He turns and looks at me with a gaze so intense it locks me in place. “No. Nothing about you reminds me of her anymore. You don’t care about my money or my business. You push my buttons, but you seem to know when to stop. And when we have sex, I get the sense that you actually like me.”
I exhale my relief and cross to him. “I do like you. A lot. So much so that I can’t imagine living my life without you.”
He pulls me by my belt loop and into his arms. “I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear that until you said it.” He nuzzles my neck, and his lips brush against my throat, sending a current of warm electricity through me. “I want you. I need you. Everyday. Forever.”
I run my hands through his hair while he continues to speak against my throat.
“Tell me what I need to do to make this work.” The pleading in his voice squeezes my heart. “I’ll do anything you want.”
With a hold on his head, I pull him back enough to get his eyes. “All we can do is try.”
He seems disappointed. As if I could give him a magic formula that ensures we’ll live happily ever after. But I don’t think one exists.
His lips hover close to mine, but he lets me be the one to close the distance. As desperate as I’ve felt to get back into his arms, our kiss is not urgent. He licks into my mouth unhurried, as if all we have is time.
His big hands hold onto my face as if he’s worried that if he lets go, I’ll disappear. The slow, deliberate seduction of his kiss packs an emotional punch, and tears swell behind my lids. To think this beautiful, brilliant man felt so undeserving of love that he settled for encounters that were business transactions rather than emotional connections.
He breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine, eyes closed and breathing deeply. “Are you okay?”
I sniff, feeling the emotion get the best of me. “I almost made the biggest mistake of my life by leaving you.”
He pulls back enough for me to see the blazing intensity in his eyes. His thumbs brush softly against my cheeks. “I’ll live every day making sure you don’t regret staying.”
“I know you will.”
With little effort, he picks me up and places my butt on the table before stepping between my legs. His lips brush against my neck, and he pulls the neck of my sweater aside to kiss down to my collarbone. “Starting now.”
I help him to lift off layers of clothing down to my bra. He pushes the strap off my shoulder and spends time lavishing my skin with attention. Gentle is not the word I would’ve used to describe anything about this man—up until now. His touch is tender and his kisses like butterfly wings as he worships with his lips.
My breasts ache for the same attention, and I arch my back in a silent request. He smiles against my skin and moves lower. His mouth seals over my bra and tender nipple, and I gasp at the warm friction.
“You make me wild,” he says while moving to my neglected breast.
My hands fist in his hair, and I hold him there. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.” He removes the barrier of my bra with a flick of the clasp. His eyes simmer as his gaze pores over my naked breasts. He cups the weight in his hands, his thumbs pressing and swirling and driving me mad.
If I make him wild, he delivers the same tenfold.
We kiss slowly and strip even slower. Hours upon hours of kissing and pleasure, we communicate without the confinement of words or language. Every kiss its own voice and touch its own dialect.
On a bed of animal pelts, we move together unhurried. Making love in a way that transcends all of the encounters that came before so that there is only us.
My climax brings me to tears as I fall weightlessly against his chest, and he grounds me there with a hold that says he’s never letting go.
“I thought people who cry after sex were just being melodramatic,” I say and wipe my eyes.
He presses his lips to the top of my head. “No. I feel it, too.”
I nuzzle deeper into his side and throw my arm over his firm abs. “Can we stay out here forever?”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll make it happen.”
I grin at the determination in his voice. “What if I wanted a pet gorilla and one hundred puppies?”
“I’d make it happen.” There’s a smile in his voice.
“And a bodysuit made out of seashells?”
“You’d have it.”
I swallow hard and squeeze him tighter. “What about… a baby?”
His body stills—or maybe it’s just his breathing.
I suck in a breath to prepare for his response. I’ve always wanted kids. Maybe it’s too soon to broach the topic, but in the spirit of our honesty and transparency, why start something together if we’re going to want different things a few years down the road?
“I don’t know anything about being a dad,” he says hesitantly.
“I don’t know anything about being a mom, only that I want to be one. Eventually.”
He pushes up and rolls on top of me, his heavy leg thrown across my thighs, and his head propped up on his hand. He pushes my hair off my face and watches my expression with such tenderness that it threatens to make me cry. Again! “I’ll do whatever it takes to give you everything you want out of our life together.” He drops a kiss between my puckered brows. “That includes babies.”
“Babies? As in more than one.”
He scowls, but this time it’s not irritation I see but rather determination. “As many as you want.”
I throw my arms around him, and he allows me to shove him to his back. “You really are a white knight,” I whisper into his ear.
“Only for you.”
We kiss as if we can’t get enough of each other, and I wonder if it’ll always be like this, us desperate for more even while we’re in each other’s arms.
He kisses down my throat. The rough stubble of his facial hair combined with his soft lips is a heady combination. “Now that you’re mine,” he says against my throat, “I can’t promise I’m not going to flip out if I feel you slipping away. I’ll fight to keep you.” He presses a kiss to my chin, then pulls back enough to hold my gaze. “Does that scare you?”
The answer to his question is simple. “No. I will also fight to keep you. What kind of chance do we have if we don’t vow to fight for our relationship?”
Pain etches into his expression, and he stares past me. “I’ll never hurt you. I hope you believe me.”
I cup his jaw and redirect his eyes to look at me. The vulnerability that shines through makes me think of him as a child, of him feeling alone, abandoned, different, and being punished for behavior that came naturally to him. My heart breaks for what he’s been through. “I trust you with my life. Have since day one. You need to start trusting yourself.”
He puts his face in my neck, and I run my hands through his hair, holding him close. He nods. “I’ll try.”
We stay naked for the rest of the night, only pulling apart long enough to eat before falling into each other again. The only thing to keep us warm is the fire and the heat created between us.
The wild passion we have is more than enough.
What we have is enough to last us until forever.