“Heath. Oh God,” Ally cried out.
He ground his hips against her ass while furtively seeking the orgasm he knew she needed. He clamped his teeth on the curve of her shoulder, stroking over her most sensitive spot with his fingers. Her thighs tightened against him as the orgasm claimed her. He wrapped one hand around her waist, still teasing with the other, until the last of her climax shuddered through her. Then he reached down and put his hard cock between her legs, rubbing against her swollen sex without penetrating her.
“I have to feel you against me.”
He thrust against her ass, her juices coating every inch of his eager cock.
“Oh God, Heath. That feels so good.”
She reached between her legs and pressed his shaft against her sex, moaning and driving him out of his fucking mind. He pinched her nipples. Hard. And she cried out again, a loud, indiscernible sound that ricocheted off the glass walls and sent a shiver down his spine.
“Too much?” he asked against her cheek.
“More. Harder,” she pleaded.
He squeezed harder, and she arched into his hands.
“Fuck, Ally, I need you.” He reached for his pants. “Condom.”
“No. No condom.”
Heath stilled.
“Take me, Heath. I’m on the pill, and you said you’ve always used protection. So have I.”
She moved forward and pressed her hands against the dresser, spreading her legs wide. Heath stroked his cock, and when she looked over her shoulder, her hair sexily covering one eye, her legs spread wide, her ass perched high from her heels, he nearly came.
“I love to see you touch yourself,” she said in a heady voice. She reached between her legs again, and that was it.
Heath abandoned all restraint. In one hard thrust he pushed into her. They both moaned with pleasure.
“Ally, you’re so wet, so tight. So fucking hot.” He thrust in harder, wanting to bury himself as deep as he possibly could, fill every inch of her. Another hard pump brought the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. “Jesus. Tell me if I hurt you.”
She spread her hands and legs wider, bending farther over the dresser as he sank into her, time and time again. He wrapped one arm around her waist, trapping her against him, and groped her breast with the other as her muscles contracted around him.
“Oh…God.” Her head fell between her shoulders.
Heath raised her, so her back was pressed to his chest, as her body shook and her hips thrust.
“That’s it baby.” Every fast pulse brought him closer to his release. She felt amazing as he palmed her breast, while he was buried deep inside her.
As she came down from her orgasm, he lightly kissed her cheek.
“Oh my God. Heath.”
She pressed her ass against him again, and he withdrew from inside her and turned her in his arms, taking her in a demanding kiss. She returned his efforts with fervor. They were so in sync sexually that Heath had a hard time thinking straight. He gripped her ass as he ravaged her mouth. She cupped his balls, nearly sending him over the edge, and then she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth.
“Oh…fuck….” His head tipped back with a growl as his hips plunged forward, thrusting into her mouth over and over again. He felt his release building and wanted—needed—to be inside her. He fisted his hands in her hair and moved his hips back.
She gazed up at him, and he lifted her into his arms and lowered her onto his throbbing heat.
“Ah, yes…” she said in a heated breath.
He pulled off her heels and gritted his teeth against the insane pleasure of her legs wrapping tightly around him, her nails digging into his shoulders. He crossed the room and lowered her down to the bed, feeling the heat of their bodies joining again as they hit the mattress. She closed her eyes, and he found her hands and laced their fingers together beside her head.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart.”
Her heavy lids lifted, and her lips curved up.
“I adore you,” he whispered as his lips found hers again, and he breathed his love into her as their bodies moved in perfect harmony.
Ally awakened every bit of him. His body was on fire, electrified, and as she came apart beneath him and he surrendered to his own powerful release, it was love that filled his veins.
They lay tangled together on their sides in the wake of their lovemaking while their breathing returned to normal.
“Stay with me,” he whispered.
She pressed her lips to his, and he pulled her in closer.
“Will you catch me?” she whispered with a sweet smile as she traced his collarbone with her finger.
He furrowed his brow in confusion.
“When I fall for you,” she answered. “Will you be there to catch me?”
“For the rest of your life, sweetheart. Day or night.” He gathered her in his arms and sealed his vow with a kiss.
Chapter Seventeen
ALLY’S MOTHER USED to tell her that people didn’t find love, love found them, and it almost always seemed to do so in the most unusual ways and at the most unlikely times. Her parents had met in high school, and as her mother told the story, she’d hated her father at first sight. He was too full of himself, and he looked at her as if she were his when she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be his. That was, until he’d found out that she wasn’t interested, and he’d spent the next few weeks showing her the person he really was. He’d walked her to every class, even when it meant being late to his own, and every day after school he waited for her in the library, where he knew she went to do her homework. He had inserted himself into her life without an invitation, and despite her mother turning him down for every date for the first month, he was relentless and proved himself as the loving, loyal, smart man Ally knew him to be. And only after he’d stopped being overly cocky and had shown his kind and sensitive self, had she accepted a date—and within a few more weeks, he’d become her mother’s life. In all the times Ally had heard the story, she’d never put much value in the I’m not what I seem scenario, and she’d certainly never linked it to herself in any way. Until now.
