I slid my tongue into her mouth, tasting her, stroking her, and she responded, drawing heat through me until my skin almost burned at her delicate touch.
“I’m ready.” She pressed against me, and I nudged forward, pushing the head of my cock into her wet heat.
But I didn’t want to go too fast. I wanted to enjoy this and prolong her pleasure, too.
I drew out, waiting a moment before pushing back in, and she sighed as she surrendered herself to me. Her head dropped to one side, and I sucked gently at the skin on her neck, passing my tongue over the vein beneath the surface that throbbed with the beat of her heart.
My heart beat for her, and I wanted to show her that.
I kept my movements slow, entering her and retreating until she accepted my whole length inside her, and I paused for a moment to allow her to accommodate me comfortably.
When she began to move beneath me, her hips pressing to mine, I mimicked her, picking up her rhythm as I shared her body.
“It’s an honor.” I voiced the thought quietly, and Artemis scoffed a quiet rumble, but he understood. We were lucky.
“Hmm?” Beth sounded distracted, and I sure the hell hoped she was because I was pretty sure I was nudging her just right.
“I love you.” I couldn’t say it enough.
She looked at me, her beautiful eyes framed by impossibly long eyelashes and smiled. “I love you, too.” Then she cupped the back of my head. “Kiss me.”
I probed her with my tongue again, matching the rhythm to my cock, and she gasped as her breathing became fractured. She let out a low moan as she tensed, and her fingers clenched around my arm before she throbbed around me, sending wave after wave of sensation to my balls and they tightened.
I drew a last inhale and held it as I hit the point of no return. Then all thoughts left my mind and I came in a shuddering gasp as sensation pulsed in waves over me.
As small sparks still ran through me, interrupting my ability to breathe, I nudged my still-hard cock in her, ignoring the sensitivity in it.
“Thank you,” I whispered, awe for her coloring my tone.
She grinned lazily, stretching beneath me. “No, thank you, my love.”
“I do love you.” I said it again, in case she’d forgotten and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and finally her lips.
This was exactly where I was supposed to be.
17
Bethany
Sunday marked something else I’d never done before. I let Maddox spend the night so that when Tiffany woke, Maddox was already here. I woke early and made pancakes and sausage, Tiffany’s favorite. Maddox shuffled out of my bedroom in his jeans and T-shirt, looking rumpled.
Tiffany came down the hall at almost the same time. Her face went from sleepy to delighted when she spotted Maddox. “Maddoth!” She ran to give him a hug around the knees. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” he said, then looked at me for guidance.
I opted for the truth. “Maddox stayed the night,” I said.
Tiffany nodded and didn’t seem to really care. “What’s for breakfast? I’m hungry.”
At nearly four, her sentences were pretty clear, with only her slight lisp which was so cute I almost hated for her to outgrow it. “Pancakes and sausage!”
Maddox cheered with Tiffany. I gave him a quizzical look.
He shrugged. “I love pancakes and sausage.”
The rest of the day sped by so fast. Almost too fast. Maddox had to leave after lunch for the late shift at the police department.
Monday morning, I took Tiffany to my mom’s, where she ran off without even saying goodbye to find her Papaw. Mom handed me a cup of coffee. “Spill.”
After a long talk with my mom about Maddox and the Kingstons, I felt even better about how the weekend had gone. As Mom said, what was life without a few risks?
On my way back to the office to get a bit of work done, I got a call from the lawyer Maddox had recommended. He’d asked me to send over all the information I had, and I’d sent it early the week before. “Could you come down to the office?” he asked. “It shouldn’t take long.”
“Of course.” I thanked him and hung up, then immediately dialed Maddox. “Hey, the lawyer wants to meet.”
“Want me to go with you?” He offered immediately and without hesitation.
“If you’re free, I’d appreciate it so much. I just dropped Tiffany off at my parents’ house.”
“Swing by and pick me up. I’m off today.”
I promised to be there soon and hung up, then pulled back out onto the road. Maddox waited at the curb in the parking lot of his apartment complex and hopped in. “I’m sure it’s good news,” he said.
“You’re probably right, but I can’t help but be nervous.” I sighed and turned the car around toward the lawyer’s office. He worked in the next town over, which wasn’t a long drive. His office was near the hospital Charlotte worked at.
We chatted about some silly call Maddox had taken the night before. It helped calm my nerves so that by the time we got there, I was only half a basket case instead of full-blown.
We only had to wait in the receptionist’s office for a few minutes before she led us back to an inner office. “Ms. Leeds, welcome. I’m Colton Kennedy, we spoke on the phone.” A tall black man held out his hand and smiled warmly. “Maddox, nice to see you again.” He shook both our hands and gestured for us to sit down.
“Thank you for taking my case,” I said. He was the most popular lawyer in the area, according to Maddox.
“Well, I had a chance to look over your statements and everything. Your financials are in order. I got
