His Armani sweater was an easy tug and off, and then there was just the black silk T-shirt, which followed with a ripple of his muscles.
She explored his chest, rubbing her body against his. This was always good. No matter when, how often or what they did together, it was good. Better than good. Incredible.
Their sexual compatibility couldn’t be questioned. So, why couldn’t he take the next step and love her?
If he wanted to know why she didn’t want to have dinner with his mother? Maybe it was because Romi would rather smack the woman for teaching Max to eschew love in favor of pragmatism and carefully cultivated ruthlessness.
He showed that ruthlessness now, teasing Romi to the point of whimpering need, before lifting her and sliding her onto his condom-covered erection. She was on top, but he drove the coupling, thrusting up into her and hitting that spot inside that made fireworks go off inside Romi’s head. He held her hips in place, controlling the depth and angle of his thrusts.
They never broke eye contact through the long minutes of coupling and intense pleasure. She saw the way his skin flushed with the increased blood pressure that came before climax.
He could easily see the way her hair grew damp around her face from perspiration.
Bottomless pools, dark and mysterious, his eyes bored into hers, speaking messages she couldn’t decipher, but that increased her bliss all the same.
She’d learned to appreciate the scent of his desire and even more so their combined musk. It was a heady fragrance that added to her desire, but also her security in their intimacy.
This was theirs alone. No one else combined with him for the exact same perfume of lust.
The way he inhaled deeply showed he enjoyed it just as much.
“My love,” she gasped as her body hovered on the precipice of ultimate pleasure.
That dark gaze flared with something intense and his thrusting grew stronger and erratic.
“You like that word,” she said with wonder.
“On your lips.”
But not on his own. She refused to let that dampen the moment between them.
She simply reveled in the joy of intimacy and how much he clearly liked knowing he owned her heart.
“You are mine,” he said, reflecting her thoughts.
“You are mine, too.” She needed them both to acknowledge that fact.
“Yes.”
She nodded, satisfaction and pleasure warring for supremacy in her heart. “With no expiration date.”
He didn’t reply, just increased his pace, his expression so intent, it sent shivers throughout her oversensitized body.
With knowing fingers, he shifted her and changed his own angle so his pelvic bone pressed into her pleasure spot on every upward piston of his hips.
Mini explosions of delight accompanied each movement, pleasure spiraling inside until it released in a cataclysm that made her scream and bow her body in shattering ecstasy.
They were cuddled in the bed after their shower, his body an octopus around her like she’d grown accustomed to, her breathing even and shallow as she hovered at the edge of sleep.
“You are mine,” he whispered into her hair. “No expirations.”
It was a huge admission, even if he made it when he thought she’d already fallen under the influence of the sandman.
Maddie took the news of Romi’s engagement way better than she expected. “I thought there was something between you and that guy.”
“Something big.”
“You love him.”
“I do.”
“It’s catching.”
“So, you finally admitted it to yourself?” Romi asked her SBC.
“I did.” She glowed with the kind of happiness Romi had rarely witnessed in her life. “He loves me, too.”
“Oh, honey. That’s wonderful. I mean I knew it, I just didn’t know he’d admit it so quickly.” Romi ignored the flicker of regret that she couldn’t say the same, her genuine joy for her SBC big enough to cover it easily.
“Yeah, well something happened with my dad.”
“Tell me about it,” Romi demanded.
“He threatened to have me committed…to stop me from taking control of my inheritance from the Madison Trust when I turn twenty-five.”
Romi was shocked. Even Jeremy Archer wasn’t that awful. “That jerk!”
“That’s kind of what I thought.”
Romi experienced a guilty twinge. “I think I know why he made the threat.”
“Why?” Maddie asked.
“Because I asked him about the paperwork you signed that spelled out my dad would get the shares to AIH in the Madison Family Trust once you gained control in a couple of weeks.”
“How did you find out about it?”
“Max told me.”
“Oh.” Maddie didn’t look too worried, definitely no inkling Max might have used the situation as leverage with Romi. “I don’t know why that would set my dad off. I mean he knows half the shares are going to you regardless.”