As the Saturday-morning sun crept over the horizon and showered her and Heath in a bright new day, she began to see herself differently. When she inched back against him, his chest hair tickled her skin and his hips and thighs cradled her rear, and she realized that the person she’d presented herself as when she’d met Heath wasn’t her true self, even though she’d thought it was.
It was who she’d pretended to be—even to herself.
In college Ally had taken the walk of shame once or twice; only she’d never considered it a walk of shame. She’d done what she’d wanted to do, on her terms. After college—and after being cheated on for a second time—she’d stopped wanting anything remotely close to a monogamous relationship. That was when she’d taken control of her personal life. Erecting a wall around herself, sleeping with an occasional man on her terms. She realized now that part of her terms meant without any ties to her true self. It had been her way of protecting her heart. Heath had somehow touched her in a way that made her want to break through that facade in the same way her father had removed his emotional armor for her mother.
In his sleep, Heath’s warm, even breaths whispered across her shoulder. She felt his heart beating against her back, and even in sleep he held her protectively, with one strong arm around her waist. Ally hadn’t ever thought of herself as the type of woman who needed protecting, but every ounce of her loved the way Heath had made her his. She loved the way he devoured her sexually and the way she caught him stealing glances, as if he might see some hidden piece of her when she wasn’t aware that he was looking. Even the way he called her sweetheart made her heart squeeze and her belly get warm. As she lay within his embrace, she wondered what she’d been so afraid of. She tried to dissect it, to figure it out as she did the blood work and biopsies she analyzed at work.
Strangely, it wasn’t the fear of being cheate
d on that rushed to the forefront of her mind. That was the one thing she’d always thought she was trying to avoid. But as Heath’s arm tightened around her, she knew that wasn’t her greatest fear. Her greatest fear was allowing herself to feel the emotions she’d never felt before and the worries that came along with them.
She was falling head over heels in love with Heath. Love, like liquid, had infiltrated her entire being, joining with her blood and settling into her bones, saturating her so completely that she knew she couldn’t easily shake it off or pretend it didn’t exist. Not that she wanted to do either. But the sense of realness, the sense of complete and utter belonging, was upon her.
If she gave in to these intense emotions and let the last of her resolve go, would Heath really always be there to catch her? Or, like wayward cells, would their feelings change into something ugly and unstoppable?
“What’re you thinking about?” Heath asked as he rolled Ally onto her back. Sleep hovered in his blue eyes, and a curious smile played across his cheeks.
“Us,” she answered honestly.
“Mm. Well, you didn’t take off in the middle of the night—that’s a good sign.”
She smiled. “You held on to me all night like a seat belt.”
He pulled her side against his warm skin. “Too confining?”
“Not in the least. I slept great.”
“Then why do I sense something serious brewing in your mind?”
This was another part of Heath she was completely drawn to. He paid such careful attention to her that even when she thought there was no way he could notice anything out of the ordinary, he did.
“You know how all it takes is one aberrant cell to destroy a person?”
“Yes.” He pushed up on one elbow, and his gaze turned serious.
“All it takes to destroy a relationship is one rogue thought. Or one wrong move. Or…”
“Or someone not really caring enough to protect it?” he asked.
She shifted her eyes away with the truth of his question.
“Isn’t that what relationships really come down to?” Heath gently drew her chin toward him, so she had no choice but to look at him. “With illness, control is an illusion. You can eat right and exercise, stay away from cigarettes and alcohol, and still a cancerous cell can turn into many and steal a person’s life.” He paused, and his eyes softened as he brushed his finger over her cheek.
She loved that he took his time to intimately touch her in the middle of an important thought. He wasn’t in a rush to move past her worries or to convince her of his beliefs. It was these little things—the way her thoughts were important to him, the way he cared for her—that were making her his.
“The difference is that in relationships, we have full control,” he explained. “We make our decisions. Sometimes we make good decisions, sometimes bad decisions, but we’re always in control of what those decisions are.”
She sighed, hating and loving in equal measure the truth of what he’d said.
“Allyson, we’ve both been on the hurtful side of other people’s bad decisions. I can’t speak for you, but at thirty-four years old, with a stable and enjoyable career, and a family I love, there’s no reason for me to bring someone else into my life unless I want that person there and, more importantly, unless I’m willing to do whatever it takes to do the right thing by them.”
He gazed into her eyes as she processed what he’d said, and when he spoke again, his tone was even more sincere.
“I want you in my life, Ally, and I don’t have a history of making bad decisions. That being said, don’t drive yourself crazy picking apart what might happen in our relationship. We’re not fortune-tellers, and there are no guarantees, but I can promise you this. The same way I don’t give up on helping my patients, I’d never give up on us. If we hit a rough spot that you don’t want to ride over, we’ll find a way around it. If we hit a snag that seems like it has the power to derail us completely, we’ll take a deep breath and think it through. We’re both smart, caring people. I’ll never take a detour that involves another woman. I’ve never cheated on a woman in my life.”
