Slater

After weeks apart with Izzy as my only thought, there was no holding back, and even less of a chance that I could take things slow. I knew this might be a mistake…that she might end up hating me once she knew the truth, but it was a risk I had to take. Because at some point during the last few months, I’d managed to fall in love with Izzy.

Head over heels, heart and soul.

She was my everything, and though I’d managed to walk away from her once, I didn’t have the strength to do it again. Not when she was the very beat of my heart.

I trailed kisses and bites down her neck, loving how her back arched against me, her hips pushing back to meet each thrust, taking me deeper as her hands fisted the sheets, our pace already pushing me to that delicious edge. My muscles tensed under the strain of holding myself back from coming, needing to make this last a little longer, though the thought of coming as I took her bare…the thought of filling her with my seed…only made it harder not to come and claim her as my own.

Needing this to last a little longer, I pulled free of her body and lay back against the pillows, grabbing her hips and guiding her onto my hard length as she straddled me, her tight body slipping down onto my cock until I was buried inside her once again. I gazed upon her, her red hair a tousled mess and her pink lips parting as she let out a ragged breath of satisfaction that mirrored my own, her body starting to move, rocking along my length as I thrust up into her. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, Izzy…”

I gripped her hips, pulling her deeper so that I filled her to her core, while grinding her swollen clit against the base of my cock, a needy groan escaping her lips and spurring me on.

When she spoke, her words tumbled out, not bothering to mask her need and desire. “I’m so close to coming…”

“I’ve got you, baby.” I sat up, wrapping an arm around her waist as I caught her mouth in a soul-baring kiss, overwhelmed by all she meant to me. Never had I felt this way before. Never had anyone meant so much to me. And it didn’t matter that I’d only known her for a month or two, because I’d known the truth in my heart from the moment I laid eyes on her, and no amount of time would change how I felt about her.

Yet I needed to know that she felt the same, needed to know that she would be willing to see me for who I was and overlook my past. With my head bent to hers as I continued to take her, I spoke the words that had been haunting me these last few weeks while we were apart. “I know this is crazy, but I love you, Izzy.”

I didn’t know if it was our pace or my words that set her off, but she cried out my name as she came, her body quivering in my arms and tightening around my cock. And that was all it took to push me over the edge, my cock buried deep inside her as I came, filling her with my hot cum, knowing damn well that I may have just linked our lives as one—the thought filling me with a warmth and need I hadn’t expected. I didn’t just want Izzy… I wanted her to be my everything… I wanted her to be my wife…the mother of my children. And most of all, I wanted her to love me. Unconditionally.

I brushed the hair from her face and kissed her sweetly, our bodies still linked, even as she pulled away just enough to look at me, her eyes darkening in question. “Did you really mean what you just said? Because I swear, if they were just words spoken in the heat of the moment… Then please don’t. I don’t need you toying with me.”

I couldn’t blame her for being wary and questioning how I felt about her, especially when I’d walked away from her after our first time together. But I’d had my reasons. I just had to hope that she’d forgive me when she knew the truth. “I know I was an ass—but I don’t speak those words lightly. If I tell you that I love you, then it’s because you’re my very heart. And Izzy… I’ve never spoken those words to anyone but you. I’m not playing games—and the last thing I wanted to do is hurt you.”

“Then why did you? Because the truth of the matter is that I love you, Slater. I really do. But I feel like I’m setting myself up for heartache, and I’m not sure I can deal with it, especially when it seems like I’m taking one hit after another.”

“I won’t hurt you again, Izzy. You have my word.” With my head bent to hers, I nuzzled her, catching her mouth in a sweet kiss that I hoped conveyed all the love I had for her. Yet I knew I’d soon need to tell her the truth, even if it meant losing her.

I pulled free of her body and laid us back against the pillows, holding her tightly in my arms, never wanting to let her go. Maybe if I waited a little longer to tell her…maybe then she’d know me better and would be less damning of the things I’d done in the past when my options were limited, and my family was doing all it could to leave that life behind.

I felt like a jerk keeping this from her. But it was easy enough to make excuses, when she had her hands full looking for her brother. Telling her the truth would only leave her feeling alone yet again when she needed me by her side. And I wanted to be there for her. I wanted her to know that she could trust me, no matter what. But the only way I’d succeed in doing that would be to prove to her that I was a good man who’d do right by her—and that I wasn’t the man I’d once been.

Izzy lazily ran her fingers over the ink that trailed from my arms and shoulders to my chest, her gaze finally meeting mine with a shyness that reminded me of just how sweet and inexperienced she was. “You really do love me?”

“With my very soul, love.” I took her hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it as I tightened my hold on her and she nestled deeper into my embrace, looking content and happy—something I was desperate to see more of. I kissed the top of her head, relishing the feel of her soft body pressed against mine, our legs tangled and our hearts beating as one.

She pressed a kiss to my neck and then bit that same spot, making me groan, and awakening my cock. And when she trailed her fingers down over my abs and over my hardening length, I was helpless when my cock jumped at her touch, hard once again. She kissed me, smiling against my lips, clearly pleased with the effect she was having on me. “I know we have things to do, but…”

I rolled her under me, a smile on my face as I nestled myself between her legs, ready to take her again. “But they can probably wait another hour or two.”