Page 111 of Lovestrung

A lock of his hair flopped down his forehead, almost completely hiding his eyes. “A part of him lives inside me, Penelope.”

“That’s bullshit.”

His head snapped back, eyes wide and fearful, so I closed the distance between us and pressed my body flush to his. I wrapped my arms around his neck, needing to be as close to him as I could get.

“I’m not just saying that because I don’t want to believe it. You’re not the same. You will never be anything like him.” I pushed up on my toes until our lips were perfectly aligned. “If you need me to remind you of that fact every day for as long as I live, I will. But I hope that, in time, you’ll come to the same conclusion.”

“How can you be so sure?”

I ached at the torment swimming in his eyes.

I hurt for the boy he’d been when I’d first met him.

And I hurt for the man I’d come to love with every fiber of my being.

“I know you, Ethan. I love you, and I have faith in you.”

He pushed at the lapels of my coat, causing it to slide down my shoulders, and I shivered again when he trembled violently.

“I love you so much it fucking hurts sometimes,” he whispered. “It’s the sweetest pain I could’ve ever imagined, but I don’t want it to stop. I want to make it last forever.”

My skin prickled underneath the layers of clothes separating us, and I couldn’t stand the barrier between us any longer.

“I need to feel you, Ethan.” I nibbled on his lips. “Please make love to me.”

He pressed his mouth firmly to mine, his tongue pushing against my lips, begging for entrance, and I granted it to him. Our tongues danced a slow, sensual, knowing dance; one that I’d gotten to know well since I came home, yet one that felt different now. Whereas Ethan was usually frantic, lustful when we were intimate, he took his sweet, agonizing time now. His big hands found their way inside my long sweater, his knuckles teasing my nipples that hardened behind my bra and I groaned, wanting more.

Always more, more, more. As much as he would give me.

I breathed harshly when I lost his mouth. “You’re being unfair,” I huffed.

He only smiled, and I lost his eyes when he removed my sweater swiftly. I toed out of my boots and grabbed on to his shirt, but he distracted me from my task of undressing him when his mouth came down one mine again.

His hands framed my cheeks, taking full demand over my movements, and I loved it. I pressed my hips into his, moaning when I felt his cock grow even harder against me. He moved his head, his lips trailing one burning kiss after the other down my face and neck.

“God, you’re so good at this,” I murmured.

“Shhh,” he crooned. “No more talking. Just feel me, darlin’.”

Oh, I did. I felt his touch everywhere.

His lips on my burning skin.

His hands on my breasts.

His hard cock against my belly.

But I needed more, and while his lips danced on my feverish skin, I ran my hands underneath his shirt and up his hard chest. He jerked when I found his nipples and played my own game on the small disks. I could feel and hear his breathing as it grew louder in the room, and I smiled triumphantly.

“Unzip my pants,” he murmured before his mouth closed over mine again, and I did as he asked while his mouth grew more persistent. He was losing his precious controll, and I thrilled, knowing I was the cause of it. I moaned, trying to push him closer to the edge. I wanted him wild, mad with lust, and when his hands started to shake around my breasts, I knew I’d succeeded.

He wrenched his mouth from mine as I pushed his jeans over his hips.

“You’re playing with me.”

I smiled, hoping he could see how wild I was for him in my eyes.

“No, I’m not, baby,” I breathed.