Page 91 of Romance Is Dead

“It’s beautiful. I can’t imagine how much time and effort this must have taken.”

“You mean a lot to me, Quinn.”

Heat flooded my body, making me lightheaded. The logical side of my brain was telling me to get out. Danger, red alert: talking about feelings was treacherous territory and I needed to shut this down immediately.

“Don’t do that that,” I protested, my voice barely a breath. “You can’t tell me that when you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“You do.” Teddy’s voice was starting to rasp. He spun me around, his hands smoothing up my back. “I care about you. I crave you when you’re not around. And I don’t want this to end tomorrow.” He ran a hand down my arm, pulling my wrist to his lips and placing his mouth on the tender skin.

I closed my eyes, trying to push away the feelings that were threatening to erupt. I’d fought so hard to push them away, but I couldn’t anymore. I didn’t want it to end either. Was that crazy? People did long-distance relationships all the time. Not that this was a relationship. Long-distance sex arrangement.

I pushed him back onto the bed and sank onto his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist. I smoothed the hair off his forehead, unable to look him in the eye as I whispered in his ear, “You mean a lot to me, too.”

When his lips pressed against mine, they weren’t rough and urgent like the times before. They were tender, filled with restraint as they telegraphed that this time was different, this was about something deeper. Something thrummed deep within me—a desire not just for pleasure, but for connection. I wanted to get closer, climb inside him, where he could keep me safe and never let me go.

And I definitely couldn’t get close enough with all those pesky clothes on.

I raked my hands under his shirt and up his back, tracing my fingernails along the thick cords of his muscles as I tried to pull it over his head as quickly as possible.

“Hang on,” Teddy rasped, breaking the kiss to reach back with one hand and rip the shirt off his back. Without pausing, he moved on to slipping both hands under my top, unsnapping my bra with ease before pulling both it and my tee over my head.

“That’s better,” I breathed.

His eyes darkened as he took in my bare torso. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

Teddy dipped his head, pressing his mouth and swirling his tongue first around one nipple and then the next. I arched my back, desperate for more pressure. I was a woman possessed. Starving. When he returned his mouth to mine, he rocked his hips against me, the long hardness of him pressing against my center, the friction delicious even through our clothes.

The contact provided relief—but only for a moment. I needed more.

“You have a condom this time, right?” I whispered against his mouth, my lips never completely leaving his.

“Yes.”

“Get it.”

Teddy pulled back to look at me, one hand swiping the hair out of my face. “You sure?”

“God, yes, I’m sure!”

He tutted as he pulled away and moved to the top of the bed, rummaging through the drawer of the nightstand before pulling out a foil-covered square. “So bossy.”

I followed him, lying down next to him and waiting impatiently. “I am not.”

“Oh, you are.” He swung a leg over me until he was straddling me and leaned down, resting his elbows on the pillow so his arms were framing my face. “But you’re gorgeous when you’re bossy.”

Staring up at him, our bodies slotted together so perfectly, I felt a wholeness I’d never experienced before in my life. My chest swelled with it. I wanted to live in it forever.

Then, he leaned down to kiss me again and time blurred. Our kisses became frantic as we pulled at what remained of our clothes. He dipped his hand between my legs, moaning against my mouth when he felt how wet I was. He rubbed me in tight, languid circles, making me cry out when I realized how close I already was to coming.

“Mmm.” Teddy kissed my cheek, his hand stopping. “I’m sorry, I have to.” Then he moved down, his mouth replacing where his hand had been.

I threw my head back, swearing as his tongue flicked like velvet against me in a way that made me see stars. A tongue that magical should be illegal. It was lethal. I writhed on the bed, so close to tipping over the edge that if he did that suction thing again—

Of course, that’s exactly what he did.

I came, violently, gripping his head between my thighs as wave after wave of pleasure racked through my body. When I finally stilled, I was wrung out. In the most delicious, perfect way.

Teddy appeared at the pillow next to me, his face grinning and flushed. “We can be done now. I couldn’t resist.”

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