“Tell me.”
Devlin traces the freckles spread across my nose. His brow wrinkles and I reach up to smooth it.
“It hurt when you left.” I open my mouth, but he shakes his head. “It hurts anytime someone leaves. I think it first started when my parents pretty much gave me up in favor of their work. People kept leaving, so I built up a shield. I stopped letting people in, stopped caring about them, so when they inevitably left, it wouldn’t bother me. But deep down, it did. It doesn’t stay buried forever.”
A small sound escapes me. Devlin’s mouth twitches into a quick grimace. He sits down on the bed and pulls me into his lap, holding me close as he continues.
“I’ve been this way for so long, when you dug your way into my heart, it scared me. I was too greedy. I just—I wanted too much because I stopped myself from feeling those things. I was drunk on you.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, kissing his neck. Devlin rumbles, sliding his fingers beneath the hem of the henley shirt to trace my hip.
“I’m sorry for the things I did to hurt you.” He licks his lips. “All I want to do is be worthy of your heart.”
Devlin rustles in the pockets of his jeans, pulling out a folded paper. He hands it to me. My eyes go wide as I skim the words. It’s long-term admittance paperwork for my mom at the clinic, paid in full and outlining a specialized program for patients with illnesses like Mom’s.
I sit up. “You—Devlin, you did this?”
“I told you, it’s my parents’ clinic. I called my dad. They'll take good care of her. She’ll have the best treatment.”
My heart thuds as a wave of emotion wells from deep within me. I throw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
Devlin rests his forehead against my shoulder. “You’re my shooting star. My wishes come true when I’m with you.” He turns his face, grazing his mouth over my neck. “My heart belongs to you.”
My lips part and I kiss him again, losing myself in the way we intertwine. He makes a quiet sound and I move to straddle him, feeling him harden between my legs as we move. My fingers slide into his hair and our kiss deepens. He explores languidly, dragging his palms over my bare thighs, over my backside, and up my spine underneath his shirt.
“Please,” I murmur. “I want you. I need to feel you right now.”
“Yes.” Devlin doesn’t break the kiss as his arms lock around me, tugging me further onto the mattress as he lays back.
His shoes thump to the floor as I pull on his clothes. He slides his hands up my sides, peeling his henley shirt from my body, and undoes my bra with a skilled move. As soon as it falls, he groans, bending to suck one of my nipples into his mouth. His tongue flicks, making me shake in his arms. My head falls back as he moves to the neglected side, pinching the first one.
The flick of his tongue makes me buck, grinding down on his stiff length. We’re only in underwear, and I need there to be no barriers between us.
“Dev, please. I want to feel you inside.”
He releases my nipple to kiss me. “Patience, angel. I’m going to take my time, fuck you long and slow until we’ve touched every inch of each other.”
An amused breath leaves me as I grind on him. “I’ve only been gone, like, a week.”
“Felt more like a lifetime,” Devlin grumbles against the sensitive skin of my neck. His fingers dip into the back of my underwear, squeezing my ass. The tip of his middle finger teases between the cheeks.
“Uh, Dev?” My voice is throaty when he bucks beneath me, pressing his cock into my throbbing clit. At the same time, he rubs his finger over my puckered hole. I drop my head back, lips parted on a gasp. “When you say every inch…?”
With a gravelly laugh, Devlin flips us so I’m on my back. He straddles my hips and traps my wrists overhead as his teeth nip down the column of my throat. I arch up to meet him, my body thrumming from his touch.
“I mean every inch. It’s going to be a long night.”
“Yeah, I want that, too.” I bite my lip as he moves lower, peeling my underwear down while he settles between my spread legs.
“Keep those hands where I left them.” Devlin peeks up. It shouldn’t look sexy as hell, but it does. The wicked curve of his mouth, the gleam in his eyes, and the hint of mischief in his deep tone as he whispers, hovering his mouth over my pussy, all have me trembling in pleasure before his mouth descends where I need him. “I’m going to make you feel so good.”
At the first swipe of Devlin’s tongue on my pulsing clit, I cry out, fisting my hands in the sheets. He growls, licking and sucking my pussy. He drives me to orgasm so fast, I go lightheaded.
“Mm, that’s it, baby. Are you ready? It’s going to be like that all night. I’m not stopping until I make you collapse from coming so much.”
“Ah!” I moan as Devlin’s fingers tease my entrance before sinking inside. He curls them, stroking me and fucking me on his fingers. “Yes!”
I whimper as Devlin lifts his mouth off my clit when I’m close to another orgasm, but then it’s back, working me perfectly.