“Like that’s a threat.” I smiled, but there was a heaviness in my chest. Tonight, these past two days had changed everything, but I didn’t know if Alba could forgive what I’d done. I’d make a call to the studios to ask for a meeting the moment we got back to Dallas, but she would still be pissed at me for keeping her in the dark. I’d just fix everything before I told her. Then I’d beg her to understand why I’d done it.

“Why are you so serious?” I did open my eyes then, sitting up when I heard the doubt in her voice. She seemed wary, like she didn’t know where things stood with us. I forced myself to smile, even as dread sat in my gut like lead, and brought her in for a kiss.

“I’m not serious, it’s just my brain is still buffering from almost getting sucked out through my dick,” I teased and I felt that sassy smile against my lips. “That mouth of yours is one of the eight wonders of the world.”

She laughed happily, as I nipped on her neck. “I don’t know if UNESCO would agree with your rationale.”

“Oh, I think I could make a case for it,” I joked, not wanting to talk, just wanting to get lost inside her again. I sat back and lifted her so she was straddling my thighs. I was hard and all it would take was lifting her up and I’d be inside. But my woman looked down at me like she was about to talk business.

“Did you mean it?” She sounded scared, voice small, like she was afraid to hope.

“I have never meant anything more,” I told her truthfully, but I could see that though she wanted to, she didn’t quite fully believe me. “Why do you think I came to Dallas, Alba?”

“You came for Valle Mar,” she demurred.

“I came for you and I’ll stay for you, if that’s what you want.” A surprised puff of air escaped her lips, and her brown eyes shone with tears.

“I’m scared of being the reason you give up so much only to realize you did it for a hot mess with a big ass.”

This woman truly had the power to completely wreck me.

“Alba, I am prepared to spend my whole life proving to you that your big ass and your mess are all I want.” She smiled then, a small, incandescent one, and something cracked open inside me. She lowered herself until our lips were pressed together, and when she lifted her hips I slid inside. Locked, as one.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alba