Barrett leads me up the stairs, going left at the top instead of right. We walk down the hall and into a room at the far end. I can hear the guys playing on the lawn and it makes me so ridiculously happy that Huxley is accepted in this family that I could burst.

We enter a plush bedroom, all done up in whites and pale yellows. The bed is oversized with the fluffiest looking blankets and pillows I've ever seen. It's almost like a cloud, a giant marshmallow of a room. The afternoon sun shining through the windows makes it seem like a dream, a vision of happiness.

The door closes behind me and his arms wrap around me at once. "Thank you," he whispers, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"For what?"

I feel his body shrug behind me, a long breath escaping his lips. "For being you. For wanting me. For making me see the things I needed to see."

"I didn't make you see anything," I say. "You chose to do that."

"I never would've done it without you. Tonight is the first night I'll go to sleep without a million pounds of guilt sitting on my shoulders. I feel freer than I ever remember feeling."

I twist in his arms to face him. His jaw line looks more angular than I remember, his features edible. My hand cups the side of his face, my thumb stroking his cheek. "That makes me happy," I whisper.

"You know what would make me happy?"

"What's that?"

"Showing you how much you mean to me. Is that all right?"

My knees go weak as he licks his lips, his gaze boring into mine. "Yes. Please."

He scoops me up, my legs over the side of his arm, and carries me across the room. His gaze doesn't leave mine as he lowers me onto the bed, the blankets dipping with my weight. He covers my body with his, the heaviness mixed with his scent overwhelming my senses. He kisses me like he's never kissed me before—with precision, almost methodical. It's as if every movement he makes is a lesson to be learned, a point to be taken.

I lay back and feel his lips cross over my cheek, down my jaw, and down my neck. His lips lingering before moving on. My hands find his hair and twist in the sandy strands, feeling how real he is in my arms. For the first time, he's mine.

"You're so beautiful," he whispers in my ear as his fingers fumble with the button of my jeans. "So fucking beautiful and so fucking mine."

"I was just thinking that," I say, lifting my hips so he can slide the denim off my hips. He removes them, tosses them to the floor, and disposes of his pants as well. Before I know it, he's on the bed and I'm straddled over him.

His eyes twinkle. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere but right here right now."

My hips swivel, my pussy rubbing against his rock hard cock. I feel his length under me, my body already wet for him. "Me either."

Barrett lifts me up, grabs his cock, and lowers me inch by inch over him. I feel my body expand, making room for his size. His eyes widen as he sucks in a breath through his teeth, his fingertips dipping into the curve of my hips.

"Damn it, Ali," he murmurs as he sinks completely into me.

I take a second to adjust, to feel the fullness. It's heady, a complete turn-on to feel him inside me while I look him in the eye and see that. That indefinable look in his eye that makes me feel like the most important, sexiest person in the universe.

"Ah," I breathe, grinding myself against him. His cock rubs against the walls of my vagina, the contact causing my clit to stroke against his body. His gaze is heavy on me, stroking my skin in its own way. I'm completely owned in this moment by Barrett Landry, and it feels unbelievable.

It's different this time—more intimate, more sensual, more personal.

"I feel it too," he says, reading my mind. He raises his hips, pressing farther into me. I can't stifle the moan that escapes my lips.

Pulling off of him in the most subtle way, I mix up my motion. I rock in a circle and then pump up and down, the differences in stimulation working me into a frenzy.

"That feels so good, babe," he says as he lifts my shirt off over my head. My breasts bounce inside the red lace covering them. "And that looks just as good. My God."

He meets me thrust for thrust, the intensity in his eyes picking up. My entire body is on fire from his touch, his cock, his gaze, and I feel like I'm going to combust.

I shift my weight onto my feet and slide my body down his shaft. A smirk covers his face.

"Keep it up and this will be over before it's really even begun."

"I can't help it," I whimper, feeling his cock stroke my clit as I lift up and then lower down again. "Fuck, this feels so good."

I bounce harder, his hands finding my breasts. He frees them from the lace, cupping them in his hands. His eyes squeeze shut, his mouth hanging open far enough so I can hear his quickened breaths.

His cock swells inside me. His muscles flex as his eyes shoot open. "I'm warning you. You better stop if you don't want me losing it."

"Lose it." I slam down, grinding my body against his. The friction hits every stimulus, his hands squeezing my breasts. He leans up just enough to take my mouth with his, pressing a kiss that’s a tattoo on my lips.

"Ali ..." Flopping back against the pillows, I watch him enjoy me and it's enough to put me over the edge.

I grind harder, trying to touch his body with mine at every possible point, and I light up from the inside out.

Warmth erupts from my groin, surging through my core and to my cheeks. Fireworks flash before my eyes, my head trying to comprehend all of the sensations and feeling like it's going to explode.

Barrett groans beneath me, the sexiest thing I've ever heard. It only intensifies everything I'm feeling.

The world-shattering high lasts longer than I expect and it seems like eternity before I float back to Earth. Once I do, my hair sticking to my skin with sweat, my breathing ragged, I find him watching me with a smile on his face.

I blush. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," I giggle, my cheeks flushing again.

"Like that was the first time that's ever felt that way to me?"

My heart swells because I believe it. I can tell he means it by the look in his eyes.

"That's what I'm looking forward to, babe. That's what I've been missing my entire life. But now I have it and I won't let it go."

I climb off of him and snuggle against his side. He pulls a blanket haphazardly over us before kissing my head.

"Thank you," I whisper.

"For what?"

"For being the first person to make me feel like I'm worthy."

"Oh, Ali, I believe it's the other way around."

"Hmmm ..." My lashes flutter closed. The stress of the last few days disseminates as I lie in his arms.

"It's you that's changed me. In every damn way." He presses another kiss into my hair. “Make me a promise.”

“What’s that?”

“That we can start every day off with something like this. Without the speech, of course,” he chuckles.

“I’d like that.”

“Me too, baby. Me too.”