"Baby, no," she moaned, though the way she was grinding against me said the exact opposite. "I just told you I’m about to go out."
"You better stop talking and get yours," I warned, my voice thick and hungry as I met her every stroke, "cause this nut about to go out too."
She laughed but that’s didn’t detour her rhythm. She looked me dead in the eyes and said "Then give it to me, Dex. Give me all of it."
I wasn’t giving her a damn thing until she got hers first. I flipped her over, pinning her against the mattress in missionary and stroking deep, making sure every thrust hit that spot I knew better than my own name. I kissed her deep, swallowing her moans until her body went rigid, and within minutes, she was cumming for me, her walls clenching around me in a rhythm that made my head spin.
It felt way too good to pull out. I let go right inside her, the heat of it making both of us shudder as the last of the tension drained out.
"Now I’m going to have to reshower and redo my hair and makeup," she groaned against my neck, though she didn't make a move to get up.
I could feel her pussy still twitching around me, greedy for every drop. "Your pussy don’t seem too mad about it," I teased, brushing a stray hair from her face.
She let out a soft giggle that went straight to my heart. "Unfortunately, my pussy never stopped loving you. She’s a delusional bitch."
I laughed, the sound echoing in the quiet villa, and pulled her closer. "I need you to follow suit."
She didn't answer with words. She just leaned up and kissed me deep, a slow, lingering caress that felt more like a promise than anything she could have said. As I held her, I silently prayed things would only get better from here and not go back to the mess we used to be. I needed this to be the new normal.
Chapter twenty-five
Beneath the Surface
I sat back in the plush leather of the SUV, watching Nel out of the corner of my eye and giggling. My brother had been in Mexico for less than forty-eight hours, but he was already acting like he owned the entire Yucatan Peninsula. He had spent the first five minutes of the ride bossing the driver around until the man finally gave up, turned off his local radio station, and handed Nel the aux cord.
"Trust me, Jefe," Nel had said with a grin, "you’re gonna thank me for this vibe."
Nel’s playlist was a chaotic trip through his own mind. We went from shouting the lyrics to Rihanna’s Rude Boy at the top of our lungs to suddenly being plunged into the dark, heavy atmosphere of dvsn’s Between Us.
The shift in energy was instant. The bass was slow and deep, vibrating through the floorboards and settling right in my chest. As the lyrics started to weave through the air, talking about the space between two people and the things that go unsaid, the smile started to fade from my face.
My mind went straight back to the villa. I could still feel the phantom weight of Dex’s hands on my hips and the heat of him still lingering deep inside me. After years of running, years of holding up shields, it had taken less than a week for him to dismantle every single one of my defenses.
I looked out the window at the dark jungle blurring past us, the moonlight catching the occasional flash of white stone from a passing resort. The silence in the car felt heavy now, filled with the kind of questions I was usually too afraid to ask out loud.
"Nel?" I said, my voice barely carrying over the music.
"Yeah, Sis?" He didn't look over, his thumb scrolling through his phone as he lowered the volume on the track.
"How stupid would I be to get with Dex? Like, for real this time?"
Nel stopped scrolling. He didn't look at me right away; he just stared at his phone screen for a long second while the music hummed low in the background. He leaned his head back against the headrest and let out a slow, measured breath.
"Stupid?" he repeated, finally turning his head to look at me. "Nique, you aren't stupid, but when it comes to Dexter, you’re an addict and he’s your fix."
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he held up a hand.
"I’m being for real with you," he said, his voice dropping into that protective tone. "If you’re asking me if it’s a bad move onpaper? Hell yeah. He’s got a whole entire human being with another woman. Amina is never going to make it easy for you to be the one in that seat. That's a lifetime of drama you’re signing up for."
He shifted in his seat, facing me fully now.
"But then I look at how you were with Kel and how you are with Dex I realize you’ve been playing it safe with her so you wouldn't get hurt again. With Dex you’re more alive, more present."
Nel sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
"You wouldn't be stupid to get with him, but you got to decide if you’re ready to fight a war every single day. Because with Amina and your history, it’s never gonna be just dinner and movies. It’s gonna be fire. Every day. You just got to ask yourself if you’re tired of being cold, or if you’re ready to risk getting burned to finally stay warm."
He looked back out the window as the lights of the Tulum strip started to twinkle in the distance.