“God, Nix, it feels…” Harleigh moaned again. The sound fisting my heart the way her pussy gripped my dick.
“I know, I know.” I kissed her, my tongue mirroring the slow roll of my hips, the deep, intense drag of me against her tight walls.
Sweat rolled down my back, the air thick with sex and endorphins. I rocked harder, sliding my hand under her ass, and tilting her onto me, letting me go deeper. Dipping my head, I flicked my tongue over her nipple, closing my mouth around the peaked bud. Harleigh cried out, her body trembling beneath me.
I trailed my lips and teeth and tongue up her neck, nipping and sucking, marking her. It was a reckless move, but I couldn’t resist. I wanted everyone to know she was mine. That she belonged to me, even if they would never truly know whose mark she wore.
“Fuck, Birdie… fuck.” I went harder, chasing the release barreling down my spine. She kissed me, dragging her teeth over my bottom lip and biting down. It was enough to send me over the edge and I came hard, her name punching from my lips.
“I love you,” I breathed, dropping my head to hers.
Harleigh wrapped her arms tighter, anchoring us together. “I’m happy, Nix. You make me happy.”
I wanted to believe her, I wanted so fucking much to believe her.
So why did the pit in my stomach grow wider instead of shrinking at her words? Her soft, honest declaration.
I made her happy, sure.
But was it enough?
“I wish we didn’t have to leave,” Harleigh sighed, brushing her fingertips over the whorls of ink snaking around my bicep.
“We can come back. That’s kind of the point.”
She smiled. “Where did you even get all this stuff?”
“From the Carters’ storage shed. They had a ton of stuff lying around.”
“And Mrs. Carter didn’t mind?”
“Didn’t you know I’m her favorite Wilder?”
“Nix.” Her smile grew uncertain. “You didn’t tell her—”
“Relax, I didn’t tell her any more than she needed to know. Besides, I figured I can come out here if things with my old man get too much.”
“What?” She pushed up on her elbow and stared down at me. “You mean like live out here?”
Shit, it was the wrong thing to say. I didn’t want her to worry more than she already was. I also didn’t want her to think that I wanted to be out here without her.
The lines I had to walk with her were so fucking razor thin that sometimes I felt clueless. I could command a team of football players, deliver intricate plays, and plan game strategy. Yet half the time I couldn’t figure out what my girlfriend was thinking.
And it cut me up inside.
But I had to go at her pace, had to take whatever scraps she decided to throw my way. It was going to take time.
I had time.
We both did.
“No, I don’t mean live out here.” I leaned up to kiss the corner of her mouth. “But it wouldn’t hurt to have somewhere to go.”
“You could go to Kye’s or Zane’s.”
“Yeah, I know. But it isn’t a permanent solution if—” I stopped myself.
“If what?”