Sophie

I loved the way he kissed me. Slow and hot and intimately knowledgable, as if he was getting messages from my skin. I felt my heart slam in my chest and my toes curl, and he wasn’t even touching me with his hands. How did he kiss me so incredibly when his world must be falling apart?

He broke the kiss and took my face in his hands, his blue eyes staring intently into mine. “I’m fucking crazy about you, by the way,” he said. “I always have been.”

I felt a rush of warm happiness. That was Dex-speak for Sophie, I love you, and I would take it. I ran my fingertips gently over the stubble on his jaw. “I’m sorry about the… proposal thing.”

“Fuck, don’t remind me,” he said, dropping his hands. “I handled that wrong.”

“A little, but I was pretty blunt. I was upset.”

He sat back in his chair again. “Yeah, well.” A wince of pain that had nothing to do with his knee crossed his expression. He had meant that proposal, I realized. It had been said hastily, and in response to a crisis, and he had used the words Fuck it, but he had meant it. Of course he had; Dex would never just say something like that. Why was I always looking for the worst in our relationship? Why had I never trusted him?

“I want to try again,” I said.

Dex ran a hand through his hair and looked at me, his eyes wary.

“I mean it,” I said. “No more sneaking around or hiding. I don’t care about the press or anyone else. I want there to be an us. You and me.”

“If you want that,” Dex said, “you can’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid. I’ve changed. I don’t have that stupid job anymore, and I work with people who respect me. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with our being together. It’s not like we’re doing anything scandalous.”

He gave me half a smile. “We can if you want.”

It was just a glimpse, but there he was—the Dex I loved so much. If his knee weren’t a wreck, I would have flung myself on his lap. Instead, I put my arms around his neck and kissed along the rough line of his jaw. “Okay,” he said, his breath coming shorter as my mouth dragged along his skin. “That’s making me feel better.”

“Are you staying at a hotel?” I asked, drawing the tip of my tongue along his earlobe.

“Yes,” he said.

“Is it close?”

“Fuck, yes. Let’s go.”

They’d given him crutches, because his leg wouldn’t take his weight. “There are reporters out front,” I said, “but there’s a service entrance out back. My car is there. The staff already knows we’re leaving that way.”

“You’re a pro,” Dex said.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want the reporters to see us together—I was over that. But I didn’t want him hassled by endless questions when he’d just been through the accident that would end his career. He was handling it well so far, but that didn’t mean he needed reporters in his face.

It felt good to be protective of him. Too many people used him, and not enough people looked out for him, including me.

His hotel suite was luxurious, of course. A large main sitting room and a bedroom with a huge, sumptuous bed. The view looked over rolling hills of suburbs to the ocean barely visible beyond. The sun was setting, and the sky was streaked with purple as it slowly went dark. I looked at the suitcases opened on the bedroom floor, strewn with a mess of his clothes. “Do you ever get tired of living out of a suitcase?” I asked him.

“Yes, I very much do,” he said. “I’m going to take a shower.”

It took him a while. I knew better than to offer to help him, even though he was probably having trouble with his knee, and it was making me a little crazy that he was completely naked on the other side of the bathroom door—naked and wet. It had been months since I had seen Dex naked. I kicked off my sneakers, suddenly nervous. I’d dressed in a hurry when I left, with no thought of seduction. I was wearing plain cotton panties and a comfortable old bra, and I really, really wanted to sleep with one of the sexiest men on the planet. Would that even work? What if he was in too much pain, or he wasn’t in the mood anymore, or he changed his mind? I tried to remind myself that I’d had sex with him before. Multiple times. Multiple really, really good times. This was Dex. He knew my body better than anyone, and he liked it.

I unzipped my hoodie, feeling more confident at the thought. We didn’t need games or seduction. My body was his, anyway. I’d get naked. Past experience told me the reaction would most likely be good.

Still, I was self-conscious about my underwear. So when I heard the shower turn off, I ducked behind the closet door to take my clothes off.

