Page 60 of Mountain Defender

An incredible feeling of fullness. Of completion.

When we’re finally joined.

When I can’t tell where I end and Gage begins.

Then he moves. Slow. Gentle. Pulling out so he’s barely inside me, then slowly sliding home again.

My legs come around his waist, holding him to me.

As the inferno between us builds, our rhythm speeds. It gets more intense. More frantic. Our bodies crash against each other. Our breaths come in uneven pants. My heart is a locomotivespeeding out of control. My chest strains for the air I keep forgetting to take.

“You’re so beautiful,” Gage says. “So damn beautiful.”

Joy explodes inside me. Tears burn my eyes.

Gage grabs my hips, tilting them so he can plunge even deeper. His fingers work their magic. His lips caress mine.

Then, like a lit fuse burnt down to the bottom, I explode, a firework bursting into the night.

My body convulses around him. My vision is an explosion of stars. From my toes to my fingers, all my muscles go tight. I cry out, a primal sound I’ve never heard myself make before.

Gage keeps moving inside me, bottoming out with each thrust, until he flies into the sky along with me. He groans, a rough, guttural noise. His arms come around me, hugging me close. I can feel him pulsing hot inside me, and it feels more right than I could have imagined.

Even as the aftershocks are still rippling through me, he rolls us over so I’m draped across his chest. One hand combs through my hair in long, gentle strokes. His lips press to the top of my head.

I notch my head under his chin, nuzzling his neck. I feel boneless. Sated. But I can’t help my insecure self from asking, “Was that okay?”

Gage hugs me closer. “It was so much more than that. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“I hope you mean that in a good way?”

I can feel his lips smiling against my hair. “Baby. Good doesn’t describe how that was. Being with you was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Oh.

A bubble of happiness expands in my chest, making it hard to breathe. “Good. I thought so, too.”

I don’t wantto get out of bed.

I want to stay cuddled next to Gage, breathing in his comforting scent and letting his steady heartbeat lull me back to sleep.

I want to fall back into a blissful slumber uninterrupted by nightmares now that Gage is sleeping next to me, protecting me from them.

I want to absorb every perfect thing about this—his arm wrapped around me, his breath brushing my hair in soft puffs, the cute sounds the three dogs are making as they dream their doggie dreams at the foot of the bed.

Unfortunately, my bladder has other ideas.

So I carefully extricate myself from Gage’s embrace, tossing a longing glance back at the bed before I leave it. Then I tiptoe across the room and out into the hallway, then down to the half bathroom at the end of it.

I could use the ensuite bathroom attached to the master, but I’d rather the relative privacy of this one. Yes, I know there are going to be plenty of non-romantic moments in Gage and my relationship, but waking him up in the middle of the night by flushing the toilet—especially after having sex for the first time—isn’t something I’m crazy about doing.

Once the insistent demand of my body is relieved, I decide to spend an extra few minutes freshening up before heading back to bed. I run a brush through my hair, check for any rogue zits that might have popped up in the hours since we fell asleep, and quickly brush my teeth so my breath will be fresh-ishin the morning.

As I look in the mirror, I smile at myself. Maybe it’s true, what Isla’s always said. Iampretty, even though my brain didn’t want me to believe it.

Setting the spare toothbrush back in the rack, I flick the lights off, and, as an afterthought, glance out the window.

I’m not sure why, maybe to catch a glimpse of the moon, or to appreciate the brilliance of the stars peeking through the canopy of trees.

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