Chapter 100 Held Together (18+)

Chapter 100 Held Together (18+)
As he nudged the bedroom door shut with his foot, the quiet click echoed louder than it should have. Alex didn’t set her down right away. He just held her there, close enough that she could feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against her chest.

Rainee’s fingers curled into his shirt, unsure whether to pull him closer or push him away, if either was even possible anymore. His gaze lingered on her face, drinking in every flicker of hesitation, desire, and softness he’d waited so long to earn.

He lowered her slowly onto the bed, but his hands didn’t leave her. One traced the line of her arm, the other resting against her waist as though reminding her she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Still want me to behave?” he asked softly, his voice roughened by restraint.

Rainee swallowed, her breath catching as his thumb brushed the delicate skin just above her hip. “You never listen anyway,” she whispered, but the lack of anger in her tone made it sound more like permission than complaint.

He leaned over her, their faces inches apart, his breath fanning across her lips. “Then tell me to stop,” he murmured, though they both knew she wouldn’t.

His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her top with a patience that made her shiver. Every touch was slow, deliberate, like he was savoring the right he finally had to touch her like this. Her eyes fluttered shut when his lips followed the path of his hands, pressing soft, lingering kisses along her neck, down to the quickened beat in her pulse.

Rainee’s back arched instinctively, her hands tangling in his hair as heat began to pool low in her belly. The world outside the room faded into nothing, there was only his mouth, his hands, and the promise he’d made without words: he wasn’t letting her escape tonight.

A soft moan slipped from her lips when his teeth grazed her skin, just enough to make her shiver. His breath warmed the spot he’d bitten, and for a moment he didn’t move, just watched the way her body reacted to his touch.

When he looked up at her, his eyes were dark and focused, as though he was memorizing every curve, every quiver, every sound she made. His fingers slid down the length of her back, tracing the delicate dip of her spine. With practiced ease, he unhooked the clasp of her inner wear, letting it fall soundlessly to the floor.

Cool air brushed over her exposed skin, but his gaze made her feel anything but cold.

Rainee blinked slowly, her breath uneven as she met his stare. The intensity there made her chest tighten, it wasn’t just desire. It was years of longing, aching, waiting… and finally having.

She reached up, her fingers brushing along his jaw before curling behind his neck. With a gentle tug, she pulled him down into a deep kiss. The kind of kiss that tasted like relief and danger, like something forbidden finally claimed.

He responded instantly, his mouth moving over hers with a hunger he’d fought to control all evening. His hand cupped her waist, fingers spreading over her skin as though he needed to be sure she was real and not another dream he’d wake from.

She missed this, missed the way he touched her like she belonged to him, the way his playful smirk always hid a darker hunger, the way his eyes changed whenever she was near, as if he could devour her whole and still be starving.

He broke the kiss only long enough to drag his mouth along her jawline, his lips brushing the corner of her mouth before trailing lower. His breath hit her collarbone as his hands slid over her thighs, squeezing gently, coaxing her closer beneath him.

Rainee’s fingers tangled in his hair, her chest rising and falling rapidly with every slow exhale he drew from her. Her skin tingled wherever he touched, and the warmth building in the pit of her stomach coiled tighter with every sweep of his lips across her bare skin.

“Alex…” she breathed, not sure if it was a plea or a warning.

He hummed against her neck, the sound vibrating through her skin. “You have no idea,” he whispered, voice low and uneven, “how long I’ve waited to hear you say my name like that again.”

His words sent a different kind of shiver down her spine, one made of memory and emotion. She opened her mouth to speak, but he kissed the words away, deeper this time, his hand sliding up her side with a possessiveness that made her toes curl.

The bed dipped as he shifted, settling between her legs with a slow, deliberate movement that forced a breathy gasp from her. He didn’t rush. He explored, his touch soft, then firm, his kisses gentle, then demanding, like he was relearning every inch of her body and refusing to miss a single part.

Her head tilted back against the pillow when his lips descended again, trailing lower, igniting every nerve with each press of his mouth. Every sound she made, every arch of her body, seemed to guide him, and he followed eagerly, his hands roaming with both reverence and intent.

One by one, their clothes disappeared, dropped, tugged, or tossed aside in a trail that marked every breathless second they refused to waste. Neither of them broke contact for more than a heartbeat. Every kiss bled into the next, every touch layered with something deeper than hunger, need, relief, fear, love, desperation, all tangled together.

Her hands roamed his back, nails dragging lightly across his skin, memorizing the shape of muscles that tensed under her touch. His palms explored her body with slow reverence, as though relearning sacred territory he’d been starved of. They moved in a rhythm only they understood, urgent, messy, achingly intimate.

The moment felt unreal, like a dream finally allowed to exist in daylight. It was too much and not enough all at once. When he pulled back just enough to look at her, his breath caught.

Tears glistened in her lashes.

Not from pain, but from something she couldn’t name before it spilled over.

His expression softened instantly. He gathered her against his chest, holding her as though he could shield her from every memory and ghost between them. Her fingers fisted in his hair, pressing her face into the warmth of his neck.

“I love you, Alex… please don’t leave me again,” she whispered, the tremble in her voice slicing straight through him.

His reply came without words at first, slow, soft kisses across her cheeks, her eyelids, the corner of her mouth, each one a vow, a confession, a silent apology. His hands cupped her face with a tenderness that shattered him from the inside.

When he breathed against her lips, his voice was husky, raw. “I’m not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever.”

To be continued