“I’ve never cheated on a boyfriend, either.”
“Then tell me what really scares you, because falling asleep with you in my arms and waking up with you is something I want to get used to.”
“Heath…” She didn’t have an answer about what scared her. He’d tamped down her worry with reason and those warm, sensitive eyes of his. “You weren’t looking for a relationship, remember?”
“Neither were you,” he reminded her. “Do you not want this?”
“Oh, no! I want this in the worst way,” she assured him. “I just don’t want to be taken by surprise by a wayward cell. There are things about me that you don’t know. You may not like my bad habits.”
“Lay ’em on me, sweetheart. What’re your bad habits?” He ran his finger from her ribs to her hip, sending goose bumps over her skin.
“I cry at commercials,” she admitted.
“I have tissues.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm.
“I like to do the Sunday crossword, and sometimes I talk to myself and get angry when I’m doing it.”
“I’ll get mad with you,” he offered with a sweet smile.
“You didn’t notice, but I have three cat boxes for Fifi, and sometimes I let her sleep on my pillow.”
He moved over her and nudged her legs open with his knees. “I’ll change the cat boxes for her and buy another pillow so we always have room for her.”
She laughed softly. “Sometimes I talk to Amanda on the phone for an hour or more.”
He kissed her neck. “Sometimes I spend hours with my brothers.” He filled his palms with her breasts and brushed his thumbs over her nipples, making it hard for her to concentrate.
“I eat ice cream from the container.”
“I’ll fight you for it.” He laved his tongue over her nipple, sending ripples of pleasure through her. “Spend the day with me and let me discover everything I don’t know about you.”
“I have to go home and feed Fifi.”
He kissed his way down her belly. “I’ll go with you, and we can go out from there.” Heath nipped at her inner thighs with his teeth.
She rocked her hips, wanting his mouth on her, wanting him in her.
“I said I’ll catch you when you fall.” His voice was filled with desire as he splayed his hands over her thighs and used his thumbs to tease her wet, swollen flesh. “All you have to do is let yourself go.”
Little did he know she already had one leg over the cliff, and every minute they spent together made her want to propel herself over the edge.
Chapter Eighteen
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I’m here.” Ally spun around with her arms wide open, like an enthusiastic little girl.
They’d arrived at Coney Island twenty minutes ago, and Ally had already said the same thing about ten times. Heath would never tire of seeing the spark in her eyes.
“I’ve lived so close all my life, and never once have I been here.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you!”
He laughed as he lifted her off her feet and hugged her, and when he set her back down on the ground, she pointed toward the rides. “Let’s start there. I’ve always wanted to go on those swings.”
Even though it was early September, the amusement park was crowded and the air was alive with excitement from wide-eyed children and adults holding hands. As they walked around the park, Ally marveled at everything—the rides, the people, the food—and seeing her so happy made Heath want to do more for her. He wanted to take her everywhere and show her the world. He wanted to experience life with her.
“Have you been on that roller coaster?” she asked, pointing to the Cyclone, a roller coaster in the distance.
“Sure, with my brothers.” They held hands as they reached the line for the swings.
Ally shaded her eyes from the sun and watched the swings
rise toward the sky, then whirl overhead. “That’s so much higher and faster than I anticipated.”
“Do you want to skip it?” he asked.
“No way.” Her smile lit up her beautiful face.
Heath loved the way her eyes took on a challenging gaze. She bent to fix the cuff of her distressed jeans, looking sexier than hell in a pair of cute sandals with a coral-colored, loose-fitting sleeveless top. She turned to look at a laughing child, and her silver earrings sparkled against her dark hair. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and the silver bangles she wore clinked, setting her movements to music. Heath would be happy spending the afternoon just watching Ally take in the sights, sounds, and scents of the park.
By the time it was their turn, she was gripping his hand so tightly that he was sure she’d leave fingerprints.
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” he asked.
She nodded enthusiastically, her eyes wide. “Definitely.”
He helped her into her swing and kissed her before claiming the swing beside her.
“I wish we could hold hands while we rode these,” she said.
“We’ll make up for it later.”
As the ride lifted them above the crowd, Ally clung tightly to the red protective sheathing on the metal chains attached to the chair. Heath watched her muscles flex as she tightened her grip, and when the ride picked up speed and her swing arced out and angled slightly sideways, she closed her eyes and tilted her chin up toward the sky. She released the chains and held her arms out to her sides, as if reaching for brass rings, and tipped her head back. Heath couldn’t remember ever having witnessed such unencumbered joy. Her hair waved behind her like a thick mane, and when the ride slowed, she looked over at him with rosy cheeks.
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