Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

They barely stumbled through Aelin's bedroom doorway before their lips sought and found each other with a desperation that made Ryan's heart race. The last time he'd tasted Aelin's lips, they'd both been slick with rain, the wind whistling around them.

He kicked the door closed behind them as Aelin's fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer. He wanted to devour her, to make up for all the lost time, but he forced himself to slow down, to savour each press of their mouths, each brush of her tongue against his.

He'd touched nearly every part of her, but he didn't yet have the feel of her lips memorized. He wanted all night—a hundred nights—to map them perfectly.

Aelin read his mind, her kisses turning languid and sensual as she ran her tongue over his lower lip. Ryan's hands roamed over her back, fitting into the dip of her spine, remembering the flare of her hips. He couldn't get enough. Not at the cabin, and not here.

They broke apart, catching their breath. Ryan's gaze swept around the room, taking in the moving boxes scattered everywhere, the mattress made neatly with sheets and a comforter on the floor.

"I can help you unpack later if you want," he murmured before dipping his head to trail kisses along the column of her neck.

Aelin's breath hitched. "Not on the schedule." Her voice was husky with need.

He grinned against her skin. "Okay." His hands circled her wrists, pulling her against him as he moved away from the wall.

Her eyes were closed, her face turned up to him like she trusted him implicitly. Heat rushed through Ryan's veins, and when his heels brushed her bedding, he tugged her down to the floor with him. They kneeled on the mattress, and Aelin finally surfaced, blinking as if she only then realized they had practical matters to attend to.

She grazed her teeth over his shoulder and slipped her fingers under the strap of the singlet. "I like it. I just decided."

Ryan laughed. "On or off?"

"I like taking it off. I should've clarified." She slid the pink spandex over his shoulders and dropped her head, layering kisses across his collarbone. Her breath whispered against his skin, and he needed to get that damn fabric off faster.

He tore it off his hips and pushed it down his thighs, then lifted his knees to slide it off his legs.

Aelin's eyes dragged over him. "I only ever felt you in the dark."

Ryan's voice was raw. "Is this different than you expected?"

She shook her head, then trailed her fingers over his chest. He reached up and unbuttoned her shirt, pulling it off her shoulders and slipping it over her hands. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and together they sank down onto the mattress, hands roaming, mouths seeking skin.

Ryan tested each kiss and touch, collecting data as she tensed and arched, as her breath left in a rush, or she sucked in air and held it .

Liquid fire rushed through his veins, his body desperate for her. He hadn't made love to a woman since the last night he'd been with his wife. He paused with his mouth over Aelin's stomach, bracing himself for hurt or grief to taint the moment, but just like when he'd been lying next to her, it didn't come. Instead, a rush of gratitude flooded him.

He thought he would never have this again. That he would never love again. That he would never get the chance to make a woman feel like this again.

His voice broke. "I'm so damn lucky."

Aelin pulled him back up, wrapping her legs around his hips as she reached up, her fingers desperately working at the elastic in his hair. She finally pulled it free, and his hair fell to his shoulders.

"Every time I've seen you, I've wanted to do this." Aelin dragged her hands through his hair, her heart speeding against his chest.

"Even that first day on your porch?"

She nodded, her breath hitching. "Especially that first day on my porch. If you hadn't been such a jerk, maybe I would've done something about it."

He laughed, nipping at her skin. "Liar."

She let out a small gasp. "Ryan, your hair makes me insane."

He chuckled, replaying the moments he'd seen her watching him from the window or from the bleachers at the rink.

"When I saw you in that towel at the door?—"

"You thought I was the nanny." She slid her hand between them, down his stomach, toying with the hair below his navel.

"Turned out I was right." Ryan rolled to his back, tugging Aelin on top of him. She straddled his hips, rolling against him. His eyes glazed, his fingers hooking in the belt loops of her jeans. "Why the hell are you still wearing these?"

She laughed, and her ponytail dropped over her ear. "Just a second." Aelin stood and undid the button, then pulled down the zipper as he watched. "I'm not going to lose my job, am I? "

He panted. "You can't quit even if you wanted to."

Aelin let out a breathy laugh. "You were right, you know."

He panted. "About what?"

She grinned down at him as she pulled her jeans over her hips, then let them fall to her ankles and stepped out of them. "Fun Aelin is only for you."

She dropped back down to her knees, pressing tight against him. "And this one, too."

Ryan groaned, his head falling back against the pillow as his hands curled around her backside. "This is so much better than learning dance moves in Polk's garage."

Aelin laughed, dipping her head to nip at his jaw. She trailed her fingertips lightly down his chest and stomach, making his abdominal muscles clench in their wake.

He touched the smooth skin of her hip, then moved lower to the softness of her inner thigh. He was lost in the sensation of her skin. She was silk under his fingertips.

He lifted his head and pressed his lips to her cheek, then her jaw. Aelin's breath hitched, and Ryan's heart slammed against his ribs. He moved his hands to her stomach, then slipped them around her back and fumbled with the clasp of her bra. She smirked, then reached back to help him. It came loose, and he pulled the straps over her shoulders, watching as she slid the bra off and tossed it on the floor.

"Hmm. I don't know these yet." Ryan's hands trembled as he slid his hands over her ribs and cupped her.

She blinked slow, her eyes liquid as she watched his face. "I'm so damn lucky." She lowered herself over him, and as her skin pressed against his, he closed his eyes and let his fingers find new favourite places.

He wanted to stretch this moment like taffy, enjoy each slow, rich second. "I know I shouldn't say this, but I love you."

She lifted her head a fraction and pressed a hand to his cheek. "Why shouldn't you say it? "

He let out a breath, his eyes pricking. "Because it's only been a couple of months. It sounds crazy."

She lowered her lips to his ear, sucking his lobe into her mouth. "I've missed out on love for twelve years. I refuse to wait another second."

They tangled together, sliding under the sheets like they had at the cabin. Ryan lost track of time. Of space. Of anything beyond Aelin's skin and breath and heat.

He'd been wrong before about what he needed. Hockey and paintball checked some boxes, but not all of them.

He needed this. He needed her.

His heart had expanded when he'd become a husband and a father, and it hadn't shrunk in size when one of those pieces was taken from him. He'd been walking around half empty and had forgotten what it felt like to be full.

"I want you to know all of me." Aelin kissed him, guiding his hands.

And Ryan lost track of words.