Chapter Twenty-Eight
Soft colored lights drifted across Crossroads’ mostly empty dance floor, and tiny white shimmers danced across the shadowed corners and black walls. Natalie should have been at home. Would have been curled up in the fetal position with puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks were it not for the wonderful man holding her close and swaying them to the slow song pulsing through the club’s sound system. Instead she was celebrating. Finding solace and comfort from people she’d only begun to know and unearthing a strength inside herself she hadn’t known existed.
Beneath her cheek, Trevor’s heart thrummed a steady rhythm, and his earth and forest scent surrounded her with the same confident strength of his arms. She still couldn’t believe how he and his family had rallied around her. Turned what Jace had assured would have been a dreadfully slow night into a beautiful gesture she’d not soon forget.
He’d been right about the turnout. The few real patrons that had shown for a Christmas Eve night out on the town had been obviously confused by the New Year’s banners and party hats, but they’d gotten into the swing of things once the booze had kicked in. Drinks, dancing and general hilarity had kept her occupied from the moment her mom had all but dragged her out of her room and forced her to get dolled up, until now, well past midnight and creeping toward 1:00 a.m.
The only somber point of the night had been her goodnight call to Levi. She’d checked her watch at a quarter to nine, a silent tell Trevor had spied and led her straight up to Axel’s quiet office for her routine check-in. While Levi had still sounded a little off, he’d rebounded far better than she had, asking questions about her night and sharing details on all the icky food he’d had to suffer through at his grandmother’s house.
She chuckled low and smiled. That was Levi. Whatever curveballs life threw him, he processed quickly and moved on, ready to uncover whatever bright sides to life he could find. He’d especially perked up when she’d promised bigger, better plans for the following week when he was home. Being Levi, he’d begged, cajoled and sweet-talked her for a full five minutes trying to learn more about what was in store, but had finally acquiesced on a precious little-man huff. Of course, Wyatt’s voice had registered in the background around the same time, so his reluctant acceptance might have been based more on lessons learned than resignation.
Trevor’s hand slid up her back, the heat of his touch radiating through the ivory silk of her strapless, fitted gown. He cupped her nape and nestled his lips against her ear. “You ready for your next surprise?”
She snapped her head up and her heart jolted. “There’s more?” She glanced behind her where Trevor’s brothers, Viv, Gabe, and the rest of their dates were gathered round a huge table. Like her and Trevor, they were decked out in their finest, pushing the New Year’s theme to full tilt. Axel sat at the head of the table with a buxom redhead sprawled across his lap and yet another tumbler of Scotch in his hand. Clad in a blue and green plaid kilt and a formal jacket, his loose russet hair and full beard made him look like a barely tamed Highland warrior come to life.
“‘’’Course there’s more. We’re ringing in the new year. You don’t think I’m gonna do that half-ass, do you?”
Oh, no. Trevor and his family clearly didn’t do anything half-ass. Even her mom and Frank had teamed up for the event, only bailing from the festivities shortly after the midnight countdown and required glass of champagne. “Trevor, I think you bought me half of the Galleria. You raced past half-ass about four hours ago. And even if you hadn’t bought me a thing, watching my mom blush when Frank kissed her cheek at midnight was precious enough.”
“He’s smooth, I’ll give him that.”
“Like father, like son.”
He grinned, eyes sparkling with a pleased-with-himself glint. “You liked the gifts?”
What wasn’t to like? He’d loaded her up with everything from top-of-the-line black Luccheses, to ridiculously sexy lingerie—the latter being a surprise that had seared her cheeks when she’d opened the package in front of everyone. “I love them. I just wished you’d told me we were exchanging gifts. I’d have brought yours with me.”
“Those aren’t Christmas gifts. They’re New Year’s gifts. Totally different.”
Totally different, her ass. More like an indulgent ploy to take her mind off the fact that she was spending her first Christmas without her son. While she’d still trade every second to have Levi with her, the effort everyone had put forth on her behalf was hands down the most amazing gift she’d ever been given.
“So what do you say?” Trevor squeezed his arms around her and splayed one hand over the curve of her ass. In one smoldering second, his lids grew heavy and sensual, and a predatory air coiled around them. “Ready for the next part?”
