Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
He lifts his head, his mouth soft and wet from kissing my collarbone.
“Yeah?” I nod, wanting to look away because I don’t know what’s coming, but I keep my eyes locked on his.
I don’t want him to see doubt there.
“Good.”
“Good?” I ask, my brows drawing together.
“Yeah, good.”
Not exactly the response I was hoping for, but at least he doesn’t look like he wants to bolt from the bed.
“It means maybe it won’t be long then before you catch up to how I feel about you.”
I could cry right now. It’s not exactly an I love you, but it’s pretty freaking close.
He cares. I know he cares. Harley isn’t the type to say something he doesn’t mean just to get the outcome he’s desiring. He wouldn’t practically tell me he loves me just to get me naked. If he says it, he means it.
This man loves me.
He loves me.
He grins down at me, no shadows in his eyes or a single twinge of regret making lines pop out around his eyes.
His next kiss is filled with every ounce of what he doesn’t say, and when his hands start to roam, I’m fully on board.
As eager as he is to get me naked, he takes his time pulling his favorite tank top over my head. He’s not so careful with my shorts, and I hear threads snapping when he pushes them down too quickly over my ass.
“Tell me you’re mine, Ali.”
“I’m yours,” I pant, wrapping one ankle around the back of his thigh.
I don’t think that me being his was ever a worry. It’s the other side of the coin that has been the issue. We could’ve had this weeks and weeks ago, if only he had been ready.
“You own me,” he says as he shifts back before sliding forward and filling me.
I whimper at the fullness, and he doesn’t avoid my eyes this time.
“No more distance,” he vows as he thrusts into me slowly. “No more getting upset over how I feel.”
He rolls his hips again, some part of him brushing over my clit in a way that threatens to end things for me very quickly.
“No more regret or guilt. None. I’m yours.” Another pull of his hips back, and a deliciously slow if not frustrating push back inside. “I love you.”
I explode, both in a clenching orgasm and tears from my eyes in happiness.
He moans at the pulsing grip of my body as he lowers his mouth down to mine.
His hips continue to work as he holds me with arms circled under my back and over the tops of my shoulders. The man is as close as he can be, and yet I just want him even closer.
“Going to come,” he manages, and I swallow the warning with another kiss, delighting in the nearly immediate jerk of his cock inside of me.
“So good,” I manage after his hips stop jerking erratically.
He pulls back a little, his hand brushing away the damp tendrils clinging to my forehead. “Always so good with you, baby.”
“I love you, too,” I confess.
“I know,” he says, leaning down to kiss me once again.
We spend so much time in the bed that Landon is the first one into Aria’s room when she wakes up. He simply knocks on the door and tells us to get some rest before going to get her ready for breakfast.
I don’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed because we’re in love, and that makes all the difference.
Chapter 38
Harley
It’s nearly lunchtime before we force ourselves out of bed, and when I walk into the kitchen and get that first glance of Ali standing at the counter, I don’t feel like I’ve been hit in the chest.
I don’t wish she were someone else. I don’t regret having her in my home.
I hate the time we’ve spent apart, but I had to have it to heal. I had to come to terms with my loss and decide to move on. It didn’t come naturally. I’ve had to work on letting go of the past, and Dr. Alverez, my therapist, has been a godsend in that regard. Having a professional tell me that not only what I was feeling was okay, but it was also natural, helped me accept the direction I was heading.
The guilt over what I feel for Ali is gone, but there is still pain. That doesn’t just dry up. But the pain I feel is more for my daughter than for my own loss. I hate that Aria will still grow up without knowing her mother, but I can count my blessings that Ali will be here for her. My daughter will not have to grow up motherless, the picture just looks a little different from what I thought it would the day she was born.
Without hesitation, I walk up behind Ali and wrap my arms around her, pulling her tight against my chest.