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I open my mouth to tell her how wonderful she is, but before I can get the words out, to my surprise, she lowers herself onto her knees in front of me. “Come here, baby,” she says, undoing the button of my shorts.

“Vix!”

“I want to make you feel good.” She goes to slide the zipper down, then stops and stares. “Oh!” She blinks, clearly taken aback.

Jesus, I think she’s shocked because I already have an erection. Did she have to try to arouse Jayden before he could get intimate? Because of his accident? Or was it always like that?

Anger flares inside me. Jayden’s ability to perform sexually is his own business, but it’s obviously led her to think it was her fault, and that’s unforgivable.

She’s touch starved and desperate for affection, and yet the first thing she thinks she has to do is get me interested. Ahhh… girl…

I slide my hands under her arms and lift her to her feet. I put my wallet on the bedside table and finish taking off my shorts and boxers. After bending and slipping an arm beneath her knees, I lift her into my arms. Leaning over, I pull the duvet back, and then I climb onto the mattress and lower her down onto the pile of cushions and pillows.

“Damn things,” I say, laughing, and I toss a few on the floor before lying on top of her. “There, that’s better.”

She looks up into my eyes. Her brown eyes are huge, sparkling in the fairy lights.

“My princess,” I murmur, smoothing her hair back from her face. “I’m going to kiss you, and worship your body, and love you until you can’t even remember your own name.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh.”

“I’ve thought about this for years,” I tell her fiercely. “I’ve wanted you for so long. I can’t believe you’re finally here, in bed with me.”

“You’re so gorgeous,” she whispers, running her hands up my back. “I want you so much.”

“Same, baby. More than you’ll ever know.”

I kiss her, taking my time, moving my lips slowly over hers. Now that I finally have her, I’m going to do my best to make this last. I want to make her come over and over again. I want to show her that she matters, that she’s special, that she’s wanted and desired. That she’s loved.

She sighs as I kiss her face, over her cheeks, her eyebrows, back down her nose to her mouth. Her lips are soft, and I caress them with mine, then touch my tongue to her bottom lip, teasing it until she chuckles and opens her mouth. I slide my tongue inside, and she meets mine thrust for thrust, growing bolder as I groan my approval.

I shift off her, to the side, and pull the duvet up over us, not because it’s cold, but because I want to increase the feeling of being encased in this warm Christmassy wonderland. The fairy lights twinkle through the tulle curtains, which ripple in the light breeze from the open window. Outside, I can hear the distant sounds of the town, the cry of seagulls, and the ferry’s horn, sounds that remind me how familiar everything feels here. How I’ve come home.

I kiss her for ages. I can’t believe she’s in bed with me, naked and willing. She wants to be with me. She wants to have sex with me. It feels so innocent and uncomplicated after the mind games that Frieda used to play. For the last few months, she used sex as a bargaining chip, a reward, given or withheld at her whim. Vix’s enthusiasm, so open and generous, fires me up and makes my heart race.

I kiss her until her breathing deepens and she starts giving long, heartfelt sighs. I don’t stop, but while I kiss her, I slide my hand down over her body, exploring the softness of her skin, her tantalizing curves. I trail my fingers down between her breasts, over her stomach, follow the dip of her waist and the curve of her hips, and continue down the outside of her thighs to her knee. Then I stroke back up, discovering the soft skin of the inside of her thigh and the smoothness of her mound. Fuck. I force myself to continue, just brushing lightly, returning up over her belly to her breasts.

I circle her nipple again, and again, stroking over her skin, exploring her body, all the minor erogenous zones I can think of—her inner arms, the inside of her wrists and elbows, her hands and fingers and palms. I kiss up her jaw to her ear and touch my lips behind it, still stroking her, loving her long sighs.

She’s shivering and trembling before I finally give in, cup one of her breasts in my hand, and tease her nipple with the pad of my thumb until it tightens, then tug it gently with my finger and thumb. The breath leaves her in a rush, and she trembles, squirming a little, pressing her thighs together.

I lift my head to look at her. “I want to make you come with my fingers,” I murmur. “Can I do that?”

She blinks a few times, then nods.

I lower my head and kiss her mouth, then continue down her neck to her breast. At the same time, I stroke down her body to her thighs, move her legs apart, and brush my fingers back up.

Her skin here is silky smooth. She’s swollen, warm, and wet, and I groan as I slide my fingers down into the heart of her.

“Mitch…” she whispers, tilting her hips up to meet them. “Oh God…”

“You’re so beautiful.” I tease her nipple with my tongue. “Fuck, you have no idea how often I’ve dreamed about making you come.”

“Ohhh…”

“I’ve lain there at night, wondering what sounds you make…”

“Oh jeez.”