Her breath caught, and her sex clenched, the power of his gaze blasting through her in one consuming inferno. “Does the next part involve people watching while I unwrap sexy lingerie?”
“Someone’s unwrapping sexy lingerie, but it’ll be me unwrapping what’s under this dress, and there won’t be an audience.” He speared his fingers through her hair, palmed the back of her head and angled her face for his lips. He teased his mouth against hers. “That the answer you’re looking for?”
“Oh yeah,” she whispered back.
He smiled against her mouth. “Good answer.” Instead of giving her the kiss she craved, he pulled away, clasped her hand in his, and ambled toward his crew. Man, but he could wear a suit. In jeans, boots and Ts or button-downs, he was bona fide yummy, but dressed to the nines in a black suit and shirt, he was a midnight prince come to life. Reaching Axel, he held out his free hand. “We good for Wednesday?”
Axel shook the hand he offered and grinned in a way that didn’t look friendly at all. “Locked and loaded, brother.” His gaze slid to Natalie and his expression shifted, mirth and mischief deepening his forest-green eyes, but his words still directed toward Trevor. “I trust you’ve got ample ways to occupy our lass until our boy’s home?”
“I’ve got a few.” Trevor scanned the table, resting his attention on each of his brothers with an intensity so potent the air crackled. “Appreciate tonight.”
Knox raised his glass in salute, and Zeke, Jace, and Beckett answered back all at once.
“Always.”
“Happy to do it.”
“Happy New Year.”
“You ask me, we need to do this every year,” Danny finished out.
“I’m thinkin’ he’s right.” Jace tucked Vivienne tighter in the crook of his arms, but gave his undivided attention to Natalie. “You need anything and can’t get Trevor, you call us.”
Trevor’s hand tightened on hers and he nodded in answer to some question she’d apparently missed. “Time to go,” he said before she could figure it out, steering her through the mostly empty lobby and out into the silent night. The streets were nearly deserted, and except for the 7-Eleven at the end of the block, Crossroads was the only building lit up for business. The same limo that had brought them to the club idled at the curb, and Trevor guided her to it with a hand low on her back.
The chilled air swept against her flushed skin and lifted her hair off her neck, a welcome relief from the anticipation burning beneath her skin. Something had changed in the last few moments. Something important, but so subtle she’d missed it between the promise of his kiss and the swirling lights. She settled on the soft leather seat and splayed her hand against his hard thigh the second he slid into place beside her. “Everything okay?”
“You’re not curled up and crying your eyes out, so yeah. I’m great.” He covered her hand, laced his fingers with hers and lifted her hand to his lips. “Got another gift for you.”
The limo pulled away from the club’s bright lights and the darkened streets pressed their intimate shadows around them. “Trevor, I don’t need any more gifts. What you’ve done tonight—what your family’s done—was gift enough. More than I’ll ever be able to give back.”
His thumb shuttled against the back of her hand, and the calm, confident veneer he kept in place for everyone else slipped enough to show the vulnerable man underneath. “There’s no such thing as enough when it comes to you.”
The space behind her sternum tightened, and her throat clogged on a surge of joy so powerful her blood sang with it. “You make it all worth it. Every day I was afraid...every day I thought I’d never overcome my bad choices...those days were worth it because I ended up here. With you.”
He studied her face, his gaze absorbing every detail as though searching for the answer to some unspoken question, then released her hand and reached inside his coat pocket. The box he retrieved was long and slender and wrapped in thick white paper with a simple gold ribbon. “I’ve got to be honest. Gabe did most of the shopping today, but this one I picked out.” He handed it over with a sheepish grin. “Jewelry’s not really my forté, but I thought it was cool.”
The package lay light against her palm, the ribbon trembling with the car’s vibrations as it trundled toward their destination. “Something tells me this far exceeds anything I got for you. Heck, the wrapping paper alone probably cost double what yours are wrapped in.”
“You can’t credit me for the wrapping. I’m a guy. We’ll pay crazy amounts of money if we can escape anything to do with tape and bows.”
