Page 44 of Twice in a Lifetime

Rhodes kissed me through every roll and peak of my release, swallowing my moans and unintelligible words until his cock swelled even thicker and his movements became uncoordinated and jerky. He tore his mouth from mine. “Fuck,fuck! I’m gonna come, baby.” With that, he buried his face in my neck on a primitive groan as he came deep inside me.

He collapsed on top of me, banding his arms around me before rolling to his back with me draped on top of him. I nuzzled into his chest, letting out a sigh of deep, boneless contentment as I settled against him.

“I love you so fuckin’ much,” he breathed a few minutes later.

I turned my head, burying my smile against his skin. “I love you too,” I whispered against his skin, joy building so large in my chest it felt like it would burst from the tips of my toes and fingers any second.

What Grace said earlier reverberated in my brain, and I lifted my head, propping my chin on the backs of my hands so I could look up at him. “Are you happy?”

He lifted an arm and folded it behind his head, propping himself up so he could see me. His brows pinched together as he reached down with his other hand and brushed the hair back from my face. “What?”

“Are you happy?” I repeated.

His features smoothed out, his expression growing tender as he traced my hairline with the tip of his finger. “Yeah, Angel. I’m very happy. Are you?”

“I am. Because you make me happy, Rhodes,” I confessed. “And I want to make sure I give you the same. I—I don’t want you living half a life.”

Understanding filled his eyes. “I know it might have seemed to some people like all I’ve been doing all these years is existing, but I’ve had a good life with a family who loves me and I’m surrounded by good friends. I found my purpose in the Army,then again when I came back here. And I think we can both agree that I have the smartest dog in the world.” He grinned as I let out a giggle. “No, I didn’t get married or have kids because you were the only woman I ever wanted that with, but that didn’t mean my life wasn’t complete. I had everything I needed. You coming back into the picture gave memore. And this time around, I have the added bonus of those kids. I’ve lived a good life, baby. You’ll never hear me complain. You make it even better.”

Hearing that soothed the jagged pieces inside me. It settled the turmoil I’d been feeling since my run-in with Grace. Twisting my head, I pressed my cheek back into his chest and let out a happy sigh. “That was a really good answer,” I said quietly, my body slowly succumbing to exhaustion from the workout it just had.

Rhodes’s cheek shook on a silent laugh as he hooked an arm around me and hugged me tight. “I’m glad you approve. Now get some sleep, Angel. You need to rest up, because I’m nowhere near done with you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Blythe

Icould hear my co-workers whispering behind me, but I was too busy daydreaming to really pay attention to what they were gossiping about. I barely comprehended the words on the screen in front of me as I brushed my fingers over the mouse to scroll from page to page.

A throat cleared behind me, the sound so obnoxiously loud that it burst my happy little bubble and drew me back to the present.

I blinked and swiveled in my chair, facing Heather, Diana, and Gretchen. “What?” My gaze bounced between all three of them as they snickered. “What did I miss?”

“You’ve been in your own little world over there,” Gretchen pointed out with a cheeky grin.

“Yeah,” Heather added. “We’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes now, but your head is so high in the clouds you couldn’t hear us.”

Diana waggled her brows, “Looks like someone got slammed nice and hard.”

I choked on the sip of coffee I’d taken as Gretchen burst into laughter and Heather cut her eyes in her direction. “You don’t have any kind of filter, do you?”

She lifted her chin proudly. “Nope? I am who I am.”

“She has a point, though.” Gretchen narrowed her eyes, studying me closely. “You’re all glow-y and blissed-out this morning. Unless you found a new skincare serum that creates magic overnight, I can only think of one thing that makes a person look like that.”

“Yeah, a nice, hard dicking.”

“Diana!” I croaked out, nearly choking onanotherdrink of coffee.

“Don’t get all bashful now,” Heather said in a scolding tone. “Not when you’ve got tea to spill.”

“It’s that guy who came in the other week, isn’t it” Gretchen asked. “That really hot one with the killer smile?”

My face felt like it was on fire, and the blush gave me away before I could get a word out.

“It is!” Diana jabbed her finger in my face. “Look at her. She’s blushing!”

“I’m not surprised. Aren’t you living with the guy?” Heather asked.

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