A feeling of defeat comes over me, and my strength disappears as I slump against Lawson’s body. He takes over easily, keeping me on my feet.
“You want to sit down?” His heart is still racing, but his voice is back to gentle.
I nod and he leads me to the sofa.
“Fuck, you look rough.” Jonas finally speaks. “Did you trade in your executive roots to become a lumberjack?
The tension in the air dissipates, and Bessie starts to snicker until she’s openly snorting. I find myself laughing and feel Lawson relax a little.
“Not exactly,” is his only response.
“Jonas!” I gawk at my friend, seeing the apprehension on his face. His eyes scan over me and his features soften.
“I think he’s a dick, Little G, but I’m going to trust you.”
He repeats my plea from earlier, and my heart flips in my chest. It’s then I know, everything is going to be okay.
•8•8•
“Lawson, can I come in?”
“It’s open.” His answer is muffled through the door.
I let out a shocked cry when I open the door to find him in the middle of the room with a scrap of a towel draped around his hips. “You’re naked!” I shriek.
“Technically, I’m in a towel.”
“What if it wasn’t me?”
“You knocked. I know your voice.”
“Oh, yeah,” I mumble stupidly, closing the door behind me. As hard as I try to look away, my eyes are drawn to every inch of him.
He’s always been fit, but in these weeks apart, his physique has shifted. I knew he’d been spending more time working out, and the results are stunning. His chest is more defined, his torso more ridged, and his biceps bulging as he stands with his hands on his hips watching me.
The only word that comes to mind is sculpted.
Self-consciousness creeps into my head at my own body. Stress and anxiety added to my weight loss. Coupled with the morning sickness, I haven’t been able to regain much of my original shape, which makes the small swell of my stomach more noticeable.
My profession is built on shedding women of insecurities based on a misconception of body image. For the first time in my life, I understand those uncertainties.
I drop my gaze and peer down at the floor. In a flash, he’s in front of me. Before I can blink, his lips are on mine.
He frames my face tenderly, and his tongue plunges into my mouth, finding mine easily. I fall into him, letting him control the kiss and feeling the warmth of his body seeping through my clothes. The scent of his body wash and shampoo surrounds me at the same time the taste of peppermint toothpaste fills my mouth.
For the past few weeks, my taste buds have rejected almost all the things I usually love, but right now, peppermint becomes my new favorite flavor. My hands thread through his wet hair, and I slant my head to give him better access, opening wider.
A distant memory hits me: the night of our first kiss on the terrace. The gentleness of his movements, the thrill of the unknown, the passion stirring between us… and then fluttering in the pit of my stomach and the racing of my heart. All of it floods my mind as my body burns with a craving for him so deep it ignites in my bloodstream.
I clutch his scalp, anchoring myself as I crawl up his body and lock my legs around him. He growls down my throat, thrusting against me. I barely feel us moving until my back hits the soft mattress and he’s on top of me, bracing his weight on his elbows as we devour each other. What started as slow is now a mixture of tongues, lips, pants, and moans, neither of us holding back.
My lungs beg for air, but I’m scared to pull away. Scared to break this connection I’ve missed so much. An inferno builds inside, and I rock my pelvis into his, feeling a delicious ache come to life. Suddenly, I’m boiling, every nerve ending sparking with desire.
It’s always been like this between us. I knew it from the first time his lips hit mine. The effect he has on me is fierce and dangerous, making me lose all reason.
Without warning, he tears his mouth away, his chest heaving heavily. “Fuck, Greer, it’s taking all I can to not rip your clothes off right now. I can’t control myself when it comes to you.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I admit freely in my lust-induced state of dizziness.