She slipped the ribbon free and carefully pried the taped ends loose. The box beneath was just as fine, the gold base and black box of such quality it could have gone without any wrapping at all and still been a thing of beauty. Jiggling the top, the lower half slipped free. A delicate charm bracelet lay nestled atop black felt, three charms already affixed to the center—a heart shaped out of angel’s wings, a circular one with a picture of Levi in the center, and a cell phone. She gently freed the bracelet and fingered the cell phone, the accidental trigger that had brought them together. “It’s lovely.”
“It’s platinum, not gold, so the links will hold up better if you want to wear it every day. Or that’s what the guy said.” He shrugged, showing more uncertainty in the simple gesture than she’d ever seen before. “I thought it’d be nice for you to have something to add to as you hit your goals. You know, mark the milestones while you rebuild.”
She traced the length of the intricate band, the sentiment behind his gift breathing fresh air into the dreams she’d left behind. “You really think I can do it.”
“I know you can. Your mom and Levi believe you can. But it’s you who needs to remember. I thought this might be a nice reminder.”
Tears swelled and blurred her vision, the knot in her throat blossoming so large she could barely whisper. “I can’t top this. Not your gifts. Not tonight. Not ever.”
He cupped the side of her face. “You top it every morning. The way you feel next to me. The sleepy look on your face when the alarm goes off and you don’t want to get up. The sweet way you kiss me before you roll out of bed. For me, that’s heaven.”
God, this man. This amazing, honest, genuine man. “I used to think Wyatt’s harassment was punishment. A consequence I had to endure because of my bad judgment. Now I’m grateful.”
He frowned. “Not thinking I can ever muster any gratitude for the way he’s treated you and Levi.”
“I can.” She skimmed her fingertips along his jawline. The blond stubble was barely detectable in the darkness, but it tickled the pads of her fingers and sent delicious tremors down her arm. “If he hadn’t hammered on my door that night, you’d have never followed me home.”
His face hardened, an unyielding resolve sparking behind his gaze and drawing his body up tight.
Before he could get ramped up and refocused on plans to hire lawyers like he had the day before, she handed him the bracelet. “Will you help me put it on?”
His chest rose and fell. Behind him, highway lights zoomed past in a lulling, dizzying rhythm, but he stayed locked in place.
“Let it go, Trevor.” She lifted the bracelet higher. “Don’t let him come between us tonight.”
He swallowed and his shoulders relaxed on a slow exhale. Carefully, he took the delicate band and draped it over her wrist. Once the latch clicked into place, he spun the platinum around, his attention centered on the charms against the back of her hand, but his gaze distant. “I want to ask you for something, but want you to know up front there’s no pressure. You decide when or if you’re ready.”
“Anything.”
He lifted his head. “Think you ought to hear what I want before you agree.”
A mix of flutters and unease scampered beneath her skin. “Okay. I’ll listen.”
The limo exited the highway and the road noise dimmed, surrounding them in fragile silence.
Trevor covered her hand. There was warmth in the touch, but a hesitancy, too. “Never taken a woman without protection.”
She frowned. “Never taken a woman where?”
He grinned and huffed out a chuckle. “To bed, darlin’.”
Oh. Duh. “You mean no condom.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”
She bit her lip. “Never?”
“Never. Frank browbeat me about gloving up from the first day I woke up with wood. I never forgot. Not once.”
She dipped her head and shifted her hand beneath his, lacing their fingers together. “But you don’t want to with me?”
“When you’re ready. If you’re comfortable with the idea.”
Comfortable with it? She loved it. Loved the intimacy of it, but even more so, the unspoken commitment behind it. She lifted her head and whispered, “Okay.”
He shifted in his seat, the same nervous check Levi always got when he wasn’t 100 percent sure if he’d tiptoed into dangerous ground. “I checked with Zeke. He ran all my tests. I’m clean. I’ve got reports I can show you, too.”
She pressed her hand above his heart, the rhythm thrumming faster than normal. “Okay.”
“I mean, I didn’t go ahead of time to pressure you. I just wanted to show you I was taking it serious. To make sure you felt safe and—”
She silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Okay.”
