoulder, his fingers slowly traveling up to my face. “I love you, too, Mia. My little lamb.”
Ethan hooks his arm around my back, and his lips crash into mine. He kisses me with so much intensity and passion I have to grip his shoulders to maintain my balance, but Ethan is here to catch me. He always catches me, breathing his life force into me when I need him to bring me back to life. With Ethan, I feel alive, his hands lighting a fire everywhere he touches. Heat spreads down my arms, and with each stroke of his fingers, my skin burns with desire for him.
The dream I once had of Ethan is now my reality. My heart swells with joy. Ethan loves me. My brother’s best friend was the last person in the world I wanted to fall in love with. But I did. I fell hard.
Ethan explores every part of my body with his big hands. He squeezes my ass and lifts me up, pressing his erec
tion against me. I’m dripping wet for him, desperate for him to stop the aching between my thighs.
He takes me into my bedroom and lowers me onto the mattress with care. He tugs at my robe, exposing my naked breasts to the cold air. The tiny buds were already painfully hard and even more so when Ethan rolls the pads of his thumbs over them.
A soft moan escapes my lips.
Ethan watches me intently. He’s all tongue and teeth, my nipple swelling in his mouth. My insides tighten with each flick of his tongue. Writhing beneath him, I close my eyes and claw at the sheets, the fabric twisted so tightly between my fingers my hands hurt.
He stops long enough to remove his boxers and positions himself at my entrance. Instead of pushing himself inside me like a savage beast, he bends down to place his elbows on both sides of my head, slowly inching his way into me.
This is so unlike Ethan.
Every sexual encounter we’ve had, from our first kiss and on, was aggressive and fueled by our constant internal struggle to be together.
Now, we’re both free.
Slow and sensual, he makes love to me. Ethan loves me with his mouth and his cock as he slides in and out of me. We speak to each other in grunts and moans and consummate our love with each thrust as if we’re having sex for the first time.
Ethan presses his lips to mine, stealing my last breath along with my orgasm. He kisses me hard but not too rough, his body convulsing as mine eases up. I tighten the hold I have around him, and he groans into my mouth.
Our lips separate, but our foreheads are still touching.
“My little lamb,” Ethan whispers.
I brush my fingers along his cheek. “My big bad wolf.”