Page 28 of Keeping Mr. Sweet

“And then you’ll call her.”

“Maybe,” I waiver.

“Or we’ll go see her,” he says. “I’ll take you.”

“I can do it on my own.”

“I know you can.” He twists so that he’s facing my direction from the hips up. Leaning nearer, he steals the cup from my hand and places it beside his on the table.

I’m fascinated by the look in his eyes; the intensity and depth those sky-blue eyes have when he’s determining something. I cross my legs, a flash of heat searing through me when his fingers surround my ankle and lift it onto his lap. Strong fingers and thumb work into the pressure points. How I missed this. Missed the way he would always touch me. No matter where we were or what we were doing, he would find a way to place his hand on the small of my back, or his knee against mine.

But it was when we were in private and he’d touch me like sex was the last thing on his mind, and I would fall a little bit more than I ever thought possible. He touches me like that again now, and I want to lose my mind and fall into him until there’s nothing but a universe of atoms. His and mine. Where neither of us knows where one stops and the other begins.

“I’m going to take you to see Summer,” he says. “I’ll arrange it. And we will go. Together. I’ll be right beside you while you tell her about what happened with Luca. And while you tell her about Talon.”

“No, Sam,” I croak. It’s one thing to tell her about Luca and the sex tape, or at least parts of it, but Talon is off limits. I haven’t talked about him since the day Sam collected me from jail. Wet heat slides down my cheeks, my vision gets fuzzy. “I’ll tell her about Luca, but not...”

Using his thumb, Sam wipes the hot splotches from my face. “It isn’t fair to Summer that she doesn’t know any of this. Do you know that? She’s your best friend, practically your family, and you’ve never let her in.”

“I can’t.” I grip his hand, holding it to my face. “I can’t talk about...him.” I can barely think his name. “You can’t make me do this. It isn’t fair.”

“You still think you’re all alone.” He exhales deeply, staring at a spot on the carpet near the door. “That you cause people to hate you by letting them get close to you. But it isn’t true.”

“It is true. I hurt you.” My voice is the barest of whispers, so low I’m not sure he heard me until he looks at me.

I hurt him to keep him safe. He was still so unsure of us, he still held onto that belief I needed more of the world than the life that we had together. I left him, knowing I’d hurt him, but certain it would be far harder on him if he let go of those doubts and fell all the way in love with me.

“You did,” he agrees. “And I let you. I made it easy for you, didn’t I? Handed you the damn ammunition for you to use.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did. I told you we didn’t make sense because you were only nineteen at the time, and I was almost thirty. Told you that you didn’t want kids when you could choose travel, but I didn’t take into account that all you wanted was someone in your corner and a family of your own. That was my mistake. One I won’t make again.”

He drags his hand up my leg to grasp my ass and put me on his lap. There’s so much strength in the quiet way he chooses to deal with me. His fingers tangle in my hair, tugging gently and making my scalp prickle as he grips my face between both of his hands, his thumbs tracing my lips. “So we’ll go and see Summer and you’ll tell her about Luca and about Talon. I’ll be right there with you, and you’ll realize she isn’t going to hate you because of these things. You’ll realize you don’t have to live your life like you’re alone.”

A low moan escapes me as I roll my hips, grinding onto his lap. He turns me on with his certainty and his promise. Makes me want to do what he asks me to. I want to be his good girl. I want to please him.

His fingers dig into the fleshy part of my hip to keep me still. He rises under me, crushing his granite like erection against my seam as his lips caress the underside of my jaw and his feral groan curls my toes. “Will you do that for me, Ash? Will you give in to me on this?”

“Yes.” I fling my arms around his head and hug him to my chest as our hips move in tandem, his erection rubbing at my sensitive spots and stirring sensation that makes my insides liquid. It pools between my thighs, dampening my sweats where the fire between us rages.

Fisting my hair, he pulls my head back. Hard breaths give away how much effort he’s putting into controlling himself. His eyelids are heavy over darkened eyes that drink me in as I bounce up and down on his lap. “Can you promise me, Ash?”

“I-I promise.” I say breathlessly, my palms skidding on his chest, curling into claws. We’re dry humping the hell out of each other, and I will do anything he wants just to keep him from stopping.

He tugs more sharply on my hair until it stings, and tears prick my eyes. “Tell me you understand what I’m telling you.”

“Yes,” I cry out. I’m not alone when I’m with him. It feels so damn good to have him take control, to remind me that I belong. It feels so right. Like I’ve always needed that little bit more than he could handle giving me. Now he doesn’t hold back, and it is everything.

“Tell me you’re mine, Ash,” he commands, spearing his hand into the waist of my sweats and rubbing my clit.

Sparks shoot off in all directions. Fireworks have me slamming my eyes closed and moaning. “Yours.”

“Tell me again,” he orders. “Open your eyes and look at me while you tell me whose you are.”

Oh God. I do as he says as my body goes into a meltdown. My blood is on fire, my senses on overload, but I open my eyes and I stare into his while mini explosions detonate all the way to my scalp and my toes. And he stares back at me the way he used to when he loved me so many years ago, and I am unequivocally and without a doubt certain. Come what may, there will never be another man for me. “I am yours.”

“Good,” he says afterwards, his hand curled around my neck as he cradles my head against his shoulder and takes his fingers from my clit. A tender kiss pats my temple, strong arms engulf me. Would he mind if I stayed here forever, didn’t make a peep, didn’t move a muscle? “I want you to know that Ru contacted his brother about your tape because we thought it might have come from his company. I don’t know if you remember Marco. He wasn’t really a friend of mine, but he used to visit sometimes with Ru. He’s created a name for himself in pro-amateur porn and the style was incredibly similar. We thought if it was through him we could at least get it taken down and keep more people from seeing it.”

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