When I came out, Dex was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs, his hands dangling between his knees. His dark hair was wet, and there were droplets of water on his skin. He was wearing his knee bandage and nothing else.

I stopped, staring. The effect of Dex naked was enough to make a girl stupid, and it hadn’t dimmed over time.

The supple line of his back. The muscles—there were even muscles on the sides of his body, flexing down the sides of his ribcage. The ink on his arms. Those gorgeous legs, the calves and thighs sculpted like a statue’s. I couldn’t see between his legs, but I took a step closer because I wanted to. I couldn’t help myself.

I stopped again. He was watching me, looking at me. He took in my bare shoulders, my breasts, my waist. My legs. My thighs and the thatch of hair between them. It was like molten lava, that look. He was looking at me like I was the only woman in the world.

He lifted a hand and held it out. “Come here.”

I got on the bed next to him and curled into him, hooking my thigh over his good one. He put an arm around me and kissed me hard, and it all came back. How his body felt against mine, how he touched me, how wet he made me. He teased my mouth open and ran his hands over me, over my back, my breasts. Sitting side by side was awkward and I couldn’t get close enough, so I pushed on his chest. “Lie back.”

He scooted back on the bed and lay on his back. I straddled him, pressing my body fully against his, and kissed him again. I could feel the landscape of him beneath me, the leashed power of him. He ran his hands down my back and gripped my ass as he licked into my mouth. I lifted my hips and reached down between us, taking his cock in my hand. It was rock-hard and pulsing. When I stroked it, he gave a pent-up sigh that told me I was right: No one else had touched him since me. Mine, I thought, tracing the thick shape of his cock with my fingers. All mine. I broke our kiss and kissed my way reverently down his neck, his collarbone, over his chest.

He stayed still under this treatment and tangled his fingers in my hair. “Did you miss me?” he said.

“A little.” I licked his nipple.

He made a sound and his fingers flexed in my hair. “Show me.”

I kissed down his ribcage, his stomach. His abs—my God, his abs. I reached a hand between his legs and stroked his balls.

That made his whole body flex for a second, as if he was in pain. “Do that again,” he told me. “There hasn’t been anyone else, you know that?”

“I know,” I said. I stroked his balls again, feeling his reaction. I’d never taken the time to play with Dex’s body before, and it was so addicting I might never stop. I could feel how wet I was, my pussy throbbing. I kissed down to his navel and drew my tongue along his skin. His cock was resting against his stomach, hard and ready. With his bad knee, I realized, he couldn’t do as much as he used to. I had more control.

He wound his fingers more tightly in my hair. “Sophie,” he said, “put my cock in your mouth.”

I loved it when he told me what to do. I did what he said, taking him in my mouth, licking the saltiness from the tip. He tasted freshly showered, with his familiar flavor underneath. I know what Dex’s cock tastes like, I thought, and it’s good. I took him in my mouth again.

He hissed a breath through his teeth. “That’s good,” he said. “Deeper.”

I took him deeper, experimenting with him in my mouth, against my throat. He was watching me, I knew. His hands were on my head, my hair trailing over his stomach. He was watching me bob up and down on him, watching me suck his cock. The thought turned me on even harder.

“More,” he said hoarsely, his hand on me. “Just that fast. Like that. Fuck, that is so good.”

I kept going, slipping my hand between his legs again and rubbing his balls. His hips flexed up, sliding his cock harder into me. I relaxed my throat and took it.

“Sweetheart, I’m going to come,” he said, his voice strangled now. “Do you want that?”

I slid my mouth off him and looked up at him. He was staring down at me, that blue gaze fixed on me in the same utter erotic fascination they’d had when I’d taken my panties off in the bathroom. As he watched I licked his tip, torturing him. “I want you to come,” I said.

His expression didn’t change, but he loosened a hand from my hair and drew his thumb along my cheek. “You going to swallow it?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“You promise?”

I was so hot right now he could have made me come with a single touch. “I promise.”

“I’m going to watch you,” he said. “I’m going to watch you swallow.”

