Page 49 of One Night Only

“With you, I don’t know whether to pick punishment or reward. Both could be highly gratifying.”

I laugh, and my heart melts at the spark of joy in her eyes. When I press my thumb against her lower lip, she sucks it in. I kiss her again, slow and soft this time. “Never doubt me, rainbow girl.”

Her smile is wide and bright at the pet name. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You’re mine, sweetheart, like no one has ever been. All I want from you is your blunt honesty, your soft kisses, and your brave heart. All I want is you, baby, and in turn, I will give you everything.”

She hides her face in my neck, but I can feel her quiet sobs. I hold her through it, my own heart finally settling into a normalrhythm. We stay like that for a long time. We kiss in between, touch each other’s faces, then return to the embrace. Neither of us is ready to let go, neither is ready to trust this stroke of immense good luck.

Neither of us wants to acknowledge what exists outside of this.

Ani fidgets, and when I release her a little, she pops open a couple of buttons on my shirt and sneaks her hand in. My heart thunders against her palm. She places a string of warm, open-mouthed kisses over my neck, my jaw, and finally reaches my mouth.

“How will we make it work?” she whispers softly.

I can hear the fear echoing through her, holding her in a tight grip. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart.”

“I have to move back, start nursing school. And you…”

“Ani, do you trust me?”

She sniffles, rubbing her nose against my shirt.

I laugh. “Did you just wipe your snot on my shirt?”

“This is serious, Dr. Cross. Maybe you think we can see each other once every few months. Maybe you think it’s enough to—”

I grab the end of her braid and tug on it until her head jerks up. Every muscle in me turns rock hard as I wind it around my fingers. “What did I say about doubting me?”

She presses her chest into me, arching her neck back even more. Inviting me to do whatever I want to her. My cock throbs against her belly. Jesus, I can’t even fuck her right now, can’t work some of this tension out of us. Our bodies create magic together, have more faith than our feeble minds can grasp.

“I don’t doubt you. I doubt myself.” Her gaze holds a wealth of pain and ache. “I doubt that this kind of happiness will last.”

“You’re too young to be that cynical.”

She shrugs. “Maybe. But the world isn’t built for someone like me. I stick out in my own family.”

“Then we just have to build our own world and our own family.” The words spill out of me like a vow. I stiffen, wondering if I have pushed her too far, too fast.

Instead, her eyes are huge in her face as she nods. “That sounds...wonderful. Can we include Rahul and Zach in our world? They’re kind of my family too.”

I laugh. “We can include whoever we want. In the meantime, Ani,” I kiss her softly, loving how she throws all of herself into it every time, “will you promise to be patient and brave for me?”

“For you and only you, yes.”

“Will you promise not to back out of this at the earliest hurdle?”

A little of her sass comes back into her voice when she says, “Yes, sir, Dr. Cross.”

I kiss the tip of her pert nose. “Will you promise to give me everything you have?”

“Yes. All of me, and it’s a lot.” Her laugh is a little wild.

I exhale roughly. “I’ll be in Seattle soon. Maybe in a month. Six weeks at the most.”

She pulls out of my embrace. “For a visit?”

“I have been planning this move for a while. A teaching post at UW fell into my lap. I thought it would be nice to be closer to Jonah. To give Mom some time back in our hometown. Then you came along.”

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