It was my turn to look shocked. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I didn’t sleep with anyone on New Year’s. And how would you even know if I had?”

“I was there.”

“At the show?” I asked in disbelief.

She nodded. “I came backstage to find you after…well, after you stormed offstage, but you were already gone. Donovan and some Hollis guy told me that you’d left with someone else.”

I grabbed her hands in mine and forced her to look at me. “And you just f**king believed them? You didn’t think to call me?”

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your good time,” she said darkly.

“I was f**king miserable without you. I wanted to give you the space you’d asked for, but I f**king wanted you with me every goddamn second you were away, Ari. I don’t know what else I can say to prove that to you.”

The truth was that there wasn’t anything else I could say. She either knew, or she didn’t. And right then, looking into her eyes on our beach…she knew. She’d come here for me. She f**king wanted me. She had said that she had fallen for me completely. That shit hadn’t gone away in three weeks.

My lips dropped onto hers before she had a chance to reply. There was no hesitation on her part. She kissed me right back as hard as she possibly could while grabbing my jacket tightly between her fingers. Her lips were like a double shot of espresso to my exhausted system.

The energy crackled between us, heating the crisp night air. There was too much space and decidedly too much clothing between us. The weeks of pent-up frustration was colliding into this one moment, and neither of us could keep our hands off the other. I just wanted to touch her, feel her, consume her, bury myself in her. I needed her. I f**king needed all of her.

My lips moved to her neck greedily as I pushed her back onto the blanket. Her fingers deftly dragged the zipper down on my jacket. She was already shaking from the cold or from what we were doing, so I threw the remaining blankets over us. My hands found the waistline of her jeans, and after unzipping them, I dragged them down her legs.

“Shit!” she hissed. “It’s cold.”

“Not for long, Princess.”

I trailed my hands down her legs until I found her waiting opening. I circled my fingers around her and then finger-fucked her pu**y until she was all warmed up for me. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I wasn’t exactly patient. She squirmed underneath me until her breathing turned labored, and I felt her walls tightening all around me. Fuck, that’s hot.

She was so damn close to an orgasm, and I knew that I was going to push her right over the edge any minute. As I circled her clit, she came undone at my insistence.

“Grant…”

“I know, babe,” I said before covering her mouth with mine. “I’m going to f**k you now.”

Her eyes were wide. She wanted what I was offering, but a spark of fear still crept into her features. Everything about her was f**king hot. Just the way she had her mouth opened slightly like that made me want to shove my dick down her throat. But it was too cold, and I wanted her around me—hot and wet and tight.

I slipped on a condom, and without warning, I thrust forward inside her. She yelped as she expanded to fit me. Fucking hell, she feels so f**king amazing. Everything else paled in comparison. There was only Ari and me.

My fingers locked in her hair, and as I slowly slid out of her, I brushed my lips against her. “Princess, open your eyes.”

She complied, and those big blue eyes stared up at me.

I started up a steady rhythm. “Tell me if I hurt you.”

“Okay,” she whispered throatily.

“Because I’m not going to be gentle.”

Her eyes widened as I took what was mine, and I slammed back into her, hard. She made a small cry, but she didn’t tell me to stop. And I had no plans to. Our bodies met over and over as I picked up the pace. I could tell that I was close to coming, but I needed to hold out long enough for her. I could hold out for her second orgasm…even if it felt like I might explode any second.

“Fuck, Ari.”

“Grant,” she breathed.

“Louder,” I encouraged, and I thrust into her harder.

“Oh God,” she cried a little louder.

“My name. Scream my name.”

She bit on her lip, so I slammed into her again and again until her eyes rolled back into her head, and she really was calling out my name. She probably didn’t even know how loud she was.

Fuck, I couldn’t hold out any longer. I came as soon as I felt her walls contracting around me.

“Fuck, f**k, f**k,” I said, leaning over Ari. I shuddered, and then I was spent.

Her breathing was ragged, and to my surprise, so was mine.

I pushed her hair out of her face, kissed her lips lightly, and sighed. “I love you.”

She smiled up at me in a dreamy haze. “I love you, too.”

Chapter 50: Aribel

After our escapade, we retreated back to Duffie’s for warmth. Grant still had keys to the restaurant. He started a fire in the fireplace, dropped the blankets down on the ground, and snuggled us up in front of it. There was so much that needed to be said, yet…it felt right. Things felt right again.

It wasn’t just the sex. But holy shit, the sex…

My body flushed from just thinking about what had happened outside. As cold as I was, my whole body was also super heated with energy. I’d come here to talk to Grant, and somehow, he’d just unraveled all my plans. Now, we had to decide where to go from here.

Grant’s mouth found mine again, and just when I thought we might have a repeat performance, he pulled back and just stared into my eyes. There was longing, pain, desperation, and desire all rolled into one.

“Ari, about what happened at the lodge…”

“No, you don’t have to say anything,” I said quickly. “Kristin told me nothing happened.”

“I don’t mean about that. I mean, about what I said. I was so angry, and you just laid out every reason I’d been telling myself why I didn’t deserve you. I shouldn’t have said those things. I shouldn’t begrudge you the good life you had growing up. You deserve everything that you have. I love your f**king mouth, and I love how smart you are. I’d never change that because those are the things that made me fall in love with you in the first place.”