Page 159 of The Wrong Groom

“I’m right there too,” I rasp against her mouth. “Come with me, sunshine. Please.”

Maybe it’s because I begged her to, or maybe she just couldn’t wait another second, but I feel her inner walls flutter as she falls apart. Her back arches off the wall, her head tipping back as the orgasm roars through her.

I pound into her a few more times, as deep as I can get, then still inside her as the pressure at the base of my spine explodes into a searing climax. It feels like it comes from someplace so deep inside me that it’s beyond physical, like I’m giving her a part of my soul along with my cum.

Even as it starts to subside for both of us, I keep rocking into her, my forehead against hers again, savoring this moment of quiet.

“I’m never letting you go again,” I murmur after several long moments.

She laughs and trails her fingers along the back of my neck. “Good,” she whispers, and I can hear the smile in it.

I hold her as close as I can, her cheek resting over my pounding heart. For the first time in a long time—far too fucking long—everything in my life is exactly how it’s supposed to be.

Chapter 51

Alexis

I cling to Gabriel as we breathe together, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. His arms tighten around me as if he’s afraid to let go, as if he’s making sure this is real. I press my cheek against his chest, listening to his rapid pulse as his heart races from the intensity of his release.

For a few moments, he keeps his lips buried in my hair, breathing in the scent of me. Then he lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers hoarsely.

I try to put myself in his position, to see myself through his eyes. I can’t help the little snort of laughter that escapes me. My hair is mussed, and sweat clings to me, smudging the little bit of mascara I applied this morning. Objectively, I look like a mess.

He shakes his head, smiling, and presses his palm to my cheek. “I’m serious,” he murmurs. “You look so gorgeous right now.” The pad of his thumb runs over my face, over the bridge of my nose. “I think I’ve just about memorized your freckles. I’ve made a map of them in my head—I know every single one.”

He leans in close and softly presses his lips to them, kissing each one with reverence. A shiver travels through my entire body. I close my eyes, letting myself drown in the warmth of his touch, in the way he cherishes me.

A low sigh escapes me as his mouth trails lower, lingering at the curve of my jaw before returning to my lips, slow and deep.

Then he draws back and pulls out. I try to hold him, to keep him there, but he chuckles as he sets me on the hardwood floor. “Sorry,” he says ruefully. “But we’ve got a lot to do.”

He’s right. I glance around at the empty library, envisioning those shelves filled with books. An armchair by the corner window, a lamp for reading at night, maybe a desk.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he says.

He wraps an arm lightly around my waist and guides me down the hall toward one of the spacious bathrooms. He turns on the shower, and I step into the stream of warm water, letting it cascade over my skin. By the time I’m clean, he’s rustled up a towel from somewhere in the house and has it waiting for me.

I wrap myself in it. He presses a kiss to my forehead and brushes a damp strand of hair out of my face.

“That’s one room down,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“I plan on fucking you in every room in this house.”

A grin spreads across my face, unbidden. “Is that so?”

He nods, his expression serious. “Every single one,” he confirms, his gray eyes dark with intent. “The kitchen. The living room. My office. This bathroom.”

“That seems… ambitious.”

His hands slide down to my waist, pulling me flush against him. “What can I say?” he whispers into my ear. “I’m an ambitious man.”

I laugh. Ambitious isn’t the word I’d use. Gabriel isn’t like the other men who run in my family’s circles, men who are fixated on success, on their social standing and public image. Gabriel couldn’t care less about those things, except insofar as they benefit his family. He’s not ambitious. He’s relentless.

Gabriel helps me get dressed, and together, the two of us wander back down the stairs into the foyer. As I move through the house, I can’t stop envisioning what it’ll look like once we live here. In my head, I place furniture, hang artwork. Visions of our future seem to surround me.