He blinked back at her, the dumbfounded expression on his face probably not unlike the night she’d first asked him to dinner and they’d traded a similar exchange. “You’re sure?”
“Very sure.” She slid her hand around the back of his neck, tugged his band holding his hair back free, and threaded her hands in his hair. “After Levi, Wyatt demanded I start taking pills and I’ve never stopped. I suspected Wyatt screwed around while we were married so I had myself tested after I moved out. I’m fine.”
“What are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you I haven’t been with anyone but you since I got a clean bill of health and that there’s a less than one percent chance of pregnancy on the pill.”
“You don’t want to wait?”
The limo pulled to a stop. Dimly, her mind registered that the scenery outside the window behind him didn’t belong to the parking lot outside her apartment, but in that moment the only thing that mattered was him. What it had taken them both to get to this point in their lives. “I spent eight years waiting to feel like I do right now. I think I’ve waited long enough.”
The door beside him opened and a burst of lights and bustling noises from outside filled the interior.
Trevor glanced at the waiting driver, scanned the surroundings outside and shifted back to her. His gaze ran the length of her from toes to shoulders, slow as though marking every detail to memory. He held out his hand palm up. “Think I’m tired of waiting, too.”
She laid her hand in his and his strong fingers curled around it. In only seconds, he was out of the car, guiding her from their dark cocoon and into the chilled December night. The wind whipped their hair, the wildness of it matching the storm building between them. Behind him, Dallas’s historic Adolphus Hotel stretched toward the dark sky, its ornate Beaux-Arts architecture a classic snapshot of elegant eras gone by. “I love this hotel.”
“I know.”
One time she’d mentioned it. An innocent ramble in the quiet moments alone after Thanksgiving when she’d shared a treasured memory of her and her mother dressing up for afternoon tea just after she’d graduated from nursing school.
But he’d remembered.
He whisked her inside, past the registration desk in the main lobby and the legendary Steinway grand piano rumored to have missed a fateful calling with the Titanic. Beyond the soaring twelve-foot tree laden with classic ornaments and twinkling lights and the elegant staircase that led to the shadowed lobby bar, to the elevator landing with its ageless gold doors.
Inside, he punched the top floor and pulled her back against his chest, one hand cupping her shoulder while the other splayed possessively above her abdomen. The numbers above the elevator clicked higher and higher, excitement and anticipation soaring as the floors raced by. Against her stomach, his thumb shuttled back and forth against her silk dress, the mix of his firm touch, her soft flesh and the slick fabric a subtle reminder of what was to come.
The doors swept open and he led her to the door at the end of the hall, keeping his silence with every step. He swept the key card through the lock and the mechanism chirped as it disengaged. Pushing the entrance wide, he stood back and waited for her to enter.
“Oh, my.” She strolled across the gleaming white and gray tile covering the entrance, her heels clipping against the fine surface and echoing off the towering ceiling. Four more steps in, the space opened up to a massive room at least fifty feet wide. A wall of windows looked out over the gorgeous Dallas skyline, its pristine white curtains drawn back for maximum impact and reflecting her awestruck gaze. Two massive crystal chandeliers hung overhead, one over the eight-person Chippendale dining room set and the other over the refined seating area at the far end of the room. “This isn’t just an ordinary room.”
He swept her hair off her neck, settled his hands on her hips and kissed the tender spot where her neck and shoulder met. “It’s not an ordinary night.”
No, it wasn’t. But then nothing about her life had been ordinary since the day she’d walked into Trevor’s office. More like extraordinary. The stuff of dreams and fantasies the likes of which she’d had in high school, only much, much better.
His hands slid up her bodice and cupped her breasts. “Took me about two seconds into our first dance tonight to figure out you didn’t have a bra on under this.” He grazed his thumb back and forth over her nipples. “Been dying to stroke you like this ever since.”
A shudder slid through her and her knees trembled. She gripped his forearms to steady herself and let her head drop back against his shoulder, arching her back in encouragement. Her voice came out husky, the room, the night and all her worries melting away beneath his touch. “That was five hours ago. I’m surprised you made it that long.”
