Time moved around us in stop-motion, definable moments that I could pluck from the air like static memories. Axel plunging forward to claim my mouth with his. The flood of warmth when his tongue pressed past my lips and found my own. The solid steel heat of his body, fusing into mine.
Every movement from him heightened my awareness. His full attention sizzled across me, his stormy blue eyes acting like a whip to draw my attention. I wanted to drown in this sensation. To serve myself up on this altar and be worshipped by him forever.
It wasn’t just because it had been years. It wasn’t because he’d edged me and run last week.
It was because admitting the truth to him had lifted the burden I’d been carrying since the moment I broke things off. Even though I’d done it for him, keeping the truth from him had always eroded my center. None of the other complicated tangles of my reality mattered right now. Axel was undoing them simply by kissing me. Accepting me. Listening to me. This, right here, was all I’d ever needed. The only prescription for my ailments.
Axel’s strong hands smoothed up my sides beneath my shirt, leaving a pair of scorching trails. He broke our kiss to help me sit up. With hooded eyes, he gently tugged my T-shirt up and over my shoulders, his gaze lingering over my exposed skin. Maybe it was his attention that made this feel like we’d tumbled backwards through time, back to our first time together. Despite how much time had passed, innocence shivered between us. A curiosity that came from the newness and the unknown.
He tossed my shirt aside, and his heated gaze moved to my breasts. He cupped them and placed a sweet kiss over each nipple, looking up at me for confirmation. When I smiled, he returned to each breast with greedy bites. My nipples pebbled, moisture surging in my panties.
“Ohhh, Axel.” My eyes drifted shut and he silenced me with a kiss. Axel piled pillows behind me then and guided me to lie back. He smiled, satisfied, when I was in position.
“Comfy?”
“Incredibly.” My heart swelled. This was the Axel I’d always known. The man who was always looking to make my life better. Always serving me. Always loving me.
He covered my mouth with his, eliciting a greedy kiss. Hunger swirled between us, threatening to devour us whole. He dragged his palm down my chest, through the valley of my breasts, over my belly. He paused there, deepening the kiss, tongues tangling. Then his hand dipped further, smoothing over the top of my panties, hooking his fingers beneath the soaked fabric. He brushed my swollen lips, a tease that felt more like a breath. I arched toward him and he swiped his thumb over the fabric of my panties, nicking the tight bud of my clit.
I shifted beneath him, vaulting to get closer to his touch. He fisted the top of my panties, drawing the fabric tight across my mound, pinching my lips together. His hungry gaze dipped between my legs, his attention leaving scorch marks. With all the pressure gathered around my swollen lips, he dove down and covered my mound with his mouth. Biting. Suckling through my panties. Giving me the sweetest, most delicious teasing touch I’d never known I’d always wanted.
My hips bucked, and I grabbed his head with my hands. “More, Axel.”
He bit again, giving my needy clit the attention it craved only through the pressure of my swollen lips around it. It was a delicious torture. I rocked against his head, needing more. So much more.
Axel growled, biting harder one last time before slipping his fingers past the soaked crotch of my panties. He slipped two fingers inside me.
“You’re so fucking wet.” His teeth sank into the softness of my hip.
“For you.”
He plunged his fingers deeper and flattened his tongue against the front of my panties. I hated that he was being so calculating, so teasing—but it fucking worked. “Always for me.”
I moaned, thrusting against him. The need built inside me at a frightening rate. I wanted his fingers, but I wanted his cock buried inside me more.
“Please, Axel.” I nearly thrashed against him. After so many years apart, the desperation might kill me. “I need you to fuck me.” I swallowed hard, knowing exactly what I needed to begin healing the hole in my heart. “I want to come with you.”
He held my gaze, pumping his fingers inside me again before he withdrew them slowly. He sucked on his middle finger and then gave me a sloppy tongue kiss, the sweetness of my own juices on his lips. When we broke apart, he pushed to the edge of the bed and stood. His hard-on formed an impressive tent in his gray sweats. He pushed them down along with his underwear, his cock springing free. I hurried to slip my panties off as he climbed back onto the bed, cock bobbing gently, framed by tightly trimmed dark hair.
He hovered over me, strong and reassuring as always, but completely divested of his Wall Street veneer. This was the real Axel, the southern farmhand transplant. I could see it in the brawny stretch of his shoulders, the powerful ripple of his washboard abs, mussed hair, and rough hands that knew their way around a farm as well as a board room.
That was where he surpassed any man who could ever be considered competition. I’d always felt safe around him. Safe to air my fears, my worries, my silly thoughts. Safe because I knew if I couldn’t find a solution, then Axel would. Whatever life threw at us—from a blown tire to a botched deal—Axel could brainstorm with me and share the load.
I reached for him, relief flooding my body as I fisted the familiar length of him. His abs went tight, and he sank onto his heels, squeezing the tops of my thighs, his equivalent to waving me closer.
“Climb on, cowgirl.”
Another ancient inside joke. I laughed. I was the farthest thing from a cowgirl, and he knew it, but it made sense for this Kentucky boy. My pussy pulsed in anticipation. We’d always come together like clockwork when I was on top. I moved to all fours on shaky legs, and he helped me climb on top of him. The heat of his skin against mine was both provocative and a balm. He steadied me above him as he maneuvered himself into place.
He tipped his head back to look up at me, searching my face. “You sure you want it like this?”
I nodded. I needed the feel of him. Nothing obstructing us. For this blessed break from reality, I wanted to pretend nothing would ever obstruct us again.
Axel gripped my hips, guiding me downward. “Take me, Cora.” His swollen cockhead nudged for entrance between my slippery folds. I rocked against him, and he slipped inside. “Take all of me.”
My eyes fluttered shut as I did what he said. I sank down on him, the steel length of him disappearing inside me. Every cell in my body was on high alert—expectant, euphoric. He cupped the small of my back as I sank downward, a groan escaping him. He latched onto the side of my neck, teeth pressing gently. Claiming me as his.
I was his. This fact had always been apparent. Had always been true, even when I married someone else. There was no room in my heart for anyone but Axel. Our gazes met, energy crackling there as I rocked my hips and swallowed the final inches of him. The pebbled tips of my nipples smashed against his chest as he squeezed his arms around me, closing whatever space remained between us.