“You’re here.”
She smiles. “I am.”
I draw her into my arms, and her body relaxes into mine.
“You were crying,” she says. “Was it worse than usual?”
When I don’t reply, she lifts her face to mine, waiting for an answer.
“It was you,” I whisper.
She frowns. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s always my mother in the accident,” I explain. “This time, it was you, and I couldn’t save you.”
“There’s no accident, Landon. I’m fine. I don’t need saving.”
I want to argue, but before I can say a word, she rises from the bed and takes my face in her hands. “Stop torturing yourself,” she says firmly. “You’re not going to hurt me. I’m going to be fine.”
But she’s already hurt. She’s been hurting these past weeks, and I didn’t know.
I take her hands in mine. “I already have.” More than I had a right to.
She shakes her head. “Don’t think about that.”
She loves me.
“Say it again.” It’s selfish, but I want to hear her tell me she loves me. I want to hear it until I believe it without a doubt, until I feel like I deserve it.
“I love you,” she whispers.
I bury my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin. She settles over me, and I lay gentle kisses on her neck and her shoulder.
She closes her eyes and I roll over so she’s lying beneath me. I continue to lavish kisses all over her, letting my touch say all the words I can’t bring myself to say.
“I had no idea.”
She smiles. “I know.”
I kiss her everywhere, from her face to her toes. My lips find the heat between her legs and she spreads herself for me. I kiss her down there, tasting her desire, the sweetness of her body. I don’t stop until she’s crying out, breathless as she climaxes with my name on her lips.
I rise to my knees and she urges me forward. I settle between her legs and lift them to my waist, pulling her forward as I enter her.
Her eyes hold mine, glistening with a wetness that wrecks my heart. Still, she reaches up to touch my chest, stroking me languidly.
My chest rises. “You feel so good. So good.”
In response, she grips my ass, urging me deeper. I peel her hands off and pin them to the bed, hovering above her. Bracing my elbows on the mattress, I push into her, my eyes never leaving her face.
I love you.
When she comes, her whole body rocks off the bed. I hold her tight, thrusting deep as I reach my release. I fall asleep holding her, and when I wake up hours later, she’s gone.
Chapter 29
She’s gone.
I don’t wonder where. I know as soon as I wake up she’s left for New York.