Page 64 of Hollow Code
She rose on her toes and kissed him—softly at first. She threaded her fingers through his hair, and she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss.
His hands squeezed her waist. He pulled back. Not far. Just enough to see her.
Her lips were flushed and her breathing jagged.
"What?" she whispered.
"I need to say something."
"If you tell me we should slow down, I will cause you physical harm. You should understand how serious I am from my willingness to cause bodily harm, given that I like you, and I don't want to hurt you."
He laughed. It came from somewhere deep and surprised him. "I'm not saying that."
"Then what?"
He took her face in his hands. He traced the line of her jaw, and she leaned into his palms.
"I've never had this." The words came out rough. "I've had a few relationships. Months here. Weeks there. Women who eventually got tired of waiting for me to show up in the ways that mattered. I never blamed them. I was never all the way in. I always had a foot out the door, because work was always more important. Always took priority."
Her hands dropped from his collar to his chest. Palms flat. Right over his heart.
"I don't have a foot out the door with you." He swallowed. "I don't even want to open the door. I want this. I want you. Not just right now. Not just while we're underground running missions. After. When this is over. When the world gets quiet, and we're not stuck here anymore, I want to be standing next to you."
Her lips parted, and she blinked.
"Since I was sixteen, you're the first person who made me feel like I'm not alone," he said. "And I need you to know that—before anything else happens tonight. Because this isn't just physical for me. It hasn't been since I figured out that Hopper's laugh was the only thing getting me through the week."
A tear slid down her cheek. He caught it with his finger.
"You're an idiot," she whispered.
"I know."
"I care about you, too." She pulled her shirt over her head.
He stood there and stared at her wearing nothing but his boxers and her sports bra. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
"You make me forget I'm living underground," he said.
She smiled as she leaned into him. "It's not so bad with people who matter."
He dragged his lips along the line of her throat, feeling the tremor that ran through her when he sealed his lips at the base and sucked.
Making love to her these last few days had been—well, he hadn't known what he’d been missing. Sex with other women had always been good, but Zadie made him feel and want things he’d never even daydreamed about. Things like stability, constant human contact… things like his parents had had.
He ripped off his shirt and tossed it aside.
She slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders. The scrape of her nails along his neck sent a jolt of electricity through him. He teased her lips before diving his tongue deep into her mouth, savoring the way she always tasted like a combination of sweet and tart.
Heat rolled off her skin. He skimmed his palms over the smooth line of her sides, catching the fabric of her bra. He eased it over her head, letting it drop to the floor. Bringing his lips to her shoulder, he traced a path with his tongue across her skin to her taut nipple. He circled it, tormenting her, while she dug her fingers into his scalp.
He grazed her with his teeth, and she let out a deep moan that raised goosebumps on his skin. He dragged a hand to the waistband of the boxers she wore, and her belly shivered as his knuckles brushed skin. Her fingers tightened in his hair, as he twisted and pulled at her nipple until she arched.
"Yes, oh god, yes."
He slid lower, kisses skimming over the ladder of her ribs, being careful as he delicately skimmed his lips over the bruises. He continued his path lower to the warm plane of her stomach. Her muscles jumped beneath his mouth. Curling his fingers under the elastic riding low on her hips, he eased the boxers down, the cotton dragging slowly over her thighs until they pooled at her ankles.
The bruise on her knee had darkened to a deep purple that had spread halfway down her shin. He ran his thumb gently across it.