I put my head down and took him in my mouth again. He groaned as I took him deep, as I stroked his balls again. They were drawing up hard into his body, his cock growing bigger in my mouth. “Like that,” he said. “Fuck, Sophie, that is so fucking good I’m going to come. Don’t fucking stop.”

I moaned against his skin, taking him as deep as I could, and I felt him come, felt his cock against my tongue, felt the warm jets of come against my throat. I relaxed my throat and swallowed it, every drop. When I let him go and looked up at him, he was breathing hard, his gaze still fixed on me.

“I think that’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

I worked my way up his body again, straddling him, but he took over. He gripped my hip with one hand and slid the other into my pussy, rubbing me. “Fuck, that made you wet,” he said.

I leaned forward, closing my eyes and tucking my head into his neck. “Dex, I need you to touch me so badly.”

“I know,” he said. “Come here.” He tugged my hips, moving me up and positioning me so I was over his face, gripping the headboard. “Lower down,” he said.

I lowered onto his mouth, and it was the filthiest, most incredible feeling I’d ever imagined. His tongue swept over my clit and I moaned, moving my hips, guiding his mouth where I wanted it. He obliged, spreading my lips with his fingers and licking me. I braced myself on the headboard and slid over him, fucking his mouth, my body chasing pleasure. I angled my clit over his tongue and he circled it over and over, the pleasure swirling until I came so hard I let out a scream. He kept licking, and the orgasm just kept coming, and I rocked on him through wave after wave.

I pulled off of him and flopped down on the bed next to him, breathing hard. Every nerve ending in my body was singing, and I couldn’t believe that after an orgasm like that, I still wanted more. But I did.

Dex rolled onto his side next to me and put a palm on my hip. His voice was tight, all business. “Roll over and spread your legs.”

I rolled onto my side, facing away from him, and spread my legs. He gripped my knee, pulling them further apart, and I felt his cock against me, hard and ready again. He positioned himself and slid into me, making me moan.

He buried his face in the back of my neck and fucked into me again. His body was almost on top of me, pressing me onto my stomach, his legs between mine. He cupped my ass with one hand and squeezed it, his thumb pressing into my flesh as he began to slowly pound me.

The sensation was overwhelming and I could barely catch my breath. “Your knee,” I said, noticing his position.

“You let me worry about that,” he said in my ear. “Just fuck me, Sophie.”

I did. I rocked my hips back against him in rhythm with his as he gripped my ass and his cock slid in and out of me, slick with my juices. We moved faster, harder, our breathing in sync, our bodies working at the hard business of fucking and giving pleasure. He had maneuvered his perfect body so the weight was off his bad knee, with me accomodating his position, and the pleasure was perfect, raw and unrestrained. I twisted my hands in the sheets, gripping them.

“Oh, God,” I said. “You feel so good inside me.”

“Come on me,” he said, panting as he fucked me hard. “Come on my cock.”

I could feel the pleasure spiraling in me, skittering up my spine, and I let go. I let my body take over, into another orgasm, squeezing him as I cried out. I felt the answering jerk of his cock inside me as he came, his body braced and hard, his moan in my ear.

We were quiet for a long time after that, our breathing slowing. Dex took his hand off my ass and wrapped his arm around me, his tattoos flexing as he squeezed me. “Jesus,” he said, recovering himself. “We should fight more often. That was the best sex of my life.”

I felt a warm flush of pure happiness at those words. He really was mine, my Dex. “Mine, too,” I said.

I felt the shake of laughter in his chest against my back. “Nice to know I outdid myself.”

I pummeled his arm. “Your ego never quits.”

“Nope,” he replied. “Get used to it.”

I already had. I was crazy about him, ego and all. I rolled over and looked up into his blue eyes. “There’s something we haven’t worked out yet,” I said.

“Sophie, we haven’t worked out a lot of things. But it doesn’t matter. We will.”

“I know. But first things first.” I leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. “Dex Carter,” I said, “please marry me. Please.”

He looked at me for a long time, searching my face, thinking it over. Then he smiled.

“Okay,” he said. “Get ready.”