You Said I Was Your Favorite (A Lancaster Prep Novel)

His touch is so gentle, his fingers skimming over my skin, making me shiver. I lie there in the middle of his bed and bask in his attention, my eyes closed, my heartbeat fast as I try my best to calm my breathing.

But it’s no use. He’s got me worked up and twisted over this moment, the two of us finally together again. When he removes my bra, his lips automatically finding my nipple and drawing it into his mouth, I thrust my hands in his hair, holding him to me like I never want him to stop.

I don’t. I would be perfectly content if we could stay in this bed forever, wrapped up in each other. I’m so in love with him I can’t even see straight, and what’s so crazy?

We haven’t even confessed our feelings to each other yet.

“Arch,” I whisper as he drifts his mouth across my chest, kissing me everywhere. “Arch, I need to tell you something.”

“What do you want to tell me?” His lips move against my skin when he speaks, tickling me, making me squirm.

“Um.” I press my lips together, the words sticking in my throat and I immediately feel stupid.

He lifts his head, his heavy gaze sexy. Even a little sleepy. I touch his face because I can’t help myself, savoring the way he’s looking at me, his hands still on me. He’s beautiful. And all mine.

“I want to tell you something too,” he murmurs.

“You go first.” I may be coming out of my shell, but I’m still a little shy about the important stuff. I can’t help it.

“Daisy Mae Albright.” I told him my middle name recently and I hope I don’t live to regret it. “I’m in love with you.” He drops a kiss on my rib cage, leaving me trembling.

“Archibald Lancaster.” His parents didn’t give him a middle name, a fact he shared I found surprising. “I’m in love with you too.”

He smiles. So do I. We stare at each other for a moment, soaking up the words, the feelings we just confessed to each other, and then he shifts into action. Tugging my panties off, his lips pressing against the inside of my thigh in an open-mouthed kiss. I struggle to take off his boxer briefs and he eventually takes over, getting rid of them completely until we’re both naked and wound around each other. His erection pulsing against my core, throbbing and insistent, and I press my hand against his chest, stopping him just as he’s about to reach for a condom from his nightstand.

“I got on birth control,” I admit.

“You did?” His brows lift in surprise.

Nodding, I let my hand drift down, my fingers streaking across his stomach. Then lower, curling around his shaft. “I liked it that one time when we didn’t use a condom.”

He’s actually grinning. “I fucking loved it.”

“I know.” I roll my eyes, a gasp escaping me when he knocks my hand away from his erection and wraps his fingers around the base, guiding himself inside me. Pushing all the way in until I’m filled completely.

I tense up, closing my eyes and inhaling deeply. He goes still too, and I can feel him watching me. Can sense the question on his lips.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m good.” I nod. “You didn’t hurt me.”

Slowly he starts to move, pulling almost all the way out before he pushes back in. His pace is steady. Patient. He rocks into me, his hips thrusting, his mouth seeking mine in a dirty kiss. It’s all tongues and lips and teeth, and when I sling my legs around his hips and send him deeper? We both groan.

Loudly.

Our movements go from slow to frantic in seconds. He rises up on his knees, bringing me with him, my legs still wound around his hips, though my back is still on the bed. I watch as he fucks me hard—there’s no other way to describe what he’s doing—his gaze locked on the area where our bodies are connected. Just watching him watch us, feeling what he’s doing to me, the now familiar sensation rises up within me.

The tingling low in my belly. The throbbing. My breath catches with his every thrust and I arch my back, lifting my hips. He touches me there, his fingers rubbing my clit, making me whimper. With one final push, he fills me deep, hitting a spot that has me crying out, the orgasm slamming into me so hard, I can’t breathe.

Can’t see or smell or hear. I can’t do anything but ride the wave, my inner walls squeezing around his shaft, milking his orgasm right out of him. His groan is loud, his body shuddering over mine until he collapses on top of me, breathing so hard I get kind of worried about him. I rub my hands up and down his muscular back, enjoying the weight of him on top of me.

“I’m crushing you,” he finally says, shifting like he’s going to roll off of me and I hold him tighter.

“Don’t go yet,” I murmur against his neck. “I like how you feel.”

He smiles. I can feel it. “That ended way too quick.”

“It was still amazing.” Because it so was.

He lifts away slightly so he can kiss me. “We need to do it again.”

I can’t help it. I start to laugh. He just grins at me, dipping his head to kiss me, his lips lingering on mine. “I love you,” I whisper, overwhelmed with emotion for him.

“I love you too.” Another kiss, this one soft and sweet. “Have I told you today that you’re my favorite?”

“No,” I lie, needing to hear it again.

“Well, you are.” He kisses my chin. My jaw. My throat. “You are my favorite person, Daze.”

“You’re my favorite too,” I confess, clinging to him.

“Really?” He sounds shocked.

“Definitely.”

“More than your roses?”

“Remember what you said?” When he slowly shakes his head, I continue, “I’m the rose. You’re the sun.”

“I said that?”

“Oh, come on, don’t play like you didn’t.”

His expression turns serious. “Well, I meant it. Let me be your sun, Daze.”

“Only if you’ll let me be your rose.”

He’s laughing. So am I. “This is some corny ass shit.”

“You’re the one who said it in the first place.”

“Yeah, still can’t believe that.” He shakes his head. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Want to do it again?” His tone is hopeful.

I stretch beneath him. “Most definitely.”