“Toying with you in public is one thing. Doin’ it with my dad and your mom a stone’s throw away is too kinky even for my tastes.” Taking advantage of her exposed shoulders and neck, he kissed, licked and nibbled a tantalizing path across her skin. He tweaked her nipples and pressed his very ready shaft against her ass. “Planned on letting you have some fun exploring the suite first, but seein’ as how we’ve got it until Monday morning, I’m thinking me exploring what’s under all this silk’s a higher priority.”
Reaching up and behind her, she threaded her fingers through his hair and rolled her head, offering more access for his talented mouth. “I’m all for efficiency and prioritization.”
She felt his smile against her flesh and his warm chuckle coasted down her back. “You’re such a team player.” He drew in a deep, sexy breath, splayed his hand just above her ass and urged her forward. “How about we get you to the bedroom before I change my mind and start exploring on the dining room table.”
Now there was an intriguing idea. If they had the suite until Monday, maybe she could initiate a little fun of her own later on.
A sense of weightlessness moved through her at the thought, joy and a liberating sense of freedom blossoming until her footsteps seemed whisper soft. Two months ago, she’d have never considered such a thing. Not because she wasn’t open to such ideas, but because she’d have worried over how she looked or how a partner might perceive her. Trevor had given her that. Shown her intimacy wasn’t about presenting an image or meeting any expectations. It was a connection. Two people appreciating and accepting each other as they were. It didn’t matter how it happened. Playful, intense, awkward, or clumsy—with him the moment could be whatever it needed to be and it was still perfect.
He ushered her into the bedroom, shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to the plush chenille couch along the far wall.
Where the main room was all class, the bedroom was old-world opulence. The armoire and dresser echoed the same rococo style prevalent throughout the hotel, and the dove-gray carpet was thick beneath her feet, but the king-size poster bed with its soft yellow and coral canopy hinted of castles, knights, and whimsical days gone by. She paced closer to it and ran her fingers along the satin comforter.
Trevor’s light footsteps sounded behind her. He traced the line from the base of her neck to the top of her zipper. “Saw that bed after I checked in and gave serious thought to skipping the party and heading straight here.” A gentle tug and a soft hiss, and her gown’s bodice loosened, held upright only by her arms at her side. He teased his fingers down her exposed spine. “Turn around, sweetheart. Want the full impact when that dress hits the floor.”
She did as he asked, her breasts swelling in anticipation.
He stood close enough to touch, but not enough to bar his view. Like his jacket, he’d shucked his shoes and socks, leaving him in just his slacks and black shirt. He traced the sweetheart neckline of her gown, gently scraping the tops of her breasts with the tips of his fingers. “Let it go.”
Goose bumps lifted across her skin. Two months she’d been with him and still her body reacted like it was the first. Eager. Ready and wanting. Humming with excitement. Only now she wasn’t afraid. She pushed her shoulders back and relaxed her arms. The silk slithered down her body in a wicked caress, pooling around her ankles and leaving her bared in nothing more than her heels and an ivory lacy thong. The room’s cool air ghosted against her flesh, drawing her nipples to tightly puckered points. “I think you forgot my shoes.”
She’d expected a grin. Maybe even one of those naughty chuckles that sent her insides swirling with delight. Instead he stared, the stark appreciation and hunger in his expression sparking electric zings against her flesh. “I didn’t forget anything.” He inched closer, dragged his knuckles down her belly and dipped his fingers beneath the waistband of her thong. His fingertips skimmed the tightly trimmed curls atop her mound. “Been planning on seeing you like this since you crossed your legs in the limo and I got a glimpse of those heels.”
Crouching in front of her, he peeled the lace down her hips and slowly raked his gaze up from her toes to her face. “Totally worth the wait.” He splayed his hands just above her knees, smoothed them along the outside of her thighs and up her hips. He kissed the scar above her womb then eased back and lifted his gaze to hers. His hot breath fluttered against her sex. “Crawl back on the bed, sweetheart.”
“Um.” She twisted and gauged the height of the bed. While the thick mattress and raised platform was no big deal for someone as tall as Trevor, she’d have a heck of a time hopping up on it barefoot, let alone in three-inch heels. “With the shoes?”
