Happily Never After

“WHAT IN GOD’S name was that?”

I wrapped my arms around Sophie’s waist and tugged her closer as I pulled the comforter over us. Said into her hair, “What was what?”

She snuggled her back into my front, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more comfortable. Spooning with Sophie after coming so hard I nearly blacked out was suddenly my happy place.

“That wasn’t sex. I’ve had sex before, but what we just did transcended sex. Like, I’m just not sure how it could’ve been that good. Five minutes later and I’m already doubting my recollection because it’s not possible that something was that excellent.”

She wasn’t wrong.

“It was better,” I said, and I meant it. “For real.”

“I cannot believe,” she said, rolling over in my arms, squirming until we were face-to-face, “that getting-ours sex is so mind-boggling. I’m so happy to have you with me on this journey of self-discovery, Maxxie.”

She grinned at her own joke, but something about her statement irritated me. Not that the sex had been mind-boggling—I was, in fact, good and truly boggled—but that it was great because of the whole “getting ours” theory.

Did she not recognize the genuine chemistry at play?

Surely she felt it, even if she wasn’t willing to call it by its name.

Right?

“Happy to be along for the ride,” I said, meaning that, too.

I didn’t know what to make of these sudden intense feelings I had for her, but I wasn’t going to let them get in the way of what Soph and I already had.

As if that made any fucking sense at all.

We fell asleep like that, with no lights on other than the TV she insisted I turn on because she “couldn’t sleep to quiet,” and I didn’t move a muscle the entire night until I felt her kiss my forearm in the morning.

“Soph?” I asked, my voice not really there yet. I was instantly aware of how soft her skin felt against mine, of everywhere our bodies were pressed together. I didn’t want to make any assumptions, so I wasn’t going to touch her, but it was torture, lying still with Sophie in my arms, and my eyes weren’t even open yet.

“Yes,” she whispered, and I wanted to bury my face in her hair and go back to sleep.

“What time is it?” I asked, opening my eyes while not wanting to know because I didn’t want to leave that bed. We both had morning flights, but the last thing I wanted to do was go back to whatever existed before this.

“Five,” she said softly, and she pressed another kiss on my arm.

Why in God’s name did that tiny gesture make my chest pinch?

“Five.” I swallowed, the pinch lingering as the intimate familiarity of waking up with her felt precious.

She yawned, one hand covering her mouth while her body stretched into mine, and I froze.

God help me, I wanted her again, even though I needed to get up and into the shower.

“I know we need to get up, but I was thinking . . .” She trailed off.

“What?” My pulse immediately kicked into high gear, even though I knew she probably just wanted me to call the front desk or go get her dress.

“I, uh.” She cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t hate, or, that is, if you were also interested—”

“Fucking tell me, Soph,” I said into her hair, feeling like every muscle in my body was coiled and waiting, straining for her to say the word go. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you,” she said, her voice lowering to a whisper, “to slide inside me. Right now.”

“Done.” My mouth was on her skin instantly, my hands skimming over her front while I kissed her delicate shoulder blade. She arched her back and pressed her body against me, and I was so fucking grateful the nightstand was within an arm’s reach, because I did not want to leave that bed.

Not even for a second.

When I did as she asked, going deep and wondering how anything could feel that fucking good, the sound she made—a gasp that morphed into a moan—set my skin on fire as she pushed back against me.

“Soph,” I managed, unsure what I was even trying to say, because the squeeze of her body made thinking impossible. Nothing in the universe mattered except for where we were joined and the deep, hot slide of our bodies together.

It went from zero to sixty in an instant, from slow and sleepy to a panting sprint that had my fingers digging into her hips and her mouth cursing like a filthy sailor.

Holy hell.

She turned onto her stomach and I followed, trailing kisses on her back as her body held me tight, the intensity going through the roof as she reared back against me and raised to her knees.

Good God, she knows her angles, I thought as I clenched my teeth and grabbed her harder, pulled her closer, fighting for control as her body fucking stripped mine of everything but pleasure, of feeling anything other than her.

But as I bit down on her shoulder blade, my eyes met hers in the mirror above the refrigerator.

And I was undone.