I pull her away so I can see her. There is nothing but certainty in her eyes, so I kiss her, slowly, like we have all the time in the world.
My hands slide down her sides, fingers gripping her hips. Our eyes lock as I pull her down on me. She opens up, her wet heat slowly pulling me in, inch by inch until I’m filling her to the brim.
Christ. My eyes fall shut at the feel of her bare pussy wrapped around me. Hot and tight. Feeling her like this is better than anything I could have ever thought to imagine.
Her pussy quivers around me, and it takes all my strength not to pound into her until there is nothing left inside me.
“You’re so wet for me,” I growl in her ear. “So tight. So perfect. So mine.”
“Yours.” Yasmin kisses me, her hands cupping my head and holding fiercely as her tongue slides in my mouth. “Only yours.”
“Move for me, baby,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
Yasmin doesn’t need more encouragement. She lifts up until we’re barely touching and then slowly lowers down. We both groan in unison as I fill her to the hilt, slowly stretching her until I’m the only thing she can feel. My hands dig into her hips helping her keep the pace.
“You make me crazy,” she pants, pressing her forehead into mine. “Every time I see you…” Slide up. “I want to feel you.” Down. “And when I feel you.” Up. “I want you inside me.”
“You have me.”
“But it’s not enough. It’s never enough.”
No, it’s never enough. And I feel like it’ll never be enough.
Not enough kisses. Not enough touches. Not enough moments to spend with this girl who owns me. Every single piece of me.
“Never,” I agree. “Give me more, Yas. Give me your all.”
Yasmin nods her agreement, speeding up her tempo. I can feel her starting to clench around me, so I help her, lifting my hips as she lowers hers.
She moans as I hit the spot inside of her, her nails digging into my skin. “More.”
Cupping her tits, I push them up, my mouth sucking on her nipples as I continue plunging into her from below. Without anything between us, every touch, every push seems to intensify. The pressure starts building at the back of my spine.
“So close,” she whispers, pressing her forehead into the crook of my neck. Her movements are jerky, and I can feel her walls start to quake around me.
“Me too, baby. Me too.”
Digging into her hips, I push upward, meeting her thrust for thrust. When her climax overtakes her, her walls squeeze so tightly around me I can only see stars. Fuck it. Rolling us so she’s on her back, I lift her hands over her head, interlocking our fingers. I plunge into her harder, faster, deeper. Marking her in the most primal way imaginable. Just like she marked my soul.
Yasmin calls out my name as another orgasm hits her, this time pulling me over the edge with her, completely lost in sweet oblivion.
“What happened?” Yasmin asks softly, threading her fingers through my rumpled hair. We have yet to get out of bed, not that it’s high on my list of priorities because the moment we do, the reality I’ve been fighting will catch up to us.
Being here, just lying with Yasmin in my arms with nothing between us, it’s like we’re in our own little world, and nothing can touch us.
Or maybe I was just fooling myself all along.
My whole body goes stiff at her words, but she doesn’t pull back. Her fingers continue drawing patterns all over my chest. “Since I haven’t heard from you I figured you were still home.”
“I was, but I had to show my face. I don’t want people to start asking questions.”
Yasmin hums her agreement quietly. The silence stretches between us. She doesn’t probe with her questions, not that I thought she would. Instead she waits me out, giving me time to figure my shit out. Her fingers slowly trace patterns on my skin.
“She’s dying,” I admit softly. The words are like a knife to my heart. And every time I say them out loud, it’s like I’m opening the wound all over again. “She’s been rapidly declining ever since the day you left, and it’s just a matter of time now. Probably days.”
My eyes fall shut. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but it’s no use.
“I can’t watch her die.” The words come out husky, barely audible, but by the way Yasmin’s hands tighten around me, I know she heard it. “I have to go back tonight, but I can’t force myself to sit in that car and drive back home just to watch her die.”
It’s the first time I dared to say it out loud. My confession. My shame. But what is a little bit more on the big pile I’ve been harboring these last few months?
Her finger stops for a second before resuming the pattern. “I’m so sorry, Nix.”
“How can you feel sorry for me?” I look down at her. She can’t be serious, can she? “I’m the coward who’d rather leave his family to deal on their own than go back and face the reality.” I shake my head, disgust filling me. “Here I am, judging my father, when I’m just like him.”
“You listen to me, Nixon Cole.” Yasmin gets up, her hand cupping my chin and turning me around to face her. “You’re nothing like your father. Nothing. You hear me? He decided to leave and let you deal with all that’s happening all on your own. Yes, technically both Jade and you are adults, but he’s your father, her husband, he should be the one here helping you all get through this. It’s normal that you’re scared, it’s normal to want to run away from what’s happening, because it’s awful. Nobody should have to go through what you guys are going through, but that doesn’t make you the same as your father. You know why?”
“Why?”
She lifts her chin a notch. Tears shine in her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. “Because despite your fears, despite your need to run away, you will go back home and stand by your family like the loving, honorable man I know you are.”
“I don’t know if I can do it.”
Her fingers skim over my cheek, a soft smile curling her lips. “Well, then it’s a good thing I believe in you enough for both of us.”
Chapter Thirty-One
YASMIN
“Just ten more days. It’ll pass in a jiff, right?” Heidi turns to me for confirmation. “Please say I’m right. I’m so ready for a little break.”
I can’t help but chuckle at her exaggeratedly sad face. “Where are you going for spring break?”
“A group of us is flying to Florida. We’re renting a house for the week. Booze, beach, ocean, and cute, shirtless guys. What else can a girl want?”
“What indeed.”
I have to admit that the idea does sound fun. Maybe next year. When Callie is done dealing with her past and when Nixon… I shake my head, my good mood faltering. I don’t want to think about the time Helen won’t be here. I know it’s inevitable, but it just doesn’t sit right with me.
True to my prediction, Nixon left shortly after our conversation. As I was drifting to sleep, he got out of bed and kissed me softly before getting his things and heading back home to be with his family. He can think the worst of himself all he wants, but I know the truth. Nixon would do anything to protect the ones he loves.