Romance By the Book by Sarah Ready

Will

I thrustinto Jessie and her tight heat surrounds me. White stars explode across my vision as she clamps around me and I shout out. I almost spend on the first thrust because of the ecstasy of feeling her around me.

She cries out and I grab her mouth with mine and catch her cries of pleasure. Nothing, nothing has ever felt so good. I hold myself still above her and take a moment to let the world realign. I never knew I could feel so much happiness, so much joy. I look into her eyes. They’re bright and filled with the emotion I always dreamed of seeing and never believed I would. If there was ever any doubt, now there’s none—she’s the only woman I will ever love.

“I want you,” she whispers.

I press my forehead to hers and hold her gaze. “I’ll always want you,” I say. “I’ll always love you” is what I mean.

“I need you,” she says.

I let go of her wrists and link my hands with hers. When I do, she pulses around me and I growl at the sensation. Slowly, I pull out of her, leaving her warmth. When I do, the world seems darker. She raises her hips to me and I thrust back in. She cries out and I kiss her, press into her, try to connect in as many places as possible.

I reach down between us and flick my fingers over her clit. As soon as I do, she pulses around me and I feel the pulse over my whole body. I stroke her clit and thrust in and out of her, driving into her warmth.

“Jessie.”

She wraps her legs around me and grabs my lower back. She pulls me deeper.

“I’m not letting you go either,” she says.

Her words release the last of my restraint. I grab her mouth and kiss her, let it tell her all the things I haven’t yet said.

You’re mine. You’ve always been mine. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you earlier. I’m sorry I wasn’t ready.

I love you.

I strum her clit, suck her tongue, taste her, let her taste my love. I bury myself in her as deep as I can go until I can’t tell where I end and she begins. I can’t separate her pleasure from mine. She’s clenching around me, pulling the pleasure out of me, the world disappears, and it’s just us. The two of us.

She cries out, holds me so tight that all thought leaves me—there’s only feeling.

She grabs my back and holds me inside her. I ride her wave, sink into her pleasure and the joy in her eyes. The pressure inside me builds, I can’t stop, I never want to stop.

She’s mine. She’s mine.

At that thought, pleasure explodes, she gives a final trembling clamp around me and I spill myself, all my love, inside her.

“Doyou know what I like best about you?” Jessie asks.

“What?” I quirk an eyebrow at her, then look back down and keep running my fingers over the curve of her bare thigh. I love how it’s rounded and soft and dips to her hip bone and the line of her stomach. I place a kiss on the top of her hip bone and start to trail down her leg.

She lets out a gasp and I smile up at her.

“Let me guess. What you like best about me is my home library?”

We’re in my bedroom back home. I brought her here after we cleaned up the library and grabbed dinner to-go from Tybalt’s. We ate grilled scallops in bed, made love, had chocolate mousse, made love again. It’s one in the morning, Jessie is naked in my bed, and I’ve never been happier.

She laughs and swats at my arm. “Nooo, not your home library. Although, it is impressive and strangely a massive turn-on.”

I grin. When we got here I gave her a tour of my thousand-book library.

“Obviously,” I say and wink at her. Then, “Is it my homes in New York and London? You’re a city girl at heart?”

She scowls at me. “Be serious. I’m planning on living in Romeo the rest of my life. I’ll raise my kids here, babysit my grandkids here. New York and London have nothing on Romeo.”

At her words my mouth goes dry. I can see it so clearly. Jessie in the meadow with a baby in her arms, a toddler rolling in the grass next to her. She smiles and looks up at a man. Her soul mate. His back is to me. I can’t see his face.

My chest tightens.

“You want kids?” I ask, my voice comes out rough.

She shifts on her elbow and puts her chin in her hand. Her eyes grow happy. “I want a house full of kids, so that the halls are always full of laughter and noise. The more noise the more love.”

I reach out and run my hand down her cheek. “That sounds wonderful. And Romeo’s just the place for it.”

If I had my way, I’d make sure she spent the rest of her life surrounded by noise and laughter and love. I know how much living in a silent house hurt her.

“Could you live here year round?” she asks.

“So that’s what you’re aiming at. You like me best for my house. It’ll easily fit, what…ten, twelve kids?”

She snorts, then starts laughing. “You nailed it. It’s your massive house I’m attracted to.” She wags her eyebrows suggestively.

I laugh and grab her, pull her under me. I kiss her nose, her cheeks, her lips.

“Tell me,” I say.

She stills and shifts under me until she’s comfortably nestled in my arms.

“Well, I guess it’s not actually just one thing,” she says.

I’m suddenly, strangely nervous about what she’s going to say. She reaches over and places her hand over my heart. Her fingers drift over me, stroking gently.

“I’ve seen you at work, you’re skilled, powerful, clearly the best at what you do. I used to purposely sit near you when you worked in the park or outside the bakery and listen to your phone calls. I was always amazed at how you handled crises or treated your employees with so much respect. Even when I didn’t want to, I admired you.”

I frown. “The thing you like best about me is my business acumen?”

She shifts. “No. I’m not done explaining. It’s hard for me to put it in words.” She presses her palm to my chest.

I smile. I do like the part where she admitted she sought me out. She’s been as drawn to me as I have to her.

She continues, “I love that you keep coming to Romeo, and that you’ve never flaunted your wealth or status. You’re humble and real. You work hard, you take care of your family. You’re loyal. You’re calm and steady, unless you want something badly, then you go after it with all your determination.” She looks at me with a smile. “So I like that you’re you. Everything that makes you you. I like that you like triple espressos in the mornings, and roast beef sandwiches. I like that you work the Europe and Asia hours so you can have the day to yourself. I like that you love books and climbing trees and kissing in the rain. I like that you love small towns and that you believe in the power of a hot cup of tea, a book, and a friend to share both with. I love all that about you.”

My chest expands, filling with her words. I imagine us five years from now, in this bed, warm under a pillowy down comforter, the fire going, a pot of tea on the nightstand, and a pile of books nearby. She’s in my arms in that dream.

“Is that all?” I ask, happiness in my voice. I place a kiss on her mouth.

“One more thing,” she says.

I nod, and while she’s thinking, I position myself over her, nudge open her legs and slide my length into her warmth.

“Yes?” I ask.

She makes a small noise in her throat and runs her hands over my shoulders.

“I like best that when I’m with you, I want to be with you, for the good, for the bad, for the always.”

I think I like that best too.

I kiss her and take us to heaven.