We spend the rest of the day in bed, only getting out to order food before having a playful dinner in front of the TV. I fall asleep with my head in Landon’s lap, his fingers gently stroking my hair. Later, I wake up long enough to bury my face in his hair as he carries me to my bed, undressing us both and lying behind me, his hard body flush against my back.
“I love you,” I whisper sleepily.
I feel his lips on the nape of my neck. “And I love you.”
I wake up sometime during the night to find myself alone in the bed. Landon is not in the room or in the bathroom, and for a single moment of panic, I wonder if he has gone back to his apartment, and why. I find him in the living room, watching something on the TV with the volume turned off. Sighing in relief, I join him on the couch, one hand curving around his. I know that at least a part of the reason he’s not sleeping is because he’s avoiding his nightmares.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Hey.” He smiles at me. “You should be asleep.”
“So should you.” I shrug. “I decided I wanted to watch…whatever it is you’re watching.”
Landon chuckles, pulling me into his side and dropping a soft kiss on my temple. We spend the rest of the night watching some of Laurie’s shows and laughing our heads off. I finally doze off when it starts to get light outside, and when I wake up a few hours later, Landon is leaning back on the couch, asleep, with a peaceful expression on his face.
I spend a long moment looking at his face, overcome by the depth of my emotions. I love him more than I have the capacity to put into words. He’s my soul mate, the only one I could ever love like this, and I know I would give anything to be with him always, to be this happy always.
Careful not to wake him, I get up and go to the kitchen to make coffee and try to rustle up a passable breakfast. By the time I’m done, Landon is awake, his hair still damp from a shower in my bathroom. He’s wearing his pants from yesterday, but his chest is bare, the well-defined muscles more perfectly sculpted than any male model’s.
“Good morning.” I whistle suggestively, wondering at how his tall frame dwarfs the entire kitchen.
“Good morning.” He gives me a slow, sexy smile that makes my insides melt. “Can I help?”
I shake my head. “I’m kinda done.”
He comes behind me and covers my back with his body. I sigh and lean into him, enjoying his touch and feeling so happy because he is mine to touch.
“I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am for you, how…” He breathes. “How happy you make me.”
I turn around and face him, aware that my eyes are misting. There is an intensity in his cobalt gaze that reaches into my heart, squeezing until I feel like I’m drowning in emotion. I don’t know how to reply, so I stay silent.
“When I’m with you, I feel complete.” He chuckles softly. “I never thought I’d say that to anyone. I’ve never felt that I needed anyone to be complete, but being without you would kill me.”
“You’re never going to be without me,” I tell him softly. Nothing would ever make me stop loving him, and I’m determined that nothing will ever make me walk away from him again.
I remain in his arms, resting my head on his chest. “I want to stop time,” I whisper. “So we’ll always be like this.”
He pulls back, his eyes on mine. “Are you afraid that things might change in future?”
I sigh. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll always be like this,” he assures me, pulling me back into his arms. “Older, after a while, but there’ll never be anything else for me like what we have.”
I let out a shaky breath. “I love you.”
“Well, I’m irresistible,” he says with a playful smirk. “You didn’t stand a chance.”
I smack him playfully, laughing as he picks up the plates and carries them to the living room. We settle on the floor in front of the couch, eating while we continue our TV binge.
“Have you thought of what you’ll do about the apartment?” Landon asks after. He’s sitting on the couch and I’m on the floor between his legs, trying not to drift off as he plays with my hair.
“I’ll probably find a roommate.” I make a face. “Though I can’t imagine living with anyone but Laurie.”
There is a short pause as his fingers still in my hair. “Even me?”
For a moment, I’m not sure I heard right. I turn around to face him. “You?”
His eyes stay on mine. “Why not?”
I look down from his gaze, not sure why I’m hesitating. I would love to go to sleep and wake up in his arms every night, and I know what a leap it is for him, how much it means that he’s inviting me to share his life so completely.
I wish I weren’t so afraid that something would go wrong, especially if we move too fast and shake the balance we’ve already found. “I don’t know…” I reply softly.
Landon is looking at me as if he’s waiting for me to say more. “It seems like a good solution to me,” he says when I stay silent. “My apartment is closer to your office and we’d be able to spend more time together.”
And I want that, to spend more time with him. He’s right, of course. He has obviously thought about this, but I haven’t. I need to think, to be sure that we don’t rush, that we don’t get overconfident and ruin what we have, because if that happens….I’m not sure I’ll survive.
