Where the Darkness Goes

Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

GARRETT — PRESENT DAY

“Do you still want me?” My voice is shaky, but it’s nothing compared to the vibrations I feel inside my body. Every part of me is in tune with her. I can’t think of anything except for the words she just uttered— he’s not you —and the fact that she’s in my bedroom right now, staring at me in a way she hasn’t stared at me in years.

“I’ve always wanted you. I never stopped?—”

I don’t even let her finish the sentence. I can’t. I need her. I grab her, cupping her face. I try to be gentle, to savor, to worship, but it’s impossible when I have her here after I’ve dreamed of this—a second chance—since the day she left.

I press my lips to hers, claiming her mouth over and over again. She is mine. She’s always been mine, and I’ve always been hers. I can’t wait any longer. I lay her on the bed and run my tongue down her chest while I unbutton her shirt again, kissing each new inch of exposed flesh. She smells sweet, like coconut, and tastes like heaven. I’ve missed her taste, her scent. I’ve missed her.

I close my eyes, pressing the moment into my brain so I’ll never forget it.

“You have no idea how bad I want you,” I whisper, refusing to take my lips from her skin. She sits up, pulling her bra over her head before grabbing my shirt and tearing it off me.

Neither of us can stand to wait another second when all we’ve done is wait for years. Everything was slow motion, but now the race is back on. Full speed ahead.

I want to remember every second of this, save it in my mind so I can replay it later. “Are you sure about this?” I whisper, needing confirmation. I couldn’t live with it if she regrets it in the morning.

In answer, she pulls my mouth to hers and kisses me deeper. “So sure. I need you.”

I nip at her jaw, then her neck and shoulder, pressing gentle kisses after each bite. I make my way across her skin, marking her and soothing her in quick succession.

I’m feral when I reach her chest, reveling in the fact that this is real. It’s no longer in my dreams. And god knows I’ve had plenty of dreams just like this.

I flatten my tongue, tracing it up and over her breast, slowing when I reach her nipple before sucking it into my mouth. Her back arches, and she releases a guttural moan from deep in her chest.

“Mm-hmm. I remember what you like, my good girl.”

She strokes the back of my head, mouth open in answer, pure longing on her face. “Garrett…”

I pull her into my mouth again, holding eye contact this time. I want to see her fall apart for me. And oh, she does. My girl responds immediately, arching her back higher, pressing up off the mattress. I smile against her, swirling my tongue across her nipple as my hand moves to take care of the other one.

She drives me mad, making sounds I’ve only heard in my dreams for so long, cries that can only come from those lips, moans that haunt me.

I pull back, and she stills, watching me as I slowly trail kisses along her ribs. I kiss each little hollow, inhaling deeply as I go, burying my face in her skin. I can’t get enough of her.

I could die happy like this, in her arms. I drag my mouth down her bare stomach, scraping her skin with my beard. Tomorrow, when she gets dressed, she won’t be able to unsee the proof that we were together tonight. That she was mine. That I’m still the only one who can make her feel this good.

When I reach her shorts, I tug them down. She lifts her hips to help me as I ease them over her hips and off her legs.

Starting at her knees, I nip and kiss my way up her thighs, her cries growing more impatient with each one. She loves to see me like this—wanting her, needing her more than air—and I’m happy to make it happen.

“Please…” she begs again.

I hum. “You know I love hearing you beg for it. What do you want, my good girl?”

“Touch me.”

I run a finger up her calf. “Touch you…here?”

She pins me with a glare, and I slide my finger up, teasing her inner thigh. “Here, then?”

“Garrett.” She huffs.

I slowly brush my fingers up until I’m nearly where she wants me, going completely still. Goose bumps form under my fingers. “Is this where you want me?”

She props up on her elbows with a devilish grin. “Touch me before I do it myself.”

At once, I slip my fingers inside her, curling them up and working slow circles with my thumb. “Is this where you want me, baby?”

She falls back with a gasp, unable to speak.

“Yeah, you like that?”

She purrs her delight as I work my fingers inside her, and when I feel her start to tighten already, I dip my head down, replacing my fingers with my mouth. She bucks and takes hold of my head, pinning me against her. “Yes. Please. Don’t stop.”

She’s more vocal now than I remember, and my body responds to it with fire on fire. I push against her, adjusting to get on my knees, hooking her legs over my shoulders as I push her closer and closer to the edge.

When I feel her start to shake, she tenses and stills, not ready for this to be over. I chuckle against her skin. “Going to make me work for it, huh, baby?”

She should know better. It only takes ten seconds to get what I want, coaxing the release out of her like a triumphant warrior returning from battle. When I finally hear her cry out, I smile, but I don’t let up. Her body goes rigid. Then, seconds later, she’s utterly languid in my arms. When she lets out a long breath, I ease her back down on the bed.

I press another kiss to her sensitive skin, then drop to my knees on the ground at the bedside, digging a condom out of my drawer.

She sits up, and I pull her down to the ground onto my lap. She kisses me gently at first, then with more fire. “You’re so fucking sexy,” I whisper in her ear, kissing just under the lobe.

With wide, doe-like eyes, she crawls down my body, dropping to her hands and knees in front of me and taking me in her hands. She bites her bottom lip, giving me a coy little smile.

Slowly, oh so fucking slowly, she wraps her lips around me, and I swear to god I see stars. This woman is a goddess. A temptress.

She’s heaven and sin all wrapped into one, and she’s mine.

My whole fucking world.

I close my eyes, throwing my head back as her tongue slides down my length. “Fuck yes.” She moves faster, apparently spurred on by my praise. “That’s my girl.”

I’m not going to last long if we keep this up. I grab her hair, then her face, pulling her up to meet my mouth, devouring her with a new sense of urgency as I grab the condom, tear it open, and sheathe myself. She eases onto my lap again. This time, we work together to guide her down on top of me.

“You good?”

She nods, moving slowly until I’m completely inside her, and then, fuck. This is heaven. I’ve died and gone to heaven, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

I’d die a million times if it always feels this good.

We rock together in perfect unison, our skin slick with sweat. I hold her against me and pump into her, then slow down when she takes control, kissing my lips as she rides me. We tease and tempt each other, going right to the edge but refusing to go over. We’re both stubborn like that, I guess, which is what makes it so electric between us.

I don’t want to stop.

I never want to stop.

And finally, when the molten metal fills my veins, all thoughts cease. We go over the edge of the cliff in a chorus of cries and moans and “yeses,” and she’s smiling at me in that way she always has. I know then, all at once, nothing has changed, yet somehow, everything has changed.