That time he did grin, stepping in as he did so and lifting her so her butt ended up perched on the bed. “You uncomfortable in them?”
She bit her lip. “A little.”
He stepped between her thighs and thumbed each of them off without a beat of hesitation. They thumped against the thick carpets as he nuzzled her neck. “You’ll wear them for me later?”
An image of her at the dining room table in nothing but the strappy sling backs flashed inside her head. “How about for breakfast?”
“Sold.” He stepped back and gave a playful smack to her hip. “Now scoot back so I can lose these clothes and get back between your thighs.”
She pushed back on her arms and cast him a sexy look beneath her lashes. “Yes, sir.”
“Minx.” He worked the buttons on his shirt, those talented fingers of his making much faster progress than her shaking hands ever could. Even when he tossed the dark fabric aside and shifted to his pants, his stare stayed locked on her. “Smart move you gettin’ on my good side before I get out the rope.”
Her gasp slipped out before she could catch it, and she squeezed her thighs around the unexpected quiver between her legs. “You brought rope?”
“Thought ahead enough to have your mom pack clothes for you to go home in. You really think I’d miss a detail that took up a whole lot more mental space than making sure you were dressed on the way home?” He shoved his pants and briefs to the floor.
The last of her coherent thoughts scattered, too focused on the prime display in front of her. God, he was magnificent. The room’s dim lighting flitted across his muscled body, shadows accenting the ridges along his pecs, abs, and hips. His platinum dog tags rested above his sternum, the soft metal glow and etched black markings accenting his golden skin, but most of her focus stayed rooted to his thick cock jutting tall and proud toward his belly. “I guess not.”
He crept onto the bed, a predator with the eyes of an angel. “The rope’s soft.” He cupped her knees and splayed them wide enough to kneel between them, his thumbs drawing enticing circles against her skin. “Smooth so you can wiggle and buck all damned night and not walk away with a mark.” He ran his fingers along the inside of her thighs and his gaze dropped to her exposed core. “That’s for later. Right now I want your hands free so I can feel them on me when I take you.”
Lightly, he skimmed her labia, slowly increasing the pressure until his fingertips were slick with her wetness.
She covered his hand at her hip and squeezed, needing the connection to ground her. To hold her steady while reality gave way to the burgeoning pleasure he created. “Trevor,” she whispered.
“Right here, darlin’.” He eased over her, bracing himself above her with one hand beside her head. The cool metal of his dog tags fell like ice against her fevered skin, branding her as he pressed one finger deep.
She flexed into the thrust and let her hands roam against his sculpted pecs. The faint hair along his sternum tickled her palms and his heart galloped as wild and untamed as the fire burning behind his eyes.
“Gonna feel this on my cock.” Adding another finger to his assault, he upped the rhythm. “Feel your heat. Fill you up. Mark you.”
Tremors racked her thighs and the muscles surrounding his fingers fluttered. “Trevor.”
“You want that?”
“Yes.”
“Need it?”
“Yes.” She let her eyes slip closed and rolled her hips in time with each surge, chasing the release he offered.
“That’s it.” His lips skimmed her cheekbone. Her jaw. Her lips. “Build it for me. All the way to the edge.”
“No building.” She clumsily threaded her fingers through his hair, her mouth too parched and desperate for his kiss to manage much more. “Already there. Please.”
He nipped her lower lip and growled. “No better sound than that. Broken and husky. Begging for my cock.” He slipped his fingers free, circled his shaft, and coated himself in her desire. And, God, was it beautiful. His big, powerful hand squeezing and pumping his heavily veined length and coating himself with her essence.
Before she could overthink the action, she followed her instincts and curled her hand around his, gliding her fingers above his and savoring his slick, velvet length. Her hips lifted and fell with each stroke. “I love this. Love to watch you.” She guided him into place. “But, I want this more.”
His glans notched into place and his head dropped back, eyes closed as though he’d just stumbled on nirvana.
She undulated against him, urging him with hands at his hips and heels in his flanks. “Now, Trevor.” Gone were all her inhibitions, trampled by incessant need and thundering desire. She slipped her fingers between her legs and stroked either side of his shaft, circling her clit on each upward rasp. “Give me this.”
