34 #3
I sound so childish. I have all these accomplishments, but I don’t believe them because people were mean to me. People used me. And I’m ungrateful. Fucking pathetic.
Val rests her chin on my shoulder, and I flinch. When did she move?
Her hand softly grips my bicep. “I actually am going to ask something of you,” she whispers. I try to pull away, but she won’t let me.
“What?” I don’t mean to sound bitter, but I’m cynical, even with the girl I love.
“I’m going to ask you to believe me,” she says.
My whole body freezes up as she continues.
“I don’t care if you never believe anyone else in this world, just believe me.
I know that isn’t much, but sometimes we just need one person to have faith in us and believe we can be something better than we think we can be. And that one person is enough.”
She tightens her grip on my arm. “So just believe me,” she begs. “Let me be your person.”
I slowly turn to look at her. This girl that I’ve already fallen in love with a million times. And I say the words that I’ve always felt but have never been truer until this moment. “You are my person.”
She smiles gently as if I didn’t just expose my heart to her. She leans in to kiss me, but it’s not simple like I expected. Her hands find my shoulders, pushing me back into the couch as she straddles my lap.
“Valentine.” My voice comes out like a weak warning, but she doesn’t stop. She kisses me harder, threading her hands into my hair to keep me against her.
“Easy, Love,” I say with a little more force. She pulls away, but she grabs my hand and brings it up to her collarbone. Slowly, she slides it down until it’s between her breasts.
I’ve never touched this much of her. I didn’t even think she was ready to go this far.
“When I fantasized about you, you touched me here.” Holy shit. “Show me how you’d actually do it.”
This girl straddling my lap isn’t Valentine—the girl who was too scared to be kissed. No. This is Valentina Demarco—the woman who is ready to take the power within her that’s been hidden for too long. Too bad I’m freaking out now.
I swallow roughly, but my eyes never leave hers as I move my hand over her chest, nearly encompassing her tit. She moves her hand back into my hair as she watches me touch her.
The palm of my hand massages slowly, making her already breathe harder. Her nipple hardens under my touch, and I have to remind myself I can’t go too fast with her. But I can still play a little bit, right?
I let my hand slowly move off her chest so I can see the outline of her nipple poking through her shirt. My finger barely traces over it, and she whimpers, pulling my hair at the new sensation.
“You’re so sensitive.” My voice is so deep, I don’t even recognize it.
I’ve never been this turned on by so little action before.
Val looks up at me, her pupils dilating already, and I can’t take it anymore.
I pull her in, kissing her roughly, desperately, while both my hands grab hold of her chest.
I move my hands enough so my thumbs can play with her more. She grips my hair tighter as her lips disconnect from mine.
“Huxley,” she moans, and I mentally groan at what’s about to happen.
“Valentina.” She lifts her eyes to mine. “We have to stop.”
She shakes her head quickly. “Why?”
“Because if I keep kissing you and touching you like this, my mind’s going to start thinking of things that you aren’t ready for.”
She frowns. “Who says I’m not ready?”
She’s right. Who says she’s not? But I’m not going to keep this up until I know just how ready she is. I pull my hands from her chest, and she looks ready to protest until she sees where I put them, held up in between us like I did on our first date.
“Show me where I can go.”
She stares at my hands, probably going over everywhere on her body she’s willing to let me touch. Her throat works in a rough swallow before she turns her head away from me.
“Exactly,” I say softly. “You aren’t ready.”
She continues to stare out the window, blinking a little faster than I’d like.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Why are you sorry?”
She turns back to me, tears now rolling down her cheeks. She shrugs, and a weak laugh breaks through. “Because I’m a late bloomer.”
I smile up at my beautiful girl and hold her tear-stained face. “Oh, baby.” I pull her down to my chest and thread my fingers through her hair. “I don’t think you realize how much I love that you’re a late bloomer.”
“Why?” Her voice cracks, so I stroke her hair to soothe her.
“Because you’re showing me how to really care about someone. How to enjoy each step I get to take with you.” I bring my hand down and gently trace over her collarbone before moving further to trace the top of her breast.
“Every new inch of skin on your body I get to touch sends more excitement into me than anything ever has. And I’ll take that over anything.”
I move my hand up to her cheek, and she lifts her glassy eyes to me. “Besides. It’s just for now. We’ll get there eventually.”
Her eyes still water, but she nods at my declaration.
“For now,” she says.
I smile. “For now.”