Chapter 9

Remi clicks on the lamp, and a warm glow fills the room. I stand with my hands in my pockets, admiring her. Taking a mental snapshot, not wanting to forget how beautiful she is right now, just being herself. The heaviness I felt earlier with her has vanished. Properly communicating and sharing what’s in our hearts did that.

“What?” she asks, tilting her head at me, noticing I’m staring. “You have this look on your face.”

“Feels like a dream. Trying to make sure it’s not,” I admit.

She takes a few steps forward and wraps her arms around my waist. “Feels real to me.”

I kiss her forehead. “My biggest fear is fucking this up and losing everything and you.”

“We can still stop this right now before it goes too far,” she says, meeting my eyes.

“We’re a runaway train, Remi. You know we’ll never be able to stay away from one another, especially now that I’m back. You’d be thinking about me even if you were with another man. Our connection is deep and tightly wound. There’s no undoing what we’ve done or how I’ll always feel about you.”

“You’re right,” she whispers. “I’ll always want you, Cash.”

“If you had gotten married while I was away, would you still have met up with me?” I ask.

She closes her eyes tight. “Yes. And you?” she asks.

“You’ll always be my kryptonite,” I admit, happy that’s not our situation. “It’s why we’re dangerous apart. We don’t care about anyone else. I left a lot of pain in my wake.”

“I did, too,” she says. “And I wished they were you the whole time.”

“I know,” I tell her, knowing exactly how much she fucking means to me. I’d do anything for her, even end lifelong friendships, if that’s what it took. “Let’s spend June getting to know one another again.”

“How? Our schedules won’t allow it,” she says.

“Every day, I’ll write a letter for you to read when you return from work. By the end of the month, there will be no secrets.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

Leaning forward, I gently press my lips against hers, and our tongues slowly brush together. Remi tastes like sugar and alcohol, and I can’t get enough. Kissing her comes naturally, and it feels so damn right. My body buzzes as we grow more greedy. This woman has me under her spell. As I slowly pull away, she desperately savors the moment as I crave more of her touch.

“It’s only ever felt like that with you,” she whispers. It’s an admission that has my heart lurching.

When I open my eyes, she stares up at me. I run my thumb across her cheek, and she leans into me. “That’s why I’m not worried about us, babe. I know what we’ve got. I feel it, too.”

She briefly pauses. “We just need to be sure.”

“I want you to be sure.”

I’ve waited seven years to be back with her, and I’ll wait however long she needs. We’re two pieces of a puzzle, made for one another.

She moves to her dresser, slides open the bottom drawer, pulls out a pair of jogging pants, and hands them to me.

“Who do these belong to?” I ask, my brows furrowing.

“Jealous?”

“Fuck yes.”

“Good. They belong to you,” Remi says, opening the drawer wider. “So are these.”

Next to one another are a few of my University of Texas T-shirts and shorts. It’s a time capsule with items of clothes I haven’t seen in a long time. I thought they’d gotten lost in the move.

“You kept these?”

“Thought you might need them one day.”

I chuckle. “Seems as if that day has arrived.”

“Finally.” She studies me, and her gaze lingers from my mouth down to my abs as I remove my belt. I unbutton and unzip my dress pants which drop to the floor. I grab the hem of my collared shirt and pull it off my body.

When I’m standing in my boxers, Remi steps back, drinking me in like a tall glass of water on a hot summer day.

“And just like that, I’m twenty-one again,” she says. “Had the best time of my life.”

I chuckle, feeling the week catching up with me. “No funny stuff, Rem. I’m putting those rules back in place. When we’re together again, it won’t be because you drank too much and your inhibitions are fucked.”

Disappointment splashes across her face like I’ve denied her.

“Please don’t think I don’t want to fuck your brains out right now. I absolutely do.”

She grabs my hand, leading me into bed with her.

She leans over and clicks off the lamp, then we lie on our backs, staring at the ceiling. Then Remi slides out of her shorts and panties and throws them on the blankets. I turn my head toward her.

“Rem,” I whisper as her hand slides down between her legs, and she gasps as she touches herself.

“I wish you were touching me,” she whimpers. “So fucking wet for you.”

As she grabs my hand and guides it down to her pussy, my cock grows hard.

“Please. I won’t regret this,” she says as my finger dips between her drenched folds. Remi reaches over and slides her hand inside my joggers, stroking me long and hard. I groan out, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. Any other time we’ve fooled around, someone has interrupted us, leaving us hanging on the edge.

She lifts her shirt, and I lean over, capturing her perky pink nipple in my mouth as I rub circles on her needy clit. Her hips buck upward as she continues stroking me. I dip the tip of my finger into her tight, warm cunt, and she groans with anticipation as I give her more. Remi rocks against my finger as I continue clit play with my thumb. She winds up quickly, and I can tell by how she moans that she’s close.

“Are you going to come for me?” I ask as she strokes me so fucking good. My balls tighten, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to last. We’re too desperate and never satisfied, but this is the first time we’ve brought each other this close in nearly seven years.

