“No. You won’t. That was my decision. It had nothing to do with you.”
“It had a little to do with me,” she grinned.
It was nice to see her smiling even if it was just a little grin. “Maybe a little.”
“But that was before. Before I told you that we couldn’t—” she waved her hand between us.
“It wasn’t about that. I would do anything for you. You and Luna. Even if we can’t—” I copied the wave she’d done.
Skylar was quiet and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. It was strange. Usually whatever she was feeling was broadcast in high def on her face, but not now. Since she’d shown up, there’d been no clues about what was going on in that pretty head of hers.
“I love you,” she said, taking me completely by surprise.
I stood there, in shock, sure that I’d misheard her when she said it again.
“I love you, Hank whatever your middle name is Comfort. I think I might have started falling in love with you before I even knew what you looked like. But over the past month, that falling changed to being. You are the best man I’ve ever known. I was being stupid. I know that you probably don’t believe me, but things like this, like you, don’t happen to people like me. My sister thinks that I was scared, because I don’t like relinquishing control. But on the walk over here I realized that wasn’t it. I would happily relinquish all of my control to you. I would even let you tie me up, but I’m not just talking about the bedroom.”
A picture of her naked, tied to my bed popped into the forefront of my thoughts, but I pushed it to the back for a later, more appropriate date and time.
Perhaps sensing things were going off track, she shook her head. “What I mean is, I trust you. Completely. I know you always have mine, Luna’s, and everyone’s best interest at heart. I wasn’t scared because I don’t trust you, I was scared because I don’t think that I deserve you. Why me? You could have anyone. You are literally a legend and women are lining up to find out if you can really throw down in bed.”
I doubted that.
“They are!” she responded to my silent thought. “But I realized something else as I walked over here. I don’t care if I don’t deserve you. I love you. I love you so much it’s hard for me to think, sleep, eat. All I do is think about you all the time. I can’t stop. And I have no idea if you still love me or if I’m too late but I had to tell you how I feel because—”
“Skylar.”
“What?”
“I love you.” I couldn’t wait a second more to tell her.
Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “You do?”
“Yes. But I don’t think you should take my word for it.”
“You don’t?” she asked as confusion filled her stare.
“No. I think I better show you how I feel.”
A wide smile spread across her face as I picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other behind her back like a groom carries his bride and took her upstairs. She nuzzled her nose into the crook of my neck and a groan ripped from my chest. I’d missed her so bad. I’d missed the way her body fit so perfectly in my arms. It was like the perfect puzzle piece that clicked into place.
We walked into the double doors of my new master suite. My crew had a week off between projects so I’d had them come over to work on my renovations. I’d called in favors with permits and my guys had worked for union scale. It was perfect timing because it had given me something to do so I didn’t obsess over not seeing Skylar, and I wasn’t sitting at home lookin’ like someone pissed in my cheerios, as Pops would’ve put it.
Instead of moving into the old master, I’d knocked down the walls between mine and Billy’s old room and expanded my existing bedroom. And I’d turned Jimmy’s room into the new master bath and walk-in closet.
When we walked inside her mouth dropped open. “Whoa! You’ve been busy. This is amazing!”
I set her down next to my new California King bed. I’d built the frame and ordered the mattress online.
“How did you do all of this?”
“I had help.”
Her head was tilted back and her mouth hung open as she gawked at the ceiling. I’d stolen some space from the attic to raise the ceiling so they were vaulted with exposed beams. “This is so beautiful!”
“You are so beautiful.” I dipped my head and began kissing her exposed neck. She tilted her head farther to the side as I slid my hands beneath her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. Her bra was next followed quickly by her sweats and underwear.
When she was totally nude I cupped her jaw and captured her mouth with mine as I walked her back to the bed. Her legs hit the side and I lifted her up and tossed her in the middle. She gasped and then giggled. I watched as her breasts bounced, calling me like a siren in the sea.
I wasted no time stripping out and joining her on the bed, kneeling by her feet. Her eyes were sparkling with anticipation as I wrapped my fingers around her left ankle and lifted it up. I pressed my lips to it then began moving further up along her inner calf. Slowly, methodically, I spent my time kissing her not inch by inch, but centimeter by centimeter.
She squirmed when I got to the side of her knee. “That tickles.”
My lips curled in a grin as I continued further up to her inner thigh. By the time I reached the top of her thigh, she was squirming for an entirely different reason. Her knees were wide apart, spread by the width of my shoulders.
I turned my head so my lips brushed the lips of her sex. She was already wet and ready for me. Her body was so responsive to me. Wanting a better angle, I shifted my arm so I could use my hand. I ran my fingers up and down her mound, loving the way they easily slid along her folds as I coated them with her arousal.
Her breathing was starting to get choppy. Her skin was flushed. And with each pass of my fingertips, she grew wetter.
As much as I’d love to make her come just like this, with me watching every second, I wanted to taste her even more. I spread her apart, my fingers forming a V, and when I covered the top of her sex with my mouth and my tongue licked her clit, her stomach started contracting. Two more flicks from the tip of my tongue and she was coming.
I continued laving my tongue against her pleasure bud as her come coated my chin. She tasted so fucking sweet and as soon as her thighs relaxed, I began licking the folds of her sex, lapping up every drop of her release, careful not to touch the swollen flesh of her clit.
When I’d licked her clean, I began to kiss her hip and belly as I whispered the words I’d wanted to tell her for weeks. “I love you. I love you.”
CHAPTER 45
Skylar
“I love you,” Hank whispered over and over against my skin as his mouth covered my torso with passionate, tender kisses. “I love you.”
My hand threaded through his hair as I writhed beneath him. I was still having aftershocks from my climax and the brush of his lips was amplifying them, sending shockwaves of ecstasy bolting through my limbs and torso.
When he made his way up to my breasts, I was expecting him to spend some time there. He seemed to enjoy them and I enjoyed that he enjoyed them. But he surprised me when instead of sucking my nipples into his mouth, he flipped me to the side.