Page 156 of The Lies We Play

It is permission.

Her body gives again.

The second wave hits her harder, pulling a ragged cry out of her as she arches beneath me. I drink her because I can’t do anything else. Because if I stop, I might say the true thing. Because her pleasure on my tongue feels like evidence, and I am a man who has always trusted evidence more than faith.

This is what she wanted.

This is what she trusted me with.

This is what I will protect with every ugly, expensive, ruthless part of myself.

When she finally shoves at my shoulder, gasping, “Too much. Oh fuck, too much,” I stop at once.

I pull back, breathing hard, and rest my cheek against her thigh.

For a second, I don’t move. I can’t. My fingers are still inside her, and I keep them there one beat too long because some selfish part of me wants to feel the last tremor of what I gave her. Then I ease them out slowly, watching her face as she comes down from it.

Her hair is everywhere. Her lips are swollen. Her skin is damp and flushed across her chest and stomach. The sheet beneath her hips is wet. Her thighs are still shaking.

She looks revealed—awakened.

Livia opens her eyes.

For one second, she doesn't make a joke. She just looks at me, dazed and exposed and so fucking beautiful it turns want into something quieter. More dangerous.

I kiss the inside of her thigh.

She flinches, not away from me, but from tenderness.

That nearly destroys me.

“Don’t,” she whispers.

I lift my head. “Don’t what?”

Her mouth works once before she finds the words. “Look at me like that.”

“Like I’m in love with the most beautiful woman in the world?” I ask.

She gasps.

It’s one quick, stunned intake of air that changes the room.

“Creed.” Her voice sounds like a warning—or like fear.

“Because I do.” My voice lowers, and there is no elegance left in it. “I do love you.”

Her lips part.

Nothing comes out.

For one second, I think she might cry.

For one second, I think I might.

Neither of us does.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and her eyes follow the movement. Her face colors deeper, but she doesn't look away.