“Think about it,” Landon says quietly, urging me back to my former position. His hands resume their ministrations in my hair. “And while you’re doing that, maybe you’d like to spend this week with me.”
“As a foretaste?” I say lightly.
I can almost feel his grin. “What else?”
“You don’t have to try to convince me,” I say sincerely. “I want to move in with you, I just want a little time to think about it.”
“I’m not trying…” He stops. “Well, maybe I am trying to get you comfortable with the idea, but more than that, I want you, with me, every night for the next few days, because I have plans for you.”
My breath hitches at his sensual tone. After a week of having to leave him almost every night, I’m more than ready for one where I spend the whole night in his arms. “Of course I’ll spend the week with you.”
LATER, Landon watches while I get ready to leave with him. I don’t have to take much, because thanks to him, I have a closet in his house with everything I need.
I toss my e-reader in my bag and turn to face him. “I guess that’s it,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Some guy I know bought me a whole wardrobe at his apartment.”
“He seems generous.” Landon rises from the bed to help me put on a jacket over my sleeveless dress. Over his t-shirt, he’s wearing the dark jacket he brought with him yesterday. “You should reward him.”
I turn around and run a finger down his chest. “With what?”
He gives me a naughty grin. “Sex always works.”
“Ah.” I smile back. “That wouldn’t be fair to him.” My smile widens as Landon’s eyebrow goes up. “Sex with him is as much a reward for me as it is for him.”
“You’re too good for my ego.” His gaze turns serious and he takes my face in his hands. “I could spend the rest of my life trying to tell you all the different ways I’m in love with you, and it wouldn’t be enough. If I make you feel even a quarter of the things you make me feel, I’ll die a happy man.”
I close my eyes, letting the words wash over me. I open them to find him still looking at me. I breathe softly. “Landon… I can’t explain…the way you make me feel…” I give him a helpless look. “Sometimes ‘I love you’ seems so trite.”
He lowers his head and brushes his lips over mine. I hold on, craving his touch. After a few seconds, he releases me, and I reach for my bag, my legs unsteady. “You’re not dying any time soon,” I say lightly. “Happy or otherwise.”
“Okay, ma’am.” Grinning, he takes the bag from me and leans in to whisper in my ear. “I’m going to make love to you again, but if I don’t have lunch before I do, dying happy won’t be so far-fetched.”
Downstairs, Landon’s car is parked in one of the spaces in front of my building. It’s one I haven’t seen before, a black sports car with bucket seats in soft cream leather and an engine that purrs like a kitten.
Our destination is a bustling Italian restaurant where the manager, an older woman with red hair and humorous eyes, greets Landon with the familiarity of a regular. “Welcome, Mr. Court,” she exclaims, her eyes flicking from him to me with thinly veiled interest.
Landon shakes his head. “It’s Landon to you, Angela.”
“Actually, it’s little Landon, but I choose not to call you that in front of your girlfriend.”
Landon laughs and she gives him a strange look, almost as if his good mood has taken her by surprise. She holds out a hand to me. “I’m Angela. I used to work at the Swanson Court in the old days.”
In the old days. I wonder if that’s before or after Landon’s mother died. I take her hand. “Rachel Foster.”
“I know.” Her eyes are shining as she smiles at me. “I catch a few gossip items in the news every now and then.”
“Oh.” I look over at Landon, but he only shrugs, his eyes full of amusement. We follow Angela to a secluded table, and she personally supervises the waiter that serves our food, which, of course, is delicious.
“How’s the food?” Landon asks.
“Do you need to ask?” I sigh. “It’s wonderful. You obviously know where all the good food is in this city. If I keep eating like this, I’ll need to take Brett up on his offer of free membership at the gym.”
“There’s a gym at the apartment, you could use that.”
I give him a look. “If you’re trying to make your apartment more attractive to me, please refrain from mentioning the gym.”
He grins. “I am trying to make it more attractive to you.”
“As long as it has you in it, it’s already the most attractive it can possibly be.”
An eyebrow goes up, but he only smiles and continues to eat. I know he’ll respect my need for more time to think about living with him, so I concentrate on enjoying the rest of my food.
Angela soon returns to the table to fuss. “Enjoying your meal?”
I nod. “It’s wonderful, thank you.”
“I taught your boyfriend here to make pasta sauce like no other,” she informs me.
I look at Landon and he confirms it with a nod. “True.”
