Page 62 of If You Love Me

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”Not with the head on my shoulders anyway.

Lexi fingers the buttons on my shirt. “I know what I’m supposed to say, but I’m having a hard time finding the will to say it.”

I understand her conflict. I share it, even. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting her. “Do you need me to make it easier on you? I can go.”

She gently skims my throat with her fingertips. “I don’t want you to, though.”

“Good. Me either.” I give in and stroke her cheek.

She leans into the touch, like it’s exactly what she’s been waiting for.

“Would you like to have tonight, angel? It can just be ours.” I trace the contour of her bottom lip with my thumb. “Tell me what you want, Lexi, and I’ll give it to you.”

Her finger trails along my jaw, eyes full of conflict and longing. “I just want to be yours.”

“I’ve been waiting to have you again for years.” I brush my lips over hers. “You only had to ask.”

She loops her arms around my neck, her body soft and warm. She’s the perfect fit. The missing piece. She instantly fills the void her absence left all those years ago. I thread my fingers through her hair and deepen the kiss. When she moans into my mouth, I pull back. “Show me your bedroom so I can take care of you.”

She glances around, maybe realizing we’re standing in the middle of the hall. “Yes. Okay.”

She laces our fingers and guides me through the condo. We pass Callie’s room and continue to the end of the hall. She tugs me inside her bedroom, and I smile as I take in the space. Lexi is unyielding on the ice, a flawless example of a competent coach. Always confident and in control. But everything about this space is pretty and feminine. Ivory and pale gray with blush accents. This is where she’s soft and unguarded. And I get to have that part of her all to myself.

Lexi flips the lock, grabs my shirt, and tries to pull my mouth back to hers.

“Ah, ah, ah,” I chastise as I take her beautiful, flushed face tenderly in my hands. “It’s been torture, being close to you, but unable to touch you like this.”

“I need you.” Her shaking hands slide up my chest.

I catch them and press my lips to her knuckles before biting gently. “I have three years to make up for. You’re going to be my good girl and let me take my time with you.”

Her breath leaves her on a soft whimper. "However you want me, you can have me.”

“So compliant.” She melts as my lips find the inside of her wrist. “Such a tempting treat.” I kiss my way up the inside of her arm. “So many orgasms to coax out of you.”

“Please, yes. I just want to disappear with you.”

I ghost my lips along the column of her throat until I reach her ear. “But I decide when you get to have one and how many.”

I grin darkly at her soft moan.

Fighting the draw has been agonizing. But I’ve had a chance to get to knowherbetter, to see her shine as she owned her role as coach. I appreciate even more all the sides of her now. She’s always poised and decisive on the ice and with the players, but here, in this space, she’s finally mine to covet.

I dip beneath the hem of her shirt, skimming her side. “Arms up. I want to see you.” She shivers and raises them. I pull it over her head, leaving her in a floral-print bra. Pale pink blossoms scatter across mint green satin, edged with sage green lace.

I trace the scalloped satin edge. “You still have this.”

“It reminded me of our weekend together when I opened my dresser in the morning.” She fingers the buttons on my shirt and bites her bottom lip.

“How often did you think about me?” My fingers glide along her collarbones.

“Every day.” She fiddles with the button, waiting for permission.

“It was the same for me.” I skim the length of her arm, reveling in the way it feels to finally be able to touch her again. “Would you like to take my shirt off?”

“Yes, please.” And still, she waits.

“Go ahead.”

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