“Well, I told him he could call me anytime and he took me up on that. We talked about you and me and him and how we were going to deal with this whole thing.”
Her cheeks turn pink and I stroke them with my thumbs.
“And we decided,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her lips, “that Hux needs help with you, so I volunteered for the job.”
“He needs help with me?”
“Apparently you were crying in the shower . . .”
She looks to the floor, but I won’t have it. I tip her head back so she’s looking into my eyes.
“There will be no tears, Ali, unless they’re from laughing so hard you cry. After tomorrow, we will sit down, you, me, and Huxley, and we’ll decide where we go from there. Because wherever I go, you both are coming with me. Okay?”
The look on her face is better than any response she could give me.
Alison
Barrett leads me up the stairs, going left at the top instead of right. We walk down the hall and into a room at the far end. I can hear the guys playing on the lawn and it makes me so ridiculously happy that Huxley is accepted in this family that I could
burst.
We enter a plush bedroom, all done up in whites and pale yellows. The bed is oversized with the fluffiest looking blankets and pillows I've ever seen. It's almost like a cloud, a giant marshmallow of a room. The afternoon sun shining through the windows makes it seem like a dream, a vision of happiness.
The door closes behind me and his arms wrap around me at once. "Thank you," he whispers, resting his chin on the top of my head.
"For what?"
I feel his body shrug behind me, a long breath escaping his lips. "For being you. For wanting me. For making me see the things I needed to see."
"I didn't make you see anything," I say. "You chose to do that."
"I never would've done it without you. Tonight is the first night I'll go to sleep without a million pounds of guilt sitting on my shoulders. I feel freer than I ever remember feeling."
I twist in his arms to face him. His jaw line looks more angular than I remember, his features edible. My hand cups the side of his face, my thumb stroking his cheek. "That makes me happy," I whisper.
"You know what would make me happy?"
"What's that?"
"Showing you how much you mean to me. Is that all right?"
My knees go weak as he licks his lips, his gaze boring into mine. "Yes. Please."
He scoops me up, my legs over the side of his arm, and carries me across the room. His gaze doesn't leave mine as he lowers me onto the bed, the blankets dipping with my weight. He covers my body with his, the heaviness mixed with his scent overwhelming my senses. He kisses me like he's never kissed me before—with precision, almost methodical. It's as if every movement he makes is a lesson to be learned, a point to be taken.
I lay back and feel his lips cross over my cheek, down my jaw, and down my neck. His lips lingering before moving on. My hands find his hair and twist in the sandy strands, feeling how real he is in my arms. For the first time, he's mine.
"You're so beautiful," he whispers in my ear as his fingers fumble with the button of my jeans. "So fucking beautiful and so fucking mine."
"I was just thinking that," I say, lifting my hips so he can slide the denim off my hips. He removes them, tosses them to the floor, and disposes of his pants as well. Before I know it, he's on the bed and I'm straddled over him.
His eyes twinkle. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere but right here right now."
My hips swivel, my pussy rubbing against his rock-hard cock. I feel his length under me, my body already wet for him. "Me either."
Barrett lifts me up, grabs his cock, and lowers me inch by inch over him. I feel my body expand, making room for his size. His eyes widen as he sucks in a breath through his teeth, his fingertips dipping into the curve of my hips.
"Damn it, Ali," he murmurs as he sinks completely into me.