I feel right on the edge as his fingers roll over my clit. I want to come, but I’m so consumed by every other emotion I’m feeling that I can’t let go. Instead, I concentrate on the way my body’s feeling. I hold him closer, just enjoying the closeness of the moment and how connected I feel to him. His h*ps jerk, and I feel him grow even bigger before he groans, his mouth latching on to my neck.

“You didn’t come,” he breathes against my skin after a few moments.

“It’s okay,” I say softly, running a hand down his back. “It was great.”

“‘Great’?” He chuckles, pulling his face out of my neck. When he looks down at me, he shakes his head. “That’s not gonna work for me.”

I don’t even get a chance to ask him what he’s talking about before he picks me up out of bed and walks us to his room, straight into his bathroom, where he starts up the shower, pushing me inside before following me in. He pulls me under the water, tilting my face back. His fingers work through my hair. When his hands leave me, I open my eyes, watching as he grabs a large sponge off the shelf. Then he pours some body wash onto it, lathering it up, causing the room to smell like him.

He gently washes me, paying close attention between my legs, where I can still feel him. When he’s done, he washes himself before tossing the sponge to the shower floor. I think he’s going to get out, but instead, he moves us under the rain coming from the showerhead on the ceiling so that hot, steamy water falls down on us. Then he pulls me to him, my back to his front.

His hands start at my shoulders, rubbing in slow circles, then travel down my arms to my hands, where he pulls them up and behind his head. His fingers run down the inside of my arms, over the tips of my breasts, down my stomach, and over my hips. One hand moves to my center, rolling over my clit, and the other slides back up to my breasts, alternately toying with my nipples. My whole body relaxes into him, just enjoying his touch.

“I love touching you,” he whispers.

The word ‘love’ makes my stomach flutter. I know I’m on the edge of love with him, and it won’t take much to push me over.

“Feel what you do to me?” He licks my neck, his h*ps shift, and his c**k slides between my legs from behind.

I lower my hand to where his is playing with me, and I feel the head of his c**k near my clit. He pulls his h*ps back and forth again, and I feel him in my hand every time he moves forward.

“I need to be inside you, baby.” His words sound pained as his hand moves mine out of the way, and on the next thrust forward, he enters me.

“Yes,” I breathe.

“This time, you’re gonna come with me inside you.” He runs his chin up my neck, the scruff on his jaw causing goose bumps to break out on my skin.

One hand cups my breast, first softly. Then it pinches and pulls my nipple as his other hand slowly moves between my legs. My pu**y tightens when his fingers tug my nipple hard.

“Fuck. You like that?” He does it again, getting the same reaction.

It doesn’t take long to feel the knot in my lower stomach start to unravel. I lean forward, putting my hands on the tile wall in front of me. One of his hands slides around my waist, hitting my clit, and the other goes to my nipple, pinching it. My orgasm is sudden and all consuming. His name leaves my mouth on a cry, and in the distance, I hear mine roared as I float away into euphoria. When I come back to myself, I’m sitting in his lap in the middle of the shower, my face in the crook of his neck.

I lift my head and look up into his eyes, giving him a tired smile. “That was amazing.” I run my fingers along his jaw then up and around his lips.

“That’s what I like to hear.” His tone is soft, along with his eyes, and I shake my head at his smugness.

“I’m in like with you,” I tell him, getting lost in his eyes.

“Yeah?” His eyebrow rises and he kisses my forehead. “I’m in a whole lotta like with you too, baby,” he says softly, pulling my head back down to his chest.

We sit there for a few more minutes before he stands us up, quickly rinses us off before turning off the shower, and then pulls a large towel out of the cabinet to wrap around me, getting one for himself off the hook on the back of the door. I watch as he dries his body, my mouth going dry as a tingle begins stirring in my core again.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

I jump and quickly look away at his words, feeling my cheeks pinken as I start to dry myself off. Hearing him laugh, I turn my head, looking over my shoulder.

His eyes drop to my ass and he shakes his head. “It’s gonna be a long night,” he mumbles.

I look down at his hard-on before lifting my eyes to his again.

He wasn’t wrong; it was a very long night.

Chapter 8

It’s Not Past Tense

I wake up when I feel lips touch my shoulder, a hand slide around my waist, and warmth hit my back. I smile into my pillow then roll over to face Kenton.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” He pulls me up his body so I’m lying on his chest.

“Yes, you did.” I laugh, cuddling into him while breathing in his scent.

It’s been three weeks of us being an ‘us.’ At first, it was difficult living together plus being in a new relationship, but things have seem to have fallen into place. He’s still an ass every now and then, but he’s my ass.

The day after our first date, Kenton woke me up early, dragging me out of the bed and into the shower, where he proceeded to make love to me before telling me to get dressed because we had to go shopping. I got dressed in a pair of shorts and a light T-shirt before meeting him downstairs. I was exhausted, a little sore from being kept up the night before, and in no mood to go shopping, but he seemed so excited about it that I couldn’t exactly tell him that I hated shopping and to go alone.

When we got in his car, we headed to Nashville. I’d expected him to take us to the mall, but instead, he took us to a large furniture store.

“Why are we here?” I asked, looking at the store in front of us then over at him.

“I need a new bed,” he said, hopping out of the car.

My heart fell into my stomach. We had just had sex for the first time yesterday, and he was buying a new bed to leave mine already? I waited until he opened the door for me to get out. I wanted to claw his eyes out of his head for being such an ass, but instead, I swallowed down the hurt I was feeling, determined to find some other way to get back at him.

He took my hand in his, leading me inside the furniture store. A man in his mid-thirties with a bad comb-over and an even worse suit greeted us as soon as we entered the store. I looked around, trying to clear my head as Kenton and the guy spoke quietly.

