A delicious chill sweeps through me.
Parker moves in with two long strides, then bends down to scoop me up, hoisting me up by the thighs until my legs wrap around his waist, my hands clinging to his shoulders. Our gazes hold for a striking beat before he starts walking, and I’m certain he’s bringing me to the couch, but Parker surprises me—he carries me down the short hallway to his bedroom instead.
We’ve never done this in a bed before.
There’s never been cool, silky sheets entangled with sweaty limbs, or a squeaky box spring, or spooning and cuddling atop a pillowy mattress. We’ve never woken up together with shafts of golden daylight dappling us in warmth.
The prospect sends a new wave of tingles to my core.
Parker deposits me on his bedsheets, unmade and smelling entirely of him. Heady and masculine. Earthy and clean. My legs are still clinging loosely to his hips as he leans over me, a darkened shadow in the unlit room. His hands trail up my body, from my thighs, to my stomach, to my breasts cased in ivory lace.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he murmurs softly, palming my breasts before gliding his hands to my neck. There’s no pressure, only tender possession. “Goddamn perfect.”
My thighs clench his waist as I arch my back, causing him to moan. I lift up, reaching for his belt, and his hands tangle in my hair as I unlatch him. Shoving down his pants and boxers, I waste no time in curling my fingers around his cock, hard and ready, and bringing him into my mouth.
He hisses, fisting my hair tight. “Fuck…”
I stroke him in a firm grip, suckling the tip, my own moans mingling with his.
Parker releases me, pulling back from my mouth and stepping out of his bottoms that are pooled around his ankles. Watching him through the wall of darkness, I reach behind me to unclasp my bra, then shimmy out of my underwear, scooting farther back on the bed—an implied invitation.
I’m fully expecting him to pounce on me, but a long moment passes where Parker just stands there, silent and wordless. I can’t make out his expression through the dark, only his shadowy silhouette, but as soon as I’m about to inquire, ask him what’s wrong, my heart seizes.
Parker reaches behind his back, gathering his t-shirt in his hand, and pulls it up over his head, tossing it to the floor.
Oh, my God.
A whimper of disbelief escapes my lips as I inch forward on the bed, wishing I could see him better. He falters before moving towards me, his heat closing in, and my arms outstretch, desperate to feel him. To touch him. To know every hidden inch of him.
Parker settles between my parted knees, his body stiff as a board, his breathing heavy and ragged. I pull him closer by the hips, instantly pressing my lips to his abdomen—his collection of scars. My tongue pokes out, laving the marred flesh, as I rain a scattering of delicate kisses to his skin. He shivers, nearly shaking, cupping the back of my head in his palms as he stands before me, fully exposed for the very first time.
I pull back for a quick moment, my hand searching for the bedside lamp. I want to see him. I need to see everything he’s offering me.
But Parker snags my wrist before I can find it. “No, please… not yet.” His voice sounds pained and uneven. It cracks as he finishes, “Just give me this night.”
My throat swells with emotion, hating that he thinks I’ll judge him or think any less of him once I see his scars.
Despite my desire for more, for all of him, I nod my head through the veil of darkness, conceding to his request.
Parker releases a sigh, part relief, part something else, and then he’s climbing onto the bed with me, his knees on either side as we shift into a comfortable position. He leans over me until I’m blanketed with his warm skin, our bare bodies finally touching, my breasts flush against the hard planks of his chest. The contact does something to me—almost more than I can bear—and I arc upwards, my spine bowing, trying to get even closer. Trying to crawl inside his skin and build a home.
He trembles against me with a soft groan, his hands moving to cup my face as my legs instinctively loop around his middle. His erection lies heavy between us, causing me to throb with a kind of need I’ve never felt before. Inching my hips up, a demand more than a query, Parker reaches between us and situates himself at my opening, so wet and wanting.
“Please…” I’m nothing but a begging, quivering mess, my fingers sifting through his thick hair while he cradles my jaw.
His thumbs dust over my cheekbones as he leans in to kiss me, and when our mouths lock together, his tongue and cock thrust inside, filling me completely. Making me whole. Our moans are instant, unbridled, only hindered by our desperate, tangling tongues.
Parker’s hips rock against me, slow and deep, and I feel him everywhere— in my heart, my throat, my womb, in every yearning, buzzing cell.
His forehead presses to mine when he pulls back from my mouth, his fingertips digging into my cheeks as he holds me steady, his hot breath hitting my lips with every longing groan. Our eyes are fixed together, and even through the cloud of darkness, I can see the intense emotion staring back at me. The toe-curling connection.
God, it’s too much.
My body is too sensitive, my soul too bare.
The intimacy is so thick, it hovers between us like a third party. A witness. The emotional avalanche to my senses is so brutal, so violent, a cry breaks through my lips, and I’m not sure whether I should tighten my hold to stay afloat, or push him away and swim to shore.
I cling.
My hands sweep across his bare shoulder blades, my thighs cinching us in a lethal clutch. Parker moves harder, deeper, our hearts galloping beneath our ribs, hands gripping and latching on to every reachable inch.
“My Melody,” he whispers against my mouth, moaning softly when my core clenches around him. “My Magnolia. My moon.”
Every aching piece of me weeps with adoration.
With joy.
With… love.
I arch my neck, sighing when his lips graze along my jaw until he finds my throat. He bathes me in hot kisses, his tongue sweeping over the crest. Finding my voice, I croak out, “Did you see the sunrise this morning?”
Parker doesn’t waver as he nicks my neck with his teeth, then lifts his head until we’re face-to-face, still moving inside me. “I did,” he whispers back, finding my eyes in the dark. “But I don’t think I saw what you saw.”
Inhaling a sharp breath, I lift up to kiss him, soft and brief. “What did you see?”
We both groan at the same time when Parker angles his hips, hitting me just right, in that sensitive, tingly place. I feel myself unraveling.
Swallowing, he continues to thrust, pushing my hair back from my forehead and holding me anchored. “I saw you,” he says, quiet but firm. “I see you in every sunrise. Beauty… promise.” He thrusts hard, and I shake and shiver. “A fresh start. A new beginning.”
I whimper, hardly hanging on. “Parker…”
“I love you, Melody.”
My gasp triggers a hot wave of tears, his face blurring above me as my eyes water.
Parker’s voice is strained, almost desperate. “I fucking love you,” he says ardently. “Just… know that.”
“I—”
“No.” He presses his lips to mine and murmurs, “You don’t have to say it back.”