“You do not. I’m a big girl, Luke. Rejecting me is not protecting me. Leaving me is not protecting me.” I kicked off my heels, stepped closer, then climbed into his lap, knees to the cushions on either side of him, putting us almost back into intimate contact. I watched him gasp as I brushed over him.

“I don’t want you to see me like this—out of control—it’s why I left. I need to be by myself to get a handle on it,” he said.

Such crap. It broke my heart that he felt this way. “Do you want me to leave this time?” He shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Can I have you back, Luke?” His eyes grew dark. I felt his big body shudder under my palms and between my thighs.

“God, yes. Take me back, Lily. Please,” he ground out.

I slid forward and up, then lowered down to take him back inside.

He inhaled sharply, and his head dropped forward to my chest.

I cradled his face between my palms, lifting his gaze to mine. Wiping the tears from his cheeks, I kissed each one. “I love you, Luke. Don’t make me leave you. Let me in,” I whispered against his lips.

“No, I don’t want you to leave. God, Lily—don’t stop.” His eyes burned into mine as I softly rode him. His hands tightened on my hips, then caressed up my ribcage to lightly glide over my breasts, over my face, then into my hair. Tugging gently, he brought my lips to his and kissed me softly.

“Then you’ll take what you need,” I murmured against his lips. “You’ll give me what I want.” I pulled back and looked into his eyes as I started to move faster over him, grinding against him each time I went down. “I want you. All of you. I want all the happy and sad, the angry and scared—all of it. I need it, Luke. I want it.”

He gripped my hips in his big palms, and I gasped as he stood up, driving himself all the way inside me. “Wrap your legs around me, baby,” he ordered. “Our first time back together won’t be on a couch. I’m taking you to my bed.”

I did as he said, and he walked us to the staircase and up. We were still connected. Each step ground him into me in all the best places until I was almost mindless with the feelings coursing through my body. I wound my arms around his neck and held on. I loved how his big body felt against mine as he moved. Feeling him inside me, finally back where he belonged, was euphoric.

He was all I could see as he walked us through the huge upstairs hallway to his room. I rained kisses over his neck and upper chest.