Axel (Carolina Reapers 1)

But not yet.

I reached down, slid my fingers behind his neck, and tugged, beckoning him even as my body trembled around him. As my breaths came quick and short. As I ached and pulsed from the feel of him inside me.

Axel followed, rising up and up until we were chest to chest, nose to nose, eye to eye.

Until there was nothing between us but the breath we shared and the gaze I never wanted to break.

I gently tangled my fingers in his hair and moved again, slower this time. Squeezing out every ounce of pleasure I could, soaking in his scent, his touch, his taste as I flicked my tongue over his lips.

He kissed me then, not a claiming of my body but one of my soul, and I cried out as he met me with a thrust of his own.

Again and again, I cried out, completely shattered by this man as he pushed me over that sweet, sweet edge until my body clenched and tingled and sparked for him. Until I was nothing but his and he was nothing but mine. Until I couldn’t breathe from the pulsing tremors rocking both our bodies as we flew over that edge together.

I leaned my forehead against his as we came down from the ultimate high. And as I breathed him in, I hoped he understood how much he meant to me. Hoped he could feel that connection between our souls, that blazing hot current sizzling between us. Not simply body to body, but heart to heart.

I hoped he understood.

Even if I couldn’t say the words.

An hour later, I texted Faith while Axel was in the shower.

Gathered in my soft cotton robe, I met her at the fence that separated our two houses.

“Are you okay?” Faith asked, her red curls mussed from sleep or sex, I wasn’t sure.

“I’m freaking out,” I admitted, my hands clenched in my robe pockets.

“I assumed that,” she said, smiling softly. “Seeing as it’s two a.m. and we’re standing in our backyards.”

“Axel told me he loved me,” I said, keeping my voice low in case the Viking decided to end his shower early and look for me.

“It’s about time,” Faith said, a lack of any surprise on her face.

“Wait, you knew?”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Langley, come on.”

“What?” I shook my head. “I didn’t see it coming! We agreed to a six-month marriage. And even if I’ve been dropping hints about plans after the divorce date, he hasn’t. I didn’t…I didn’t expect…” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Langley,” Faith said. “This was never just a six-month deal for Axel. What do you think min enda kärlek means?”

I opened my mouth, then shut it. I’d never asked her to clarify the definition. I’d been so wrapped up in Axel, in the connection that sizzled between us, the way he’d slipped past my barriers and into my heart...

“My only love,” she clarified. “But the love part, it’s stronger than that. Deeper. The language…it’s beyond an endearment. It means more.”

I swallowed hard, my hand going to my chest as if I could protect the heart beneath.

“He called me that last year in Sweden, before you and Lukas were even official.”

Faith nodded, an almost pitying look in her eyes. “You didn’t say it back.”

It wasn’t a question. She knew me too well.

“I couldn’t. So instead we—”

“It’s two a.m., Langley!” Lukas called from their back porch. Dressed in nothing but a towel, water droplets clinging to his hair which shimmered in the moonlight, he looked like a damn vampire ready to take his claimed one back to his lair. He and Axel were truly best friends—they even showered at the same damn time.

“No one invited you, Lukas!” I quipped back.

Faith laughed, sparing her husband a glance over her shoulder. “I’ll be in in a minute.”

Lukas flashed her a look that made me blush before he returned focus to me. “I figured Axel could keep you busy throughout the night. At least busy enough where you wouldn’t be infringing on my second dessert.”

Faith bit back her smile.

I arched a brow at Lukas. “I’ll have you know this is just an intermission for us, thank you very much!” I laughed at the satisfied smirk on Lukas’ face. “I just needed to talk to your wife about something.”

He shifted so his hands rested on his hips, no doubt to show off his impeccable body—if you liked lithe and sculpted. I much more preferred tall with a bulk of muscle and long hair and—

Axel.

I preferred Axel.

In every single way.

“You better not be inviting her to join you,” Lukas teased.

“I might have to,” I said. “Seeing as if you keep me from my girl time, I could make you disappear.”

Faith laughed and blew Lukas a kiss. “You’re the only one for me,” she said. “I’ll be right in.”

Lukas flashed me a wink, gave Faith an even more intimate, lingering gaze, and then disappeared inside the house.