Chapter 28
Charlotte lay in the dark, her head resting on Cowboy's chest. She was smiling a smile she thought might never leave her face. She’d been in Atlanta for almost a month, and in Leo’s bed nearly half of those nights.
His hand trailed over the sensitive flesh from her shoulder blade to the small of her back and she sighed.
It wasn't just sex. It was the way he touched her. The way that touch made her feel. A hundred men could sleep with her blindfolded, and she would be able to pick out Cowboy’s touch from them all.
It didn't just touch her skin. It touched her soul.
She loved him. It was too soon to say the words, but she knew it was true.
She turned her head, letting his chest hair tickle her lips and kissing his warm, salty skin.
She wanted to taste all of him, feel every bit of his body, every smooth muscle and rough callus he had.
She lifted herself up to a sitting position, straddling him, and met his eyes in the dimly lit room.
The look he was giving her was so serious she couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.
She leaned forward and kissed his lips.
She felt him growing hard again and she lifted her hips to settle him inside her. She raised and lowered her body onto his, then arched backward to brace herself on his legs.
“No. Stay with me,” he growled, pulling her back up to a sitting position and staring into her eyes.
There were a hundred emotions in the depths of his stare, and she was drawn to every one. He wrapped his arms tightly around her hips and rocked with her, his eyes never leaving hers.
“I love you,” he said.
Her mouth opened in shock. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. She touched his face, running her fingers along the stubble as her eyes began to burn with emotion. “I love you, too.”
He threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her down for his kiss, then flipped her onto her back and followed her down. She was flying high on emotion, and when her orgasm came, it seemed to overtake her body, mind, and soul.
She wound her legs around him, knowing she’d never truly made love to another man before Leo Wilson.
They held hands as their bodies cooled.
“Too soon?” asked Leo. “I know we haven’t been together very long.”
“Not too soon.” She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed his knuckles. “I’ve known I loved you since I was standing on the dock in Nassau.”
“You wouldn’t even look at me.”
“I know. I was crying because I didn’t think I’d get to be with you again and I didn’t want you to see.”
“I knew it when I was loading the lifeboats. You looked at me in the middle of that chaos, and everything just stopped.”
She remembered that moment well. Not knowing if they were going to live or die. Not knowing if he cared for her.
“I have some time off coming up at the end of the month,” he said. “I thought I would take you on a cruise.”
She cringed. “Over my dead body!”
He laughed. “I’m kidding. How about the monster truck rally at the Colosseum?”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” She sighed, a happy, contented sound. “Say it again, Leo.”
“Monster truck rally.”
She hit his arm.
He laughed. “I love you.” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you and I’m never going to let you go.”