Her muscles tense as her orgasm builds. I slow my pace, not giving it to her immediately, wanting her to know that I still have her—body, wants, and needs—memorized. I know what she craves and her deepest sexual desires.

“Fuck yes,” she says, muttering. “Keep going. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

Her back arches, and as if a string held her, it snaps, and she pulses around me as I slowly finger fuck her into oblivion.

“Cash, fuck,” she says as she continues to come, but I don’t stop, just slow my pace, working her up again, giving her two digits.

She opens her legs so fucking wide as I gently rub her clit. Her body tenses again, and she quickly begs.

“I’m...” The sentence ends as she screams out my name. I’m sure the whole town hears her coming, and I kiss her neck. Her pulse races as she crumbles under my touch again. “I’ve waited so long for that. So fucking long.”

I place my fingers in my mouth, tasting how damn sweet she is. “Me too.”

Her mouth traces the shell of my ear, and then she moves to my neck before taking my nipple in her mouth. I’m so hard my cock feels like it might break off as she strokes me slowly. My fingers are in her hair; if she keeps this up, I will lose myself.

“Tell me when you’re close,” she whispers, her hot breath in my ear. “But next time we’re together like this, you are fucking me. I want you deep inside my cunt, ripping me in two,” she demands.

“Next time, I plan on breaking you in half,” I warn as she slows, playing with the sticky precum on the end of my dick. Her touch makes me sensitive. “Goddamn,” I hiss, my hips bucking upward as my quads tighten. The orgasm builds fast. I growl out.

Remi pushes my joggers down, and takes me in her hot mouth as she continues to stroke and suck me. Her other hand massages my balls, and when she tries to take me to the back of her throat, I release. She milks and drinks me down, licking me clean.

“I love the way you taste,” she says with a smile as she crawls into my arms. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“If you only knew how much I missed you,” I say.

“I’m going to write you letters, too,” she says.

“Oh, we’re going to be pen pals?”

“Absolutely. Ask me whatever you want.” She traces hearts and circles on my stomach.

I dig my fingers into her scalp, smelling her hair and skin as she holds onto me like she never wants to let me go. Fuck, I hope she doesn’t.

“I will.”

Remi yawns, and I smile with pure satisfaction.

“Good night, Valentine.”

“Night,” she says with a content sigh.

I close my eyes, and relief floods through me. Even if Beckett will never forgive me, I think he’d understand. Love like this only comes once in a lifetime, and I can’t pass up the opportunity.

I fucking won’t.

* * *

The next morning,I wake with my hard cock pressed against Remi’s ass. My arm wraps around her stomach, and as I try to pull away from her, she interlocks her fingers with mine, not letting me go.

I hum against the softness of her neck. “Good morning, gorgeous.”

“You feel good,” she says in her sleepy tone.

“Don’t tease me,” I warn.

“Hmm?” She rolls onto her back, and her mouth is so damn close to mine. When my hand rests on her hip, she smirks.

“Naughty as fuck. You know exactly what you’re doi?—”

A knock taps against the front door, and Remi’s eyes widen. “Shit. What time is it?”

My phone is inside of my pocket on the floor. It buzzes, and a nagging feeling appears.

“Who do you think it is?” I ask her as she rushes out of bed.

Remi grabs one blanket from her bed and a spare pillow and throws it on the couch. “Go to the bathroom,” she says, picking up my clothes and shoving them into my arms. “Now.”

I get up and do what she says as she closes her door, then rushes down the hallway as the knocking turns into pounding. Remi speaks to someone, and they respond in a deep voice. But I can’t distinguish who it is. Jealousy creeps up. What if she has been seeing someone? Didn’t she say we were exclusive?

I’m too far away, and I need to confirm who the fuck it is. After a few minutes, I flush the toilet and wash my hands. There’s no use hiding out; my truck is outside, and everyone knows what I drive. If it’s not one of her brothers, I might lose my fucking cool.

I put on yesterday’s clothes and put my joggers in the hamper. I meet her in the living room with my fist tight and am relieved to see Colt. Had it been some other man, I’d have knocked him the fuck out.

“Good morning,” I say, giving him a firm handshake, and he smiles.

“What were y’all up to last night?” His brows lift.

I stand firm, my expression not changing because he’s giving Remi a hard time, as he always has.

“Absolutely nothing,” Remi states, narrowing her eyes at him. One of her biggest pet peeves is being teased about us. It’s usually the truth, though.

He laughs, leans back, and pats the pillow Remi threw at the end. “Cash, how’s your back from sleeping on this board last night?”

“Perfect,” I tell him, meeting his narrowed eyes. “Gonna grab some coffee from Grinding Beans. Would either of you like one?” I ask, changing the subject.

“No, thanks,” Colt says.

“Me,” she responds. “Black like?—”

“Your soul. I know,” I say.

“Already finishing each other’s sentences?” Colt asks, wearing a cheeky grin. “Interesting, sis.”

I don’t waste any time and give them their space.