“Fine, I’ll take the name,” I say, laughing. “I was just fucking with you anyway. Although if I have your name, what do you have to prove you’re mine?”
“Is this enough?” he asks, slowly unbuttoning his shirt with one hand, so he can keep holding mine in the other. I know what’s there, but every time, it makes my heart flip again. I wait, my heartbeat thudding as he undoes each button with agonizing slowness until he reaches the bottom. He pulls his shirt open, and I gaze at his ink, my heart in my throat.
“I still can’t believe you did this,” I say, reaching out to run my fingertips over his chest.
“And you got a sunflower,” he says. “What’s that about?”
“Um,” I say, taking the joint and getting a good toke to work up my courage. “So, Preston told me sunflowers always follow their sun. And I should follow mine.”
“And I’m your sun?” he asks with a haughty little smirk.
“I figured you’d be mad,” I say, sinking back in relief.
“Why?” he asks. “I still think you’re more of a black cherry, but you make a cute sunflower, too. If that means you’re chasing after me, it seems fitting.”
“Hey,” I protest. “You’re the one who stalked me until I relented.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Stalker Girl,” he says. “You chased me around like a bitch in heat for half of last year. Not that I blame you.”
“Ugh, you’re infuriating,” I say.
“Besides, why do I care what he said? I’m the one who carved my initials into your ass,” he says, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me in so he can palm my left ass cheek in his huge hand.
He takes a long drag, then wraps his fingers around my chin, pulling it up so plant his mouth on mine. I open my lips, letting him fill my lungs with his breath and the smoke. We pass it back and forth a few times before I pull away and blow it out into the cold afternoon. The last rays of sunlight reflect on the wet surface of the road leading back toward town.
“Any word from Baron?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “He fucked up and he knows it. I don’t know that he’ll be back.”
“You don’t seem worried.”
“He’s alive,” he says with a shrug. “He’ll probably go find Mabel. Duke will track them down when he graduates.”
“Baron’s not going to graduate?”
“He has all the credits to graduate early,” Royal says. “He only stayed for Duke.”
“That’s kind of sweet.”
Royal snorts. “I don’t think you’re allowed to use that word to describe Baron.”
“Okay, true,” I say, taking the rest of the joint from him. “Anyway, I didn’t know you’d be trading one sibling for another. But I’m glad you’re not too upset about Baron.”
“Yeah,” he says, squeezing me against him.
We sit in silence for a minute. I curl into his side, seeking his warmth, and he holds me tight to his side. He finishes the joint and flicks the roach in the dead grass, then turns and pulls my chin up. He presses his lips softly to mine before pulling back. “Thank you.”
I don’t have to ask what he’s thanking me for. My chest swells, and I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard. “I hope it’s what you needed,” I say. “I hope it makes you happy.”
“You make me happy, Harper Apple,” he says, sliding his arms around me and twisting me around in the trunk. He pushes the seat flat and slides up it, keeping me pinned to him. Settling between my legs, he kisses me again, the deep, hungry kisses that make my head spin and curls of arousal lick at every inch of my skin. I wrap my legs around him, squeezing him with my knees.
Royal rests on his elbow and lifts up just enough to reach between us and shove my jeans down. He pulls his cock free of his pants and pushes up into me slow and deep. A wordless sound of pleasure escapes me at the sensation of his thick cock stretching me open again while I’m still wet with his cum from the last time. I squeeze my walls around him, gripping his shaft inside me and locking my gaze with his dark, smoldering one. He growls and leans down, pressing his lips to mine as he pumps into me in a slow, steady rhythm that drives me up the seat a few inches with each pass. I let my head fall back, digging my nails into his back as his lips ravish my neck, my collarbones.
“Royal,” I gasp, feeling so good I don’t know how it’s possible, how I can contain this much feeling at once, the pleasure and pain and love that spiral inside me until I think I’ll erupt.
“I know,cuore mio,” he says, driving into me with hard, dominating thrusts. He grips my chin in his hand, forcing my gaze to his. “I know. Stay with me.”
He doesn’t let go until I cum. Then he leans down and kisses me, and the warmth of his own release deep inside me has me shuddering with pleasure all over again. He draws out, and I can feel his cum leaking out of me as he lowers himself onto me, resting his weight on his elbows and lying his head on my chest.