Page 131 of Abyss

I just assumed I knew, and I thought the worst of him.

“I-I thought I was guarding my heart. I thought you didn’t feel the same way I did.” My chin trembles with remorse. “I’m so sorry, Hudson.”

His forehead lands on mine. “This is not on you. I should have told you how I felt about you sooner. I didn’t think those three words were important, as long as my actions said enough, but I fucking failed there, too.”

A swell of panic rises inside me, and I grab his wrists, shaking my head. “You didn’t fail. What you did . . .” I swallow, sniffling, “moving here for me, showing up here today. I don’t deserve that, Hudson.”

His hands tighten on my face, his eyes steel against mine. “You deserve the fucking world, sweetheart, and I plan to give it to you.”

My eyes bounce against his, disbelief still evident in the way my hands grasp him. “So, you’re here now? Please tell me you’re here now.”

Hudson’s eyes drop to my lips before he leans in and gently presses a kiss to mine. “If you’re here, I’m here, sweetheart. I’m wherever you are.” Rare vulnerability, the kind he only reserves for me, shimmers in his gaze. “Tell me I’m fucking worth the trouble. Tell me you’ll still have me, baby girl.”

A choked sob escapes my lips as soul-stirring relief blankets my entire body.

“You’re worth more than I could possibly give you. I’ll have you and only you, Hudson Case. I’m never letting you go,” I mumble over his lips, watching his eyes squeeze shut and his chest inflate, as if he was holding his breath the whole time. “The thought of never seeing your rare smiles, never feeling your lips against mine . . . It broke me, Hudson. I’d left half of me with you. Thank you for bringing it back to me.”

His lips find mine again as he presses my back to my car,his need heavy against my abdomen. “I love you, Kav. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth if that’s what it took to be with you.”

Our lips crash together, tongues lashing against each other as I pull him into me. My legs wrap around his hips and his erection grinds against my core while his hands cup my ass.

A feverish growl escapes his lips when his hand tangles inside my hair and he pulls my head back to deepen our kiss.

I feel him inside my chest, in the depths of my soul.

We’re a frenzy of lips and tongues, growls and groans, as we rediscover each other.

We kiss until we’re both out of breath and heaving against one another before I pull back, my lips still tingling from the delicious scrape of his scruff against my skin. “Wait a minute,” I say, still trying to catch my breath, my mind buzzing with disconnected thoughts. “How did you know we were making memory boxes today?”

“It was on your flyer. I looked up a couple of videos online, and then I made it myself.”

I reel back, my hands resting on his broad chest. “You found my flyer?”

One corner of his lips lifts. “And your favorite coffee shop.”

I let out a soft gasp. “You’ve been following me? You’re . . . you’re the hot daddy Lena talks about!”

His brows furrow with confusion. “I don’t know what half of that means, but like I said, I’d follow you anywhere, if that’s what it took to be with you.”

“Yeah?” My smile turns sheepish, butterflies scattering inside my belly. “How about you follow me home, hot daddy?”

We’re barelyinside my tiny apartment before Hudson has our lips smashed together.

Parched and famished.

His tongue thrusts inside my open mouth like he’ll die if he doesn’t get to taste me. Rising up on my toes, I dig my fingers into his hair, moaning as urgent licks of heat travel up my body.

Needy. Greedy. Begging.

My hands work hastily to untuck and unbutton his shirt. In record time, I’m shoving it off him, my palms landing over his wide tattooed chest.

I break away to lay kisses over his collarbone and neck, feeling his erection flinch between us. Sliding my palm down his chest and taut abs, I grasp his cock over his pants. Hudson releases a hard breath and sways against me, as if he’s having a hard time staying steady.

His fingers lock on the hem of my shirt, tugging it over my torso before I help him take it off. His eyes flare when they rake down my exposed skin, lingering on the swell of my breasts.

He palms one sheathed breast before he pulls down the cup, his eyes flaring at the sight of my exposed and pebbled nipple. A growl escapes his lips before he leans down to take it in his mouth, sending ripples of blinding lust through my core. His hands slide up and down my torso as his lips and teeth pull at my nipple, sucking so hard I squeak in blissful agony.

Wet heat trickles into my panties as my pussy contracts. My fingers dig into his scalp. “Hudson . . .”

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