Page 72 of Every Heartbeat After

We say our goodbyes shortly after. By the time Kit shuttles me home, the small part of me that was filled with dread for this one of many lasts has instead been balmed by pupusas and the warmth of my conversation with Jenna. I take Kit’s hand gladly as he guides me toward the entrance to the Carmen, feeling lighter than I have in months.

“Was that everything you hoped it would be?”

The smell of wet asphalt is thick in the air. A layer of humidity coats my skin. Where our palms meet, sweat pools, but neither of us seems to care. I grin up at him. “It was even better. Thank you. I needed that more than I realized, I think.”

The cool lobby AC hits me like a cold front, sending a shiver down my spine as we step inside. Kit points toward the hall that leads to the elevator bay. “Ready for bed?”

I glance in that direction, but my gaze catches on the glowing blue pool on the other side of the wall of windows, and my steps falter. “Could we stop and visit my parents for just a sec?”

He doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t ask questions. Doesn’t even lift a brow at my seemingly absurd request. Kit switches directions on a dime, guiding me to the pool deck, where the handprints await.

I tell them all about our night, and he chimes in with his own side of the story. We chatter till we run out of words to say. And then, we sit still and listen.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Kit

It’s notlong after we make it to Tess’s room that the sky reopens. With the curtains flung wide, every flash of lightning fills the space, illuminating the patterned carpet and the crisp white sheets. The strikes are reflected in the glass surface of the bedside tables. Overhead, the rain picks up. Drumbeats of rainfall drown out our hearts, which pulse in tandem as I pull Tess close.

She is so beautiful. Watching her tonight, surrounded by people she loves, felt like catching a glimpse of her that the rest of the world rarely sees. It felt like a fucking privilege. And now that I’ve got her alone, I can’t resist showing her just how grateful I am.

“Take off your dress.”

Her brow arches, but she doesn’t argue. She steps out of my embrace and gathers the fabric at her hips, then lifts the pale green gown over her head. Her breasts bounce as she drops it to the ground. She’s not wearing a bra, and the sight of her pert nipples already standing at attention for me is enough to leave me hard and aching.

“Anything else?” she asks, her tone teasing. With two thumbs hooked in the waistband of lace panties, she knows exactly what I want, but she’s going to make me say it.

Very well then. “Take off your panties and put them in my pocket.”

She drags them slowly down her endless legs. In a brief flash of white light, I can see wetness darkening the pale fabric. It nearly makes my knees buckle.

She holds them out for me to examine. “Front or back?”

“Front. And unzip my pants while you’re at it.”

“Yes, sir.”

A guttural sound tears through my throat. She knows exactly what she’s doing to me as she trails the tip of a finger over my length, the touch at once exquisite and yet not nearly enough with the layers of fabric between us. She slips her underwear into my pocket for safekeeping, and then slowly, painstakingly, draws down my zipper. She doesn’t wait for my next command. I watch, enraptured, as Tess tugs at my shorts and then my underwear, freeing my cock from its confines. It falls forward, into her waiting grasp.

“Mm, was it the dress that did it?” she asks with a titillating tilt of her head. “Or the fact that I ate three pupusas in one sitting?”

My laugh sounds more like I’m choking. “Is now a bad time to mention that dirty talk is not your strong suit?”

Her fist tightens around my hard length, sending stars across my vision. “Maybe not. But you know what is?”

I shake my head, fighting to keep myself from coming right into her hand.

Instead of elaborating, she drops to her knees.

Her lips part and I catch sight of her glistening tongue as she leans forward and drags it along my length from base to tip. Then, those perfect lips close around my head and she sucks. Hard. If I thought my knees might give out before, it was nothing compared to this. The draw and pull of her suckling. The swirl of her tongue. Pleasure arcs up my spine like a live wire, electrifying my thoughts. There is only Tess and her beautiful green eyes gazing up at me. Only Tess and her hands working in tandem with her throat to take me deeper.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” I growl. “If you don’t stop, soon you’ll be drinking my come.”

Her responding hum of pleasure gives way to the primal sound of her choking on my cock as she grabs my hips and pulls me toward her, burying me in her throat. My vision explodes in a kaleidoscope. I rock backward, slipping from her hold. She whimpers like I’ve stolen her favorite toy. And honestly? From the way she was devouring me, that just might be the truth.

“Not tonight.” I meet her halfway to standing and scoop her up by the thighs, wrapping her legs around my hips as I march us toward her bed. We fall gracelessly. Somewhere in the midst of it, she pulls my shirt over my head and I kick my shorts and boxers away from my ankles. Our bodies tangle together, all slick skin and heat as we move like we’ve been doing this forever instead of a single, short week.

I want to do this forever.The thought comes unbidden as I slip into her wet heat. Not just sex. I want late-night swims and dinner parties and chatting about her favorite memories by the pool. I want to taste every gasp like I’m capturing this one, our lips pressed as tightly together as the rest of our bodies, moving in perfect tandem.

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