Page 28 of Thinking It Over

Slowly angling over, aware of our position, I placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He smiled against them. I mirrored him as I pulled back.

“All good?” I asked.

“Spectacular.”

I laughed, causing us both to wince.

“Shower?” I asked.

He nodded as I held on to the condom, securing it in place, and pulled away. Once the condom was removed, I held my other hand out to him. Austin took it immediately, and we headed to the shower eagerly. I couldn’t wait to get back into bed and sleep in this man’s arms.

It seemedlike just a couple of hours ago that I’d closed my eyes, but looking at the time, it was nine, and we had to be out of the motel by ten.

My head was only a little cloudy, thanks to Austintaking care of me after our shower last night. He’d insisted we hydrate and take a couple of Advil each. It was nice, being cared for, and the more I thought about it, the more I hoped that we had a chance of a future together.

It was really early days, but courtesy of my parents sharing their “story” with me from before I was old enough to understand, I knew love could break the rules and not follow a set plan or routine. They’d met and were married within two weeks of meeting each other. It was still crazy to me that anyone would do that, but their love was fierce and real. It made my heart heavy to know my mom no longer had that. And she was still so young too.

“Hey.” Austin’s thumb brushed against my forehead, and I realized a frown had bunched it up. “You okay?”

A smile immediately lit up my face, and I turned into him, looking up at his concerned face. Taking in my expression, his eyes darted to my eyes, then my mouth. Seemingly satisfied, he relaxed against me and pressed his lips to mine.

“I am with morning kisses like that,” I said once he pulled away.

“In that case, we need to do it as often as possible.”

“I like this plan.”

He kissed me again. The sweep of his tongue against my own sent a fresh wave of desire through me. Flush against him, he felt it immediately, curling his arms around me and shifting me on top of him. The whole time we kissed. It was languid and perfect. The ease of our mouths coming together was something that had surprised me since the first time. There were no clumsy starts, no teaching the other what we liked. Instead, it was like we’d been practicing with each other for years. The perfection of his mouth on mine meant every single kiss, we’d get sucked into the moment and struggle to remember the reality around us.

I groaned and pulled away. “I could keep this up all morning, but we have to check out soon.”

The grimace on his face made me laugh. “We could just pay a late checkout fee or something, right?” Warm hands landed on my ass and squeezed.

I struggled to restrain myself, wanting nothing more than to head back in the shower, prepare him, and wake up the way I knew the both of us wanted. “We’re meant to be meeting Ian for coffee.”

He sighed. “You’re right. It would be good to see him again without beer or shots.” He shuddered a little. “Some of those shots he got me to try yesterday, Jesus, I’m surprised my throat’s not raw.”

I chuckled. “Ian does like to party hard. But you kept up. I was impressed.”

His palms moved to my waist, and he squeezed a little. “Of course I could keep up.”

“Says the man who professes to be in bed by ten most nights.”

The squeezing turned into a tickle that had laughter erupting and me wriggling.

“Okay, okay,” I wheezed. “You’re still hard-core.”

He stopped his attack. “Damn straight I am. Come on.” He smacked my ass. “Quick shower first.”

My eyes heated, and I rubbed against him like a damn cat.

Narrowed eyes stared at me. “You first. I’ll head in after, unless you want to be late?”

I sighed. “I suppose not. Ian has a shift later too.” I leaned down so my mouth hovered over his chest, then peered up at him. Those narrowed eyes were still fixed on me as I shot him an innocent smile before sucking his nipple into my mouth, worrying it a little, then jumping out of bed and racing to the bathroom. “I won’t lock the door!” I shouted, only to hear Austin shift and groan.

It wasgood to catch up with Ian. By the time we left, I’d felt reassured he was okay—exhausted by the amount of overtime he’d been working, but apparentlythe dragon who’d been giving him (and others) a hard time had handed in her notice.

“Ian’s great,” Austin said when we weren’t far from his place. “I’m not sure what I expected, but to be honest, that wasn’t it.”

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