When Kenton grabbed my hand, twining his fingers with mine, I was admiring a king-size bed with a canopy top. The set also came with beautiful side tables that were round in the middle with thin legs that curved out and a dresser and armoire that were similar. All the wood was dark with notches in it, making it look like it had just been chopped down in the forest. I could imagine a princess sleeping in that bed amongst the furniture.

“Do you like this one?” he asked.

I looked over at him then back at the bed. I could see him in it as well. The ruggedness of the wood was manly enough that the whimsical element to the design was toned down.

“It’s really nice,” I said softly, not knowing how I felt about picking out a bed that would basically guarantee that he wouldn’t be sleeping with me anymore.

“Is it something you would buy for your own room?”

“Yes,” I told him truthfully.

“Ralph, we’ll take this one.”

Ralph nodded and we followed him to the register, where he rang up the order. The whole set was over six thousand dollars, and Kenton pulled out his wallet, pulling out a shiny black card and handing it over to Ralph without even an ounce of regret on his face. When we were done, Ralph told us that he would have it delivered this afternoon.

When we left the furniture store, I thought for sure we would head home, but he drove us to a bedding and home goods store, leading me inside and right to the bedding department, telling me to pick something.

“What do you mean ‘pick something’? It’s your bed. You pick something,” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest in order to not punch him in the gut. My feelings were hurt. All I wanted to do was go home. I knew it was dumb, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t feel like crying about it.

“I need help,” he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

I bit my lip, looked around at every bedding set, and one caught my eye. It was white with a large design of a tree on it, and it had a green border that was made out of silk ribbon. I knew it would look amazing with his new bedroom furniture, but I also thought it was too feminine for a guy’s room. I walked over to the wall of blankets, grabbed a Bed in a Bag set that was mostly browns and blacks, and handed it to him. His eyes went from the bag to my face and then narrowed.

“What?” I asked, wondering what was wrong with the set I’d picked. I’d done what he’d asked me to, so what was his problem?

“You would have this in your room?”

“No, but this isn’t for my room,” I said, pointing at myself. “This is for your room.” I shrugged and started to walk away, but I was grabbed by the back of my jeans, and his hands slid along my stomach.

“Who do you think will be sleeping in my bed with me?” he asked against the shell of my ear. He’d found out the night before that that was a very weak spot for me.

“I don’t know,” I said, feeling stupid tears sting my nose. I didn’t want to think about anyone in his bed.

He turned me in his arms and I ducked my head, not wanting him to see the emotions I was sure were written all over my face.

“What’s going on?” His concerned voice caused my eyes to lift. I shook my head and started to look away, but his hand cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at him. “You’re the most difficult woman I have ever met.” He shook his head and started to laugh. My eyes narrowed, and he looked over my face before laughing harder.

“What the hell is funny?” I hissed.

He stopped laughing and his voice became serious. “You’re in my bed. I want that to be the place you sleep from now on. I also want it to be somewhere you’re comfortable. That’s why I wanted you with me today.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, my belly fluttering.

“Now, what are we getting?”

I bit my lip and walked over to the set that had caught my eye. I picked it up then put it down when I saw the price. “Maybe you should just get that other one,” I told him, seeing the much cheaper price boldly displayed across the front of the picture on the bag in his hand.

“Jesus.” He shook his head then walked over and picked up the one I really liked. “I hate shopping, so this will go a lot faster if you just pick the shit you like so we can get the f**k out of here.”

“Don’t be an ass,” I growled, making him smile.

“Do we need sheets?”

“Yes,” I hissed then stomped over to the sheets, picking up two sets—a black one that would match the tree printed on the comforter and one green set the same color as the ribbon on the border. The whole time I stomped around, I listened to Kenton laughing. I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that formed on my lips when his arm swung over my shoulders and his lips touched my temple.

The feeling of him taking a deep breath brings me back to the present, and I tilt my head back slightly to look at him.

“Is everything okay?” I ask sleepily.

“All’s good. Justin just left. He said you went to bed late ’cause you were up eating junk food while watching him play Call of Duty all night.”

“He’s such a tattletale.” I shake my head.

Justin has become like a brother to me. We bicker and argue constantly, but he also makes me laugh so hard that I can’t breathe. I adore him for the way he looks out for Kenton and love that he is such a great friend. He stays with me every time Kenton is out of town. Between him and the rest of Kenton’s men, there isn’t a time when my whereabouts are unknown or I’m not supervised. I hate having people constantly in my space, but I know that, in order for me to be safe right now, I need them.

“I missed you,” I say softly, pressing my nose into his chest.

“Missed you too, babe.” His hand travels down my back, over my ass, and between my legs. One finger dips inside my pu**y before rolling over my clit.

“Kenton,” I moan as he takes my mouth in a deep kiss, rolling me to my back and entering me.

By the time we both come, we’re exhausted and fall back asleep.

I snuggle into Kenton and wrap my arms around his waist when I hear the doorbell ring in the distance. “They’ll go away,” I tell him, not ready to get up. I feel like I just fell asleep.

“I gotta get it. It could be Mom.”

Crap, he’s right. It could be his mom, because while he’s out of town, she or Viv stop by for coffee most mornings.

“Did you tell her you are home?” I ask, knowing that, if she knows he’s home, she would normally give him at least until the afternoon before calling or showing up.

“Nah, so she’s probably here to see you.”

“I’m up. You should sleep.” I throw my legs over the side of the bed then find the T-shirt he had on yesterday. I pull it on over my head before bending and grabbing my sweats off the floor.

The loud slap on my ass has me jumping in place and glaring at Kenton, who is now up and wearing a pair of jeans with the top button undone.