“You haven’t made her that yet?” She gives him a reproachful glare. “What are you waiting for?”
Landon leans back in his chair and moves his shoulders in a small shrug. “I’m biding my time, waiting for the right moment to seal the deal with my perfect pasta sauce.” He looks at me and grins. “It’ll ruin you for every other man.”
You’ve already ruined me for every other man, I want to tell him, but I turn to Angela instead. “Has he always been this confident?” I ask, knowing the answer is probably yes. “You have to make it now,” I tell Landon, “so I can decide if it’s really as good as you claim.”
“She only loves me for my cooking,” Landon tells Angela, laughing. “Who would have thought?”
The older woman is looking at me. “Amongst other things, I’m sure.” She gives me a strange smile, blinking rapidly, and I wonder if she’s getting emotional. When we’re done with the meal, she follows us outside and surprises me by giving me a hug. “It was nice to meet you, Rachel,” she says, adding in a small whisper, “Thank you for making him so happy.”
I watch her walk back inside then allow Landon to take my hand as we emerge onto the sidewalk. “She seems very fond of you.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “I’m fond of her too. I was lucky in a way, growing up the way I did. I was surrounded by wonderful people, most of whom I still have in my life.”
He starts to lead me along the sidewalk, and I’m so comfortable walking arm in arm that it takes me a few minutes to remember that we drove over. “What about the car?”
Landon pulls me closer so his arm is around me. “I arranged for someone to get it. It’s not a long walk.”
I lean into his body as we meander along the sidewalk. I love how ordinary it feels, just another couple out on a Sunday afternoon. He buys me a bunch of flowers from a street vendor, and I blush with pleasure when he hands them to me. We take our time, his arm around my shoulder and mine around his waist. I breathe in his scent, loving the warmth from his body and the feel of his t-shirt against my fingers. I turn my face up to look at his and his eyes meet mine, blue and beautiful. The wind touches his hair, ruffling his beautiful waves, and I reach out to smooth them. How did one person get to be so perfect? I wonder with a soft sigh.
Landon gives me an anxious glance. “Are you cold?”
“No.” I shake my head. It’s windy and there’s a small bite in the air, but I love it. I love the fact that the seasons are changing, that I’m with him, right here, right now.
He raises a brow. “Because you can’t be cold when I’m right here to warm you up.”
“You have a one-track mind.”
“Who said anything about sex?”
“Now you have.”
He laughs. “I have it on good authority that you find my performance very rewarding.”
I shake my head, unable to stop my laughter. “You’re a sex fiend.”
“A sexy one, you mean?” He’s laughing. “You’re my weakness, you know, and my strength. My everything.”
We stop walking as he leans in to kiss me properly. His lips are firm but sweet and caressing, and when he stops, I release a breath and open my eyes. There’s a silly smile on my face as I look up at him.
“What?” he says. “Have I stolen your voice with my superb kissing skills?”
I’m about to retort when someone calls out, “Give us another one, Court!”
We both turn in the direction of the voice. The photographer is a skinny guy with sharp eyes, wearing a hoodie and sweats. He grins at us and gives Landon a thumbs-up. Landon frowns and turns to me. “Come on,” he says. We’re very close to the Swanson Court now, which explains the presence of the photographer. With the scattering of luxury hotels in the area, there are always a few of them waiting to catch a glimpse of celebrities, and to many people, a young, sexy, wealthy man like Landon is as interesting as the usual crop of Hollywood stars.
“Do you mind?” Landon asks softly. “It’ll probably get published in some gossip column.”
I shrug. “Of course not. I’ll probably have to get used to it since they find you so interesting.” I peer at his face. “Do you mind?”
He laughs. “No. I want the whole world to know you belong to me.”
I breathe, closing my eyes as his hand goes around my shoulder again, and we continue to walk. My arm finds its way around his waist, my fingers resting lightly on his body through the thin barrier of his t-shirt. My heart is aching sweetly with an almost unbearable happiness, and in that moment, I love him a thousand times more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone.
WE spend the rest of the day at his apartment. Landon gives me what he laughingly calls the premier girlfriend tour of the whole apartment. It’s actually much larger than I first thought. Downstairs, there’s his study, the fully-equipped gym, the library, den, dining room, and kitchen, and upstairs, more bedrooms, another sitting room, and a couple of empty rooms. One of them used to be the nursery and playroom, he tells me, and the other—a spacious room with large windows, a few empty bookshelves, and a beautiful view of the park—used to be his mother’s sitting room.