The muscles at the back of his jaw twitched and his eyes flashed open, blazing with possession. “Anything.” He inched deeper, claiming her with a sweet, delicious stretch. “Everything.” Another inch. So perfect. Raw and primal. “Always.”
He thrust himself to the hilt and his eyes flared. “Nat.”
She smoothed her hands up his arms and over his shoulders. Her hips rolled against his, a faultless rhythm that moved between them as smooth as the ocean’s lap against the sand. “I know.” She coiled her arms and legs around his neck and waist. “It’s beautiful. Right. Just us.”
“Us.” The simple echo whispered like a promise between them, reverent and thick with wonder. His gaze trailed down their bodies. “Christ...Natalie.” He pounded harder, his cock hammering deep while his tight sac slapped her sex. “I’ll never get enough. Never.”
The sights, the scents, the sound—it all coalesced at once, catapulting her up and over the edge to the blinding white of release. “Trevor!” Her sex clenched, fisting Trevor’s cock in a greedy pulse that echoed clear to the arches of her feet.
“Fuck, yes. That’s mine. All mine.” He surged to the root and buried himself at the end of her, his cock jerking against her spasming sex.
Complete. In that one, unparalleled intimate moment, they were one. One flesh. One need. One heart.
Beneath her heels, his flanks flexed and released, drawing out the pleasure in long, tender strokes. Powerful yet tender. Possessive yet rich with surrender. Sweat lined their torsos and the musky bite of sex drifted all around them. Arms shaking, Trevor gave her his weight, ghosting kisses over her brow, her eyes, her nose, her lips.
“Best New Year’s ever.” She sighed, tickling her fingertips up and down his spine.
He lifted his head, his tousled hair framing his face and blue gaze brimming with solemnity. Cupping one side of her face, he smoothed his thumb along her cheekbone. His voice grated low and broken, but so rich with emotion it streamed sunshine-bright into her soul. “I love you.”
Tears swelled in little more than a second, blurring his handsome face before spilling down her cheeks. “Trevor,” she whispered.
Panic filled his expression and he wiped the tears away. “Shit, Natalie. I didn’t want to make you cry again.”
She smiled and barked out a laugh, the harsh jerk of her torso pushing more tears free. “I’m a girl, Trevor. We don’t just cry when we’re sad. We cry when we’re happy, too.”
His gaze roved her face, searching. Studying. “I didn’t freak you out?”
“God, no.” She caressed his jawline, savoring the stubble beneath her touch. Her lips trembled and the space behind her sternum felt as though her heart had ballooned to twice its normal size. “You made me happy. Relieved.” She traced his lips. “I love you, too. I was afraid it was just me.”
He smiled and smoothed her hair away from her face. “It’s not just you. Not anymore.” He rolled his hips against hers, an intimate reminder of how they were still joined. His eyes slid shut and he hung his head as though the sensation was too great to do more than hold on for the ride. When he finally lifted his head, his mouth was cocked in a goofy grin. “Feel like I should get a towel and clean you up, but damned if I want to.”
She sighed, stretched, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve got a big strong man starting my pseudo New Year off with a stellar orgasm and a declaration of love. I’m not in any hurry to change a thing.”
He cocked his head, surprise and maybe a little shock widening his eyes. “It doesn’t bother you?”
Urging his mouth to hers, she whispered against his lips. “It’s natural and it’s part of you, so no.”
He groaned and deepened the kiss, a languid appreciation of all they’d shared and a promise of what was to come. Only after long, heartfelt minutes did he shift, kill the bedside light, and situate them beneath the covers. The darkness surrounded them in a soft cocoon, her torso half-on and half-off his and their legs comfortably tangled.
His fingertips drifted up and down her arm in a lazy, haphazard pattern. “Nat?”
“Mmmm?”
“Whatever worries you had about today—about matching what me and my family did for you—let ’em go. I might have given you a night, but what we just did...you telling me you love me with me still inside you and nothing between us...” He inhaled slow and deep, almost bracing. “Darlin’, you just gave me the world.”