Page 101 of Never Will I Ever

When he finally breaks away, I shift my weight to one side enough for his cock to slide free. I feel the loss of him instantly, an emptiness taking hold while his release slowly seeps past my rim, dripping over my ass and leg.

My heart hammers against my ribs as I curl into his side, sinking into the warmth of his skin against mine while his fingers dance over my back and shoulders.

“Kaleb,” I whisper against his throat. Right where his pulse thrums beneath the surface, pounding to the rhythm of his rapidly beating heart.

And once again, I’m hit with the same thought.

Three simple words.

I love you.

But I can’t say it.

Not because of any shame or guilt; we’re long past the point of those things standing in the way of my feelings for him. It’s fear that holds me back. Fear that he won’t feel the same.

Or maybe it’s the fear that he will.

Kaleb’s fingers stop moving over my back, and his arm wraps around me, tightening until our bodies are pressed together at every point possible.

“I know,” he murmurs, finally breaking the silence. “I know, baby.”

My eyes sink closed, and I force myself to breathe evenly.

Despite his statement, there’s no way heactuallyknows what I was thinking. Not really. But the thought that he could? That the musing swirling in his brain while he holds me could be the very same as my own? Well, it’s enough to have my own rampant heart crawling into my throat.

Neither of us make any attempt to move, to peel ourselvesapart and clean up, and I find myself grateful for it. I want to soak up as much of this moment as I can, knowing damn well how fleeting they can be.

Maybe that’s why, after minutes or hours have passed, I find myself whispering three painfully vulnerable words.

Just not the ones I want to say.

“Please don’t go.”

Even as I ask, I know it’s foolish. Apart from the night on the mountain and the one where I accidentally fell asleep, we haven’t strayed from the status quo. Despite keeping each other up later and later into the night, we still sleep in our own cabins, all under the guise of not being caught by security cameras or by another person.

But I don’t have it in me to give a fuck anymore.

We’ve been playing with fire for weeks, but at this point, I’m ready to set the whole goddamn forest ablaze if it means keeping him here.

His arms tighten around me before he presses his lips to the side of my head.

“I won’t,” he murmurs, his nose nuzzling my hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Twenty-Seven

Avery

I think the only thing better than falling asleep in Kaleb’s arms is waking up in them, and that’s been my reality the past couple days. Even if it means an alarm going off at the ass crack of dawn, forcing us to part ways so we don’t get caught, I’ll take it. I’ll take every sleepy moan and half-conscious kiss I can get, and the knowledge that I’ll spend the entire day with him takes some of the sting out of sneaking around.

It’d be kind of sickening to witness if I wasn’t so goddamn happy.

Apparently my joy has become obvious to others too, but mostly Elijah, who never fails to comment on it…like right now.

“I’m just saying, you’ve been smiling a lot.”

I can’t help but laugh when I glance down at him while we walk down the trail to the lake, lagging behind the rest of the group as always.

“Last time I checked, smiling wasn’t a bad thing, kid.”

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