“We moved most of the stuff to the house after the accident,” Landon says, explaining why the room is empty.
I take a moment to admire the spectacular view from the windows. “It must have been a lovely room.”
“It was.” He smiles softly and takes the hand I offer him, leading me back downstairs to his study. It’s smaller than his office at the SCT building, but with the daunting view and large desk, it gives the same impression of power.
“What is it with men and large desks?” I ask teasingly, running a hand over the polished wood. I prop myself on the surface and notice the picture I gave him, the racier one, sitting right next to the large computer screen. “So this is what you stare at when you’re supposed to be making money?”
“I can’t help myself.” He laughs, coming to sit on his high-backed swivel chair and drawing it closer to the edge of the desk so he’s right in front of me. “I get hard whenever I look at it.”
I wet my lips as his hands glide under my dress and over my thighs, drawing slowly toward the edge of my panties. His touch is searing, starting a fire that burns into my skin, through my blood, and right to my core. “Spread your legs for me, baby,” Landon whispers.
I do as he says, leaning my elbows on the polished surface of the desk, my eyes on his. He moves his hand between my thighs, his teasing fingers finding me through my light cotton panties. I throw my head back, sighing as he strokes me gently, rubbing my clit with the pad of his thumb.
“You like that?” His voice is husky.
“Mmmm…yes.”
I hear him chuckle, and the next moment he’s hooking a finger into the crotch of my panties and pushing them out of the way. Then his tongue is on me, light and sweet, licking, sucking, stroking, and driving me wild with pleasure.
I fall back on the desk, my hips writhing, my fingers finding his hair and pulling on the silky strands. He kicks the chair back, getting on his knees with his head still buried between my thighs. He licks my clit with sweet, gentle strokes, the tip of his tongue nudging the tiny bud before moving lower, over my folds, to my already pulsing entrance. He plunges his tongue deep inside me, and all my muscles turn to hot, molten desire.
Soon, my hips are bucking, rolling, and my whole body twists with almost unbearable pleasure. I can feel his tongue, his fingers, the beginning of an orgasm building at my core, with heat spreading until my entire lower body is a pulsing center of intense pleasure.
I draw up my legs when I come, my whole body arching off the desk as if I’m having a seizure. Landon grips my thighs, his tongue continuing to torture me with pleasure until I beg him to stop. He raises his head, smiling at my heavy-lidded and languid expression before he rises to his feet and moves the chair back toward the desk. He shifts to the very edge, pulling me off the desk to straddle his thighs.
I’m still feeling dazed from my orgasm, and I have to place my hands on his shoulders for balance. I wait while he undoes his pants, just enough so he can free the stiff column of his cock. Then he lifts me by my hips, one hand holding my panties aside while he gently guides me down, until his whole length is sheathed inside me.
The pleasurable feeling of fullness brings me to life. A low sound escapes me, almost like a purr. The tips of my toes are touching the carpeted floor, only barely, but enough for me to put my weight on them while I lift my body then push back down, riding him as hard as I want, as hard as I need.
There’s something incredibly erotic about the fact that we’re both fully dressed. His hands mold my thighs and buttocks under my dress, kneading my flesh almost feverishly. His teeth find a nipple through the material of my dress and bra, and the feeling makes me want to tear off my clothes to give him more access, yet I can’t stop riding him for long enough to do that, the pleasure is too much, too intense.
Arching my back, I take him deeper and feel his balls, warm against my sensitive skin. I ride him faster, almost frantically, practically senseless to everything but how good he feels, how much I want him…
My eyes are closed, but I hear his loud groan as he rises from the chair, taking me with him. My legs wrap around his waist, my arms tight around his shoulders as he keeps me up with his strong arms, ramming forcefully into me, his breaths coming in low grunts. He lowers me to the desk, and I feel the polished wood against my buttocks, and Landon, thrusting, hard, deep, relentlessly. I let go of his shoulders, my body falling back on the desk, my arms tightening around my breasts as another orgasm builds and rips right through me.
I think I black out for a moment. When I come to my senses, Landon’s body is curved over mine, shuddering with the force of his own climax.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to get any work done on this desk ever again,” he tells me, a dazed expression on his face.
I know the look is mirrored on mine. Sex has never felt this good with anyone before. It has never felt this complete, this pleasurable, or this fulfilling, and I know it never will, not with anyone but him.