Page 172 of Beyond the Stroke

RORY

When I press inside Summer, I’m home.

Maybe that sounds cheesy, but it’s exactly how I feel. Like no matter how long it took me to get here, it’s where I’ve always belonged.

Seeing her again after these days apart, it’s like every nerve in my body wakes up the second I touch her. The way she feels in my arms—soft, warm, perfect—isn’t something I’ve ever let myself crave this badly before. But right now, it’s undeniable.

While my pulse races, my hands are desperate to hold her tighter, to pull her closer.

I drown in the heat of her mouth, the fire that’s been burning inside me since the first time she looked at me like I was the only thing she wanted. I can’t hold back. I don’t want to.

Everything I’ve tried to push down, everything I’ve been afraid to want, it’s all crashing through me now.

The truth is, this is it.

She’s it for me.

And for once, I’m not afraid to want more.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed this. Missed you.”

Her legs wrap around my waist, holding me to her as I fuck her with firm strokes. She meets my thrusts, just as ravenous as I am.

“God, you feel so fucking good.”

Her breath hitches, and her hands fly to my shoulders, nails digging in as she arches beneath me.

“Rory,” she whispers, like she’s stunned I’m real, like I’ve been gone for longer than four days. Her eyes lock on mine, wide and glassy, and in them I see everything I’ve been too much of a coward to ask for.

“I missed you,” she says, her voice catching. “More than I should’ve.”

That’s it. That’s the moment I fall completely, irreversibly, fuck-it-all-in love with her.

I kiss her like I’m sealing something sacred between us. Our bodies move in sync, every thrust deep and deliberate, a promise I can’t say out loud yet.

Her legs tighten around me. Her breaths come in short, sharp bursts.

“I’m close,” she gasps, her back bowing off the table. “Rory—don’t stop?—”

“I’ve got you, Wildflower,” I grit, holding her tighter. “Come for me.”

She shatters around me, her cry like a spark setting me off. I follow seconds later, spilling inside her with a groan against her neck. My body shakes with the force of it, with how fucking right this feels.

We stay like that for a long moment.

Tangled. Breathless. Completely undone.

My forehead rests against hers. Our chests rising and falling in sync while her fingers trace lazy circles on my back.

I don’t want to move, but finally, I press a kiss to her cheek and pull back. “Don’t move.”

She blinks up at me, a little hazy. “Bossy.”

“Just taking care of you.”

I grab a clean towel from the bathroom and return, kneeling beside her. She’s watching me with a soft, open look that makes my chest ache. I clean her up slowly. Trying not to make it weird, but also not pretending like this moment isn’t something. Like she isn’t everything.

“You good?” I ask, brushing my knuckles over her thigh.

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