I growl.
“Isn’t this fun?” He cruises upwards again, placing a kiss at my hip bone, and then nosing into the fine hair at my belly. “I love your body so much. You’re lean and mean, like a jungle cat.”
His gaze is like a laser, and my wrists strain against the restraints. I want to reach down and run my fingers through his thick hair. And, fine, I want to shove his face closer to my cock.
“Fuuuuuck,” I breathe. “Get over here, will you?”
“All right.” He does an army crawl up my body and at last we’re skin on skin. I sigh with relief as he settles his hips onto mine, the tip of my cock dampening his belly.
“Now let’s talk,” he says.
“Wait, what?” I roll my hips. “Depends what you mean by talk.”
His big brown eyes smile down at me. “I’ve been thinking.”
“Does that sentence end with—about blowing you? Because I’m in.”
He laughs. “Oh, I’ve been thinking about that. But I’ve also been thinking about that storefront you sketched out and your big plans.”
I groan. “Really? We could be having sex right now, and you want to talk about a lease?”
“Yeah,” he says, pausing to nibble on my neck. “I want you to rent that place. And when it comes time to investing, I want you to let me help you. I’ll introduce you to that friend who did the Kickstarter. And you can’t get mad if I invest in the highest tier and share the campaign with the team.”
I blow out a breath. “Okay. You win. Now let’s have all the sex.”
He blinks. “That’s it? I thought I’d have to tease you for hours.”
“I signed the lease today, and I opened a Kickstarter account. Happy?”
He pushes his face into my neck and laughs. “Seriously?”
“I’ll show you something serious.” I roll my hips, looking for friction. “You didn’t need to tie me up to convince me to stay in Colorado. I love you. I told you last night when you drunk dialed me. And I’ll tell you again whenever you want to hear it. But for the love of God…”
“You do?” he asks, suddenly serious.
“I do. I love you and I trust you and I understand why you want to see my face when you come home from a trip. Because I spent the day wishing I could see yours.”
He blinks again. “Why didn’t you just lead with that?”
“Fine. Sure. I lo—”
Athletes. They move fast. Before I can even get the word out, he’s moved down the bed and taken me into the heat of his mouth.
“—ve youuuuu,” I moan. “Oh yeah. Love you lots. Big love. Just like that…”
He groans. I buck against the bed. And I realize I’m living out the stuff of my dreams. A hot athlete has me tied to the bed. It’s a fine piece of hand-made furniture, with high-thread-count sheets. There’s even good lighting.
But the way he looks at me in the candlelight—the love shining in his eyes? That’s the dreamiest thing of all.
Epilogue
TOMMASO
Three Months Later
Carter
I’m Outside! Tell me where to find you.