Page 89 of The Spare
“I know.” I ran a hand through his hair. He had trouble with situations he couldn’t control, like when we disagreed. It gave him more anxiety than he ever showed.
“I can't ever lose you, Sloan.” A deep fear coated his words.
A sharp ache grabbed tight hold of my heart. I always figured that was the fear that underpinned his reluctance to get close to people. He’d finally opened up to tell me.
I placed my hand over his. “You won’t.”
I leaned up to kiss him. Kiss away the pain, the fear, whatever it was that was between us. He groaned, pulling me closer, kissing me until my lips tingled. He pulled me into the bedroom, my shaky legs following.
Marcus took his time peeling off my clothes, and his fingers lingered on every dip and curve of my body. He crawled on top of me in the bed and kissed me again, mapping every inch of my body with his mouth, like he was trying to memorize it. Touching me like he wanted to slow time.
His lips trailed down between my legs, his stubble leaving a trail of goosebumps along my inner thigh.
“Marcus,” I whimpered. My head arched up against the mattress when he parted my legs.
“I don't deserve you,” he whispered as he laid a kiss at my entrance. “But I will.” His lips kissed and grazed gently over my clit.“I promise I will.” His tongue finally swept over me before he drew my clit into his mouth, sucking and grazing with more pressure.
I jolted up from the heated flare it sent up my spine. “Marcus, please.”My hand ran through his hair.
The breathy plea was all he needed. Marcus spread his hand along my navel and pushed me flat against the mattress while his mouth kissed, licked, and sucked me. His fingers entered me, curling and thrusting with a well-practiced precision.
The pressure built until my body writhed with ecstasy. It exploded in waves I couldn’t control. The moans, the tears, the pleas burst out of me without warning. His movements didn’t stop until every wave of the orgasm had calmed.
My eyes were barely open when I felt him shift in the bed. His turbulent gaze met mine.He leaned over to kiss away the tears. “I love you,” he whispered before he pulled away.
I shuddered as he positioned himself at my entrance. His eyes locked on mine, and I didn’t dare look away. Not when he looked at me likethat.Like nothing else in the world existed. Just me.My heart hammered in my chest, a boat on choppy waters. “I love you,” I panted weakly in anticipation.
He pushed into me slowly, enjoying every pulse around him. His jaw flexed as he tried to maintain restraint despite the overwhelming pleasure.
“Never stop saying that.” Marcus’s husky voice sent electricity in all directions. He started a slow and sensual rhythm, leaning in to kiss me softly. I moaned softly in agreement.
“Never.” His voice drowned under the sound of our bodies moving together, erasing everything else in the world. Each slow snap of his hips and every buck of mine got me closer. His taut muscles strained with each thrust.
His fingers pressed into my hips, angling them up to hit the spot that drove me to the edge. His thumb stroking rough circles over my clit pushed me over. My body erupted in pleasure again. His hips didn’t stop, and he continued to climb until he released a loud, guttural groan. He paused, deep inside me, and climaxed.
Marcus lowered and leaned his head against mine and brushed a kiss on my lips. Our gazes locked.In his eyes, I could see our future. They held every hope I had for us.
CHAPTER45
Marcus
Weeks passed like days. Sloan’s London project was wrapping up, and my work at the London office had been done for a while.
I had spent the last couple of weeks making the arrangements to formally turn operations back over to the New York office. With the work of the expansion complete, I was beginning to delegate more off to my executive team.
Not working fourteen-hour days left me with some time. I spent it rediscovering parts of myself I’d long buried, like a love of reading I’d ignored because it didn’t make sense to waste my time on it. That, and trying to figure out how to get Sloan to move in with me. We were practically living together already.
There was the detail of telling Henry and her family. There was still a lot hanging in the air between that and telling her about the Amari Global Board discussing an alternative CEO when their grandfather eventually stepped down. Everything I did, I did to help. I hoped she’d see it that way.
I found myself unable to sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. My mind ran in a million different directions at all the uncomfortable conversations to come.
I should have told her today. I should have told her any day since Brussels, but the fear of losing her had stopped me and kept me silent.
I looked over to her side of the bed and smiled.
Sloan slept peacefully next to me.
After I succeeded in distracting her from the movie we had planned to watch, we ended up in bed earlier than usual. Sloan fell asleep quickly after. The lead-up to the end of her project must have been wearing on her. She’d been more stressed recently.
