Page 111 of Hero for the Holidays

They went into the room, and he closed it behind them. Locked it.

“Fia...”

He didn’t need to say it.

She knew.

She rushed over to him and stretched up on her toes. She kissed him. She kissed him like she was dying. Because she felt like she was. She was so happy to have this moment. This separate moment. Just with him. Nobody was here. And this was in a cabin in the woods. It was a hotel room. It wasn’t part of their past. And no, it wasn’t part of their future. But it was them. Right now, it was them.

“Landry,” she whispered.

“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered against her mouth.

It was the exact right thing to say. Because she felt like she was flailing. Floundering. Losing herself in the need that was threatening to swamp her. But he had her. In his strong arms. Because he was Landry, and he was everything. Just like he always had been.

But Lila had to be everything.

She didn’t know how to be with him, and be a mother. She didn’t know how to be everything. But right now all she had to be was his.

He stripped her clothes off her body and looked at her like she was a delicacy.

“Take your clothes off,” she said, her voice husky like a stranger’s.

There was nothing more she loved than Landry King’s body. He made her feel giddy. He made her feel sixteen. But even better he made her feel twenty-nine. Because she would rather be twenty-nine. A woman who knew exactly what she wanted. She would rather be herself right now, in this moment, than anyone else or anywhere else, and in her life, that was the singular realization.

“It’s been too long,” he growled as he stripped his shirt off. “Way too long.”

“It’s been a week,” she said.

He grabbed her and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest, her nipples scraping against the hair there, sending a spark of pleasure through her body. “You’re right,” she whispered. “Way too long.”

He kissed her. Devoured her. Sent shock waves of need arcing through her.

There had never been anyone like Landry.

She knew, because she felt this electricity when she looked at him across the room.

“That bastard Landry King,” she whispered.

“What?”

“That’s how I refer to you. In my head. Every time I would see a hot man and I didn’t want him. Every time you would walk in and make an earthquake inside of me. That bastard Landry King. Because you ruined me. For everyone and everything. And I made it about my fear, Landry, but the truth is I just didn’t want anyone else.”

“Neither did I,” he said. “And I tried. But it was empty. And it wasn’t you, Fia. Nothing has ever been you. You’re the most significant person in my life.”

“Mine too.”

He kissed her. Deeper this time, harder. And she felt all of these things rising up inside of her. Feelings and promises and words. She wanted to say that she loved him, and that terrified her. Like there was a hook in her stomach, holding her tense, and it had just been twisted. It was nearly painful. She couldn’t say that she loved him. She couldn’t love him.

Except... Had there ever been a moment where she hadn’t loved him? Really? The issue had never been love. It had been the shape it had taken.

Unfortunately.

So she didn’t say it, because it would only be confusing. So she didn’t say it, because it would only hurt them both.

But she felt it. As his hand skimmed over her skin. She moved her own hands to his belt buckle and undid it. Exposed his glorious cock to her vision.

She knelt down in front of him, moved her hand over his length and took him in her mouth. He was bigger now. He was a man. He was everything that she needed.

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