Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Xavier POV

Layla’s breath hitches as I crook my finger underneath her chin, tip her head up, and pull her into me for a kiss–one that’s not about hunger or heat now–but something else entirely. Something deeper. My hands slide around her waist, steadying her against me.

Her skin is warm from being in the sun all day and the blazing fire she was sitting next to earlier, and oh so soft beneath my calloused palms. The faint taste of Cade’s spiked lemonade lingers on her

lips. Her ample chest brushes mine with her every breath, and I feel each inhale like it’s drawn from

somewhere deep inside both of us.

I draw back just slightly, pressing my forehead to hers. She’s still flushed and glowing, her chest still rising and falling like she’s been running a half–marathon. Maybe in a way she has. And maybe she’s

finally stopped.

My voice is low as I ask, “You okay?”

Her smile is dazed, but sure as she answers, “More than okay.”

And then she spins me.

It catches me off guard–not in a way that alarms me—but enough to feel the sharp snap of surprise as my back hits the boulder she was pushed up against mere minutes ago, with a solid thud. Her hands press against my chest, firm but not forceful, and before my brain has time to catch up, she’s already dropping to her knees in front of me.

The air leaves my lungs in a stuttering rush as a bird calls somewhere in the trees, and the lake glints behind her like spilled moonlight.

“Layla-” I start.

She looks up at me, her eyes wide and knowing, as she asks, “Let me?”

My reply catches in my throat. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want her right now. But not just because it’s her mouth, or her touch. It’s because of the way she’s looking at me like she wants this–me–just as much.

My right hand cups her cheek, and my thumb strokes across her satin–soft skin. “Yeah,” I murmur. “Yeah, baby. Anything you want.”

Lifting the hem of my tee, she presses a kiss to the line of my hip, then the center of my stomach,

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10:18 Thu, Sep 18

Chapter 145: Xavier POV

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then lower still, each of her touches sending heat curling down my spine. The moon shifts behind an errant cloud for a moment, and the filtered light paints everything in silver.

I brace myself against the boulder as her hands work with slow, practiced curiosity. She frees my throbbing cock with a careful confidence from the confines of my swim shorts, and when she leans forward and her mouth finally closes around my tip, I lose the battle with a groan as it rips free from the depths of my soul.

It’s not just the physical sensation of her lips as they slowly wrap around my length–though that alone is enough to scramble my thoughts. It’s the intimacy of this moment. It’s the way she takes her time. It’s the warmth of her mouth, its wet heat, the slick glide of her tongue on the underside of my cock, and the gentle, yet sure press of her lips. Her rhythm is unhurried and tender, like she’s memorizing the feel of me.

I thread my fingers into the dark tresses of her hair, not to take control like I would with any other woman, but to anchor myself in this moment. To feel that this is real. “Jesus, Layla,” I whisper to the heavens. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

She hums around me, and the vibration it causes rips an animalistic sound from deep in my chest. I’m powerless in stopping my hips from twitching forward, but still, I hold back–but barely. I want her to have all the control she wants and needs.

The evening breeze rustles the leaves above us, and the water laps gently behind her. But all I’m capable of registering is her. The glide of her mouth, the worshipful touch of her hands, her pure willingness to unravel me like this. With care. With purpose.

She pulls all the way back until just my tip rests on her glistening, puffy lips, then sinks down on my dick again till I hit the back of her throat. Her eyes flutter closed, and my legs nearly give out from underneath me.

“Layla,” I rasp as I look down at her. “I’m close,” I warn, giving her the chance to pull away should

she wish.

She doesn’t flinch, though. And she doesn’t stop. If anything, she slides her hands to my ass and draws me deeper into her, holding onto me through it, and when I fall–hard–it’s like falling into fire and water all at once.

My spine arches, my muscles tighten, and I see white behind my eyelids that have drifted shut. I feel my orgasm everywhere–pooling in my gut, running up my spine, blooming in my chest, and even sparking down to my fingertips. My one hand tightens uselessly on the rough edge of the boulder behind me, while my other gently clenches in her hair.

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10:18 Thu, Sep 18

Chapter 145: Xavier POV

When she’s sucked every last drop of my cum from me, even licking her lips as she slowly sits back on her haunches, I sag against the rock, my breath ragged, and blink down at her through the lust-

filled haze.

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She glances up at me, her face flushed, and her eyes bright. And my chest tightens with an emotion I told myself I’d never feel for any other woman apart from my mom.

“Come here,” I say roughly as I clasp her hands and pull her to her feet, and into my chest.

Her mouth barely has time to form a smile before I’m kissing her again. And this time it’s deep and reverent–like as my hands cradle her face like she’s fragile, even though I know damn well she’s anything but. She’s forged steel. She’s sunlight and fire and softness all wrapped in silky skin.

After a few seconds, she leans back slightly and grins up at me. “So… Was that good for you?”

I blow out a shaky laugh as my forehead drops to hers, “I’m not completely sure I survived it.”

Layla traces my jaw with her one fingertip, her touch featherlight, as she murmurs, “Good. That was the goal.”

My thumb brushes her lower lip a few times, and my voice drops as I confess, “No one’s ever… It’s never felt like that before.”

She stills, just for a second, as her gaze searches mine. “Because you were gentle?”

“Because it wasn’t just about the act like it was with others before you.” I swallow past the lump in my throat before continuing, “Because it was you. You made it feel like I didn’t have to be someone else to deserve that kind of closeness.”

Her eyes soften at my unexpectedly emotion–filled words, and then she reaches for my hands. “I don’t want you to be someone else, Xavier,” she says. “I just want you.”

And standing there with her hands holding mine, her lips swollen from kissing and giving me pleasure, and her skin cast in soft shadows, I realize I’d give her anything she asked of me.

Even the parts of me I’ve always kept hidden.

I kiss her again. Not to say thank you. Not to claim or consume. Just to feel.

Because with her–this fierce, tender girl who chose not to give up on me–I finally understand what

it means to be wanted for exactly who I am.

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