Page 86 of Seven Minutes
A plea. A promise. A thank-you. A confession I wasn’t strong enough to say out loud. I made a mess of his ass and my stomach.
My breath hitched again as the aftershocks hit, my body rocking with them, every wave of heat dragging another sound from my throat.
Pleasure mixed with pain from my healing ribs.
Adrian caught me before I folded in on myself, one arm around my back, the other steadying my hip. He held me through it, tight and close, grounding me as if my unraveling was something sacred he was honored to witness.
His forehead pressed to mine, breath mingling with my gasps. His voice was a whisper, torn and tender against my cheek.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
“Maybe next time… Next time,” I fought to finish, “You can come in my mouth.”
“Next time,” Adrian rumbled against my cheek, “I’ll come in your ass.”
Chapter 32
Aftermath
ELI
The room felt hazy around the edges. My pulse was still all over the place. My chest and stomach sticky, and Adrian’s breath warm against my temple. And all I could think was—God, I needed that.
Not just the release, but his weight braced over me, his voice breaking, his hands shaking like mine. The way he said my name as though it hurt him to hold it in.
Adrian lowered himself until his chest pressed lightly to mine, careful of my ribs, careful of every damn part of me. His mouth worked slow kisses along my jaw, and I felt something in my throat go tight.
“I missed you,” I heard myself say, voice wrecked.
His hand threaded through my hair. “I’m here,” he whispered. “I’ve been here. Even when I couldn’t get it right. There’s only you and me.”
I let my fingers slide up his back, feeling the shocks still running through him. He’d come so hard he’d actually cursed—Adrian never cursed. And now he was hovering as though I might disappear if he let go.
A messy little laugh escaped me. “You—uh—you kind of decorated me.”
He lifted himself just enough to look down at the streaks across my stomach and chest, then groaned into my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even—God, Eli.”
“Relax.” I nudged his hip with mine. “This is the least dramatic thing that’s happened to me lately.”
He choked on a laugh and kissed my forehead before grabbing the edge of the comforter to wipe at the mess. I caught his wrist before he could.
“Not with that,” I said, horrified. “That’s my favorite blanket.”
“We're washing this anyway,” he muttered, but he dropped it and reached for a T-shirt from the floor instead. He cleaned me up with careful, tender passes, his touch maddeningly gentle. Every swipe made something unsteady open inside my chest.
When he finished, he tossed the shirt aside and leaned in to kiss the spot just under my collarbone—soft, lingering, apologizing without words.
And I cracked. Not fully. Just enough that the breath I let out sounded close to a sob.
He pressed his head to mine. “Hey. Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said, even though we both knew that was a lie.I swallowed, a shaky laugh breaking through. “I missed this. Missed feeling you. Missed knowing you werehere.”
His hand tightened at my jaw, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth as if he needed the contact to believe it. “You scared me,” he whispered. “When I thought—when you were—” His voice faltered, and he pulled me closer, needing more. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get to touch you again.”
My eyes stung. “You’re touching me now.”
He nodded and lay beside me, pulling me slowly into his chest. I curled into him without thinking, my cheek against the steady rise and fall of his breathing, his hand moving in slow circles on my back.
