“Over your head, honey.”
It took effort, but she did as told, and only then did he move.
She bit her lip at the gorgeous feel of him gliding inside and a low snarl rolled between his lips when he saw her do it before he grunted, “Fuckin’ beautiful.”
“Faster,” she pleaded.
He slid his free hand over her side, her belly, and down, and found her clit with his thumb.
She jerked, the beauty of that tearing through her, and she panted, forcing her eyes open, pulsing her hips to meet his torturously slow thrusts, the rolling of his thumb driving her mad.
“Hap.”
His head was bent, watching her take him, his eyes roamed up and his mouth muttered, “Fuckin’ fuck me, so goddamn beautiful.”
Yes.
He was worshipping her.
“Hap,” she forced out, her body trapped by the position, what he was doing and his commands, the movements she could make were desperate as she tried to deepen their connection, drive him to give her more, the sensations surging through her overwhelming.
“Baby, come when you come,” he urged, going slightly faster (but not fast enough) and thrusting definitely harder (just hard enough).
“My darling,” she breathed.
Unable to stop herself, she moved her free leg to wrap it around his buttocks, feeling them tense and flex with his drives, just that bowing her back as she struggled to move her hips to meet his thrusts.
“Let go, Luci.”
She was dazed, gone, unable to focus, nothing but a body suspended, ready to fall, holding back because she wanted him to go with her.
He thrust faster, deeper, rolling his thumb harder. “Let go, Luciana.”
She cried out, tensing her calf around his ass, locking him to her, her back curving up, her head jolting to the side, her lips parted, whispery noises escaping as she clamped her pussy around him and fell, only to glide through the air, not in freefall.
Just free.
Flying.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Christ. Jesus. Fuck yes,” he grunted.
It took her a while. Hours or minutes or decades, she had no idea, before she realized the fullness of what he was giving her.
She came back to earth in time to feel him pounding inside, the muscles of his chest and neck popping, the expression on his face so dark and ravening, if he was not Hap, it would be frightening.
And he was giving her this too.
He’d watched her.
Now she would watch him.
He shifted his arm so he’d let her leg go and his weight came to her, his hands shoving under her, up her neck, into her hair, fisting. She curled her other leg around his back, clutching him, her breaths forced out with each of his powerful thrusts, mingling with his grunts of effort.
“Call it,” he growled.
“Come, darling,” she purred.
His head shot back, his body straining, his lips opened, his fingers in her hair tugged down, shocking a pleasured cry from her mouth and his hips bucked into hers as he came inside her, giving her his offering.
She knew, giving her everything.
His head fell forward, his forehead in the side of her neck, and she released the comforter to wrap her arms around him.
But he stayed inside and this, she’d learned, was Hap. He stayed connected for as long as he could, not sliding out until he had no choice, and even then he kept close.
It took him a while to recover and she still heard the labor of his breathing when he asked, “You okay?”
She most definitely was.
“Yes, bello,” she whispered.
He kissed her neck but kept his face there and did what he did, keeping them connected until he naturally began to slide out.
Only then did he pull away, but only to shift her to her side and press in behind her, wrapping one arm around her to pull her closer, the other he slid under her head to cushion her, and he lifted to kiss her shoulder before he buried his faced in the back of her hair.
Luci stared at the unceasing beat of the sea.
Now it soothed her.
She sighed.
“Be a minute, then I’m back,” he muttered, touching his lips to the back of her neck before gently pulling away to leave the bed.
Luci didn’t move. Didn’t think. She heard the toilet flush but it was part of the real world, outside of what they’d just done, what they’d just shared, what Hap had just given to her, so she refused to process it.
The only thing she processed was him coming back, moving her to bunch pillows under their heads, one for her, several for him so he could watch the ocean without obstruction. He then pulled her into his arms, curled his legs into hers, and the world was right again.
“You gotta check in at the shop?” he asked.
She shook her head slightly. “Not today.”
“But soon?”
Sadly, she had to nod her head, this she also did slightly. “Yes, Happy.”
“Monday,” he decreed. “Tuesday, I got some exercises I gotta do with the boys this week, I can’t get away early. You drive to me. I want you home when I get there.”
She felt her lips curve. “All right, caro.”
Hap fell silent.
Luci didn’t break it.
Hap didn’t either.
Until he did.
“Nobody but me?” he asked the back of her head quietly.
She knew what he was asking.
Nobody but him since Travis.
“Nobody but you,” she answered, also quietly.
“Nobody but you since we kissed, honey, but before that . . .” He didn’t finish his sentence. But he did go on. “Minute I get back to the base, I’ll make an appointment. Get the all clear, you on birth control?”
“I’ll make an appointment.”
“Okay, baby,” he murmured, using his arm to pull her deeper into his body.
Luci sighed again.
Hap was silent.
Luci didn’t break it.
After a time, Hap did.
“Talkin’ to him, feelin’ his anger, even thinking I got it, I could deal with it, I would feel the same, I know we’re tight and this would be a tough spot, but he’d get past it because I’d eventually get past it, something happened.”
“What, bello?”
“You’re my religion.”
Luci closed her eyes.
Yes.
She’d been right.
She’d just been worshiped.
“I’m all about God,” Hap continued. “Grew up Christian. We went to church on Sundays. My gram was devout. And okay, I fucked around a lot at church because I was me. But I believe. And what I believe is, He made you and He gave you to me, so He’d get where I’m at.”
She opened her eyes and said, “Yes, darling, He’d get where you’re at.”
His arms gave her a squeeze. “I thought that, and Sam was sayin’ shit I knew he would say and it hit me. Him saying I had no business bein’ with you was like him sayin’ I had no business believing in my God. I needed to believe in his God. And that wasn’t only whacked, it was just wrong.”
“Yes, it was just wrong,” she agreed.
“I tried to explain that to him, without the religion part, even though I think he’d get me. Kia is his religion. He nearly blew it with her, took off on one of his gigs, and she left. When he got back and she was gone, he called me. Never seen the man panicked. Never heard that coming from him. She was gone and he was undone.”
“I remember.”
“So, he’d understand.”
“Yes.”
“I tried to tell myself this was new for him so he might not understand where I was at. Tried to tell myself we didn’t have a lot of time in, so I had to get that he wouldn’t understand how deep I was. Tried to keep my head there so I wouldn’t lose my mind. But he told me I had to let you go. He told me I was confusing you. He told me you were looking for Gordo—”