25. Stella

Chapter Twenty-Five

STELLA

I gasped, my head falling back against the tiled wall as Hudson adjusted me in his arms.

“Stella,” he rasped.

I dragged my eyes open, instantly ensnared in his dark gaze. My heart thudded with resounding certainty. He withdrew and thrust to fill me once again. A sense of intimacy shimmered in the air around us.

Moments later, I was still trembling all over. I walked on wobbly knees out of the bathroom and collapsed on the foot of the bed. Every single night, I told myself we couldn’t do this every night. And yet, all of my internal promises were pointless. My body craved Hudson, while my heart was starting to get too involved.

He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. My eyes tracked him as he walked over to me. The man was ridiculously built. He was all muscle with broad shoulders, his arms rangy and lean, and his chest tapering down to delineated abs. Even on the heels of an intense encounter with him and an earth-shattering orgasm, my awareness perked up a little at the sight of him.

He stopped a few feet away. We’d stopped even discussing where we should sleep. As if in punctuation, Butter jumped on the bed curling up beside my hip and purring loudly.

“I think we should bring Biscuit home.” Hudson’s eyes flicked down to Butter with a bemused smile.

“You do?” I asked.

“Bring her home. We’ll see how they get along.”

I was trying to get my mind on track. My thoughts were sluggish, practically melted from the heat of our encounter. “I can’t imagine we’d take her back to the shelter.”

His slow smile sent my belly into a tumble. “Probably not.”

A few minutes later, I was curled up against Hudson’s side in bed. “Tiffany says Biscuit is really sweet.”

Hudson smoothed a hand over my hair and down my back in a slow pass. My heart kept on thumping, strong and certain. Once again, I tried to ignore the voice calling out that maybe this time was different. I couldn’t ever let myself want someone like that.