Bittersweet (The Calvettis of New York 4)

I slide up to stand. “You can congratulate them when you come over for dinner this week. Unless you’re working and can’t make it.”

“I’ll make it.” He tugs me into his arms. “I’ll look at my schedule, and we’ll pick a night that works for all of us. I’ll bring champagne.”

This feels like another family celebration, and I love it.

I want him to be a part of all of them.

“We can start the celebrations early.” He kisses the corner of my mouth. “I know just how to do that.”

I tug on the bottom of my shirt. “Does it involve taking off my clothes?”

Before I get an answer out of him, he’s hauled me over his shoulder. “All your clothes and all of my clothes. Let the celebration begin.”

***

I cling tightly to him as he takes me with even, measured thrusts.

His eyes haven’t left mine since I sheathed him with a condom.

I did that after he ate me to an orgasm.

It was tender and slow. Each flick of his tongue over my core brought me closer to the edge. It was then that he shifted his focus to my inner thigh to plant kisses there.

He did that over and over again. I pleaded with him to make me come. He did, but it was at his pace.

I loved every moment of it.

“Tell me you love this,” he bites out with a clenched jaw.

“So much,” I whimper through a moan.

I want to tell him that it’s more than that. I don’t just love this. I love him.

He drops his lips to my neck. “It’s so much, Afton.”

I glide my hands to his head to guide him to look at me. With heavy-lidded eyes, I whisper to him, “It’s perfect, Luke. We are perfect together.”

He ups his pace, fucking me harder as his gaze sets on mine.

I see the man I adore when I look at him.

I feel my forever when I’m with him, and as I reach the edge and climax, I cry out with tears streaming down my cheeks because this is where I belong.

My place in the world is in his arms.

Chapter 46

Afton

“I didn’t plan on having a sleepover.”

Luke glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Sleepover? That sounds innocent. Unless I was dreaming, nothing we did last night or this morning was innocent.”

I huff out a laugh. “Just thinking about it makes me blush.”

He grabs the front of his pants. “It makes me hard. If we had time right now, I’d take you back to bed.”

“We’ll have time after work.”

“You’re a brilliant woman.” He leans forward to kiss me softly. “It’s one of the reasons I’m crazy about you.”

I love the sound of that, and I love this.

We’re in his kitchen, sharing a bowl of cereal and drinking coffee.

It’s not an Instagram-worthy set up for breakfast for lovers, but it’s our reality.

There are dirty dishes in the sink and overripe bananas on the counter.

I know Luke feels comfortable with me. He doesn’t put on any pretenses. The man I see in front of me is one hundred percent authentic.

“What’s on your agenda for today?” he asks before he spoons more sugary cereal into his mouth.

I take the bowl from his hands. “I’m meeting with the owner of a bistro in about an hour, and then I’ll stop by the restaurant to see your grandma. We’re going to talk business. I’ll tell you all about that the next time I see you.”

He laughs. “Marti will beat you to that. She knows I like you. I told her.”

That warms me from the inside out. “You told her?”

“When she looks into my eyes, it’s like truth serum.” He leans forward to stare into my eyes. “Maybe I have that same power. Tell me how you really feel about me, Afton?”

I love you.

Those three words stay on my lips for now, so I opt for three others.

“You smell incredible.”

He shakes his head. “You like my cologne? There has to be more of me that you like.”

My gaze trails slowly down his body until I pin it on the front of his pants.

“The cock?” He grabs it through his pants. “That one was obvious judging by the way you swallowed it last night.”

“You weren’t complaining,” I point out before taking another spoonful of the cereal.

“I was too busy coming down your throat.”

“Touché,” I quip.

“Touch you?” he questions with a perk of one dark brow. “I swear I just heard you tell me to touch you.”

“I want that,” I admit. “But we have to leave for work.”

“Right,” he says quietly. “I put your bag by the door along with a bottle of water and a banana.”

I scrunch my nose. “I’ll pass on the banana.”

He stalks toward me. “I gave you the last fresh one because I’m that guy. I’ll do whatever I can for you.”