All the Pretty Lies (Pretty #1)(65)
Author: M. Leighton

Hemi climbs in bed and stretches out beside me, pulling my naked body close to his and pressing his forehead to mine.

“You are my hope. You are the promise of my future. Without you, I have only regret. Nothing good. Or colorful. Or beautiful. Just death and sadness. You brought me to life, Sloane, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you.”

His lips brush mine, softly, tentatively. Despite my determination to wait, I lean into him, turning my head into the kiss. Hemi is hesitant at first, but when I thread my fingers into his hair, I feel the heat rise in him. I feel it in the way his tongue sweeps over mine. I feel it in the way his fingers dig into my hip. I want to show him I’m not glass. I want him to love me like I’m made of steel.

I reach down to tug at the hem of his shirt, pulling it up until I can feel his warm skin against my naked br**sts. I moan into his mouth as he rolls me onto my back, his hips sliding between my legs like he was made to fit there.

I bend my knees and clamp them on either side of his waist, unwilling to let him go now that I’ve got his fire back. He flexes his hips and grinds them into mine, giving me friction where I suddenly need it most.

I tear my mouth away from his just long enough to whisper, “Hemi, make love to me.” And then I bring his mouth back to mine, my free hand working its way under the waist band of his jeans to cup his muscular butt.

“Sloane, you’re sick,” he says breathlessly, his palms still roaming up and down my sides, teasing the edges of my br**sts.

“I’m not, Hemi. I’m not sick anymore. I feel better. I’m strong. And I’m healthy. And I want you to do to me all the things you promised you’d do.”

He growls, diving back into my mouth with renewed zeal. I can’t help but wonder which vivid conversation he’s thinking back to. We’ve had so many.

But then he stops. I could almost cry when he extricates himself from my arms and legs. I try to hide the pout from my face. Hemi moves to the end of the bed and stands there, looking down at me. He does this for several seconds before he reaches for the button fly of his jeans. He strips them off first, then his shirt, before he crawls back onto the bed, kissing his way from my foot to the top of my thigh, his hot breath stirring me even more.

“Not today. I want to do depraved things to you every day after today. But not today. Today, I’ll make love to you. I want you to feel it every time I slide into your perfect body that I love you. Yesterday. Today. And as many tomorrows as we might have, I love you Sloane. I’ve always loved you. Let me show you with my body what’s been in my heart all this time.”

Hemi kisses me again, his hands travelling over my br**sts, teasing my ni**les, then down to my stomach and beyond. With his fingers, he brings me right to the edge, but before I fall, he moves over me, guiding his thick head to my entrance.

Looking down at me, his eyes boring holes into mine, Hemi brushes his lips back and forth over my mouth, his breath tickling as he says. “I love you, Sloane Locke.”

“And I love you, Hemi Spencer,” I reply.

With his eyes fixed on mine, Hemi enters me in one smooth motion. I gasp and he groans, the feeling of his body buried in mine nothing less than exquisite. He fills me so completely, fits me so perfectly, that I know it’s meant to be. It’s natural. It’s fated.

And, just like he intended, with our bodies joined and him staring into my eyes, I feel exactly what’s been in his heart all this time.

It’s the same thing that’s been in mine.

Eternity. Eternity together. Eternity in love.

EPILOGUE – Sloane

18 months later

“I have no clue why you’re nervous. Personally, I think you’re batshit crazy.”

“Sarah, I’m not batshit crazy. I’m not crazy at all. I just don’t know how he’ll react.”

“Yes, you do. He loves you, dumb ass.”

“I know he loves me, but…”

“But what?”

“We’ve always talked about the future as being after the trial. Well, the trial is over. It’s been four months since Duncan was convicted of involuntary manslaughter of Hemi’s brother. Four months since my brother was cleared of all suspicion after they busted Duncan. And even longer since they proved Duncan used Steven’s security pass that he’d been stealing at night. Now we’re free to move on. Just like Hemi said we would. Only he hasn’t really talked about it much. At least not seriously. Not like we’re making definitive plans. And now this.”

This!

“Speaking of all that cloak and dagger shit, have they still not figured out a way to tie Duncan to the death of his informant? That guy who was muling all those drugs who just happened to have a very nasty, very fatal car accident after Hemi’s brother died and Duncan got too scared to continue?”

“Nope. He may end up getting away with that one. He thought he’d tied up all the loose ends. He just didn’t count on Hemi. One thing you can be sure of, though. My brother won’t rest until Duncan has paid for all his crimes. Steven was devastated. And Duncan’s father was appalled. I mean, Duncan used him to get the details on the coke bust to start with. Otherwise he’d never have known how much was locked up down there.”

“Well, even if he doesn’t get convicted of it by the courts, some big jailbird named Bubba will make it right. He’ll take it right out of Duncan’s ass. The hard way.”

“Ewww, Sarah!”

She giggles at my reaction and I smile and shake my head. I press my foot to the brake, stopping at the stop sign before turning onto the street where Hemi and I now live. A few months ago, we bought a beautiful house in a subdivision right outside Atlanta and he’s there today finishing up the painting of the office. Even though I don’t like being away from him, even if it’s for a little while, I’m filled with anxiety about going home.

Since that trip to the hospital when I had the flu, Hemi and I haven’t spent one night apart. I graduated college three months ago and we both work full-time at The Ink Stain now. We’re together a lot. And it never gets old. I never get tired of him. I think, if anything, I just want him more. I love him more.

We’ve talked about the future quite a bit. I’m just now twenty-three and Hemi is thirty. We’ve talked about what comes next, but haven’t made any set plans. We’ve even talked about having kids, which we decided to consider more after the wedding. Of course, I wanted to get started immediately. Or six months ago.