Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
LAUREL
L eif’s question echoed in my ears and I considered how I would answer. I stared up into his eyes, his arms around me and that persistent, gorgeous smile on his lips, and I suddenly knew that I could never go back to the way things had been.
“Your good girl is still in here, but I think I might stay a little bit bad. What do you think?”
“I think you’re perfect, but I’ve always thought that. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re good or bad, as long as you’re happy.”
My cheeks flushed, my gaze searching his. “Why are you so sweet to me all the time? You’re acting like I’m god’s gift, but I’m not.”
“To me, you are,” he said, and there wasn’t a hint of a lie. Drawing in a big breath, he blew it out slowly, those eyes firmly locked on mine. “Look, Laurel. I’ll level with you. I’m done fucking around. Seeing you again and spending all this time with you has made some things dazzlingly clear to me, and one of them is that pushing you away was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”
I opened my mouth to tell him again that it was okay, but he spoke before I could say a word. “I realize that we were both to blame and that we had our reasons, but the fact remains that when I’m with you, I feel like I am exactly where I’m meant to be, and unless I’m delusional, you feel the same way.”
“I do.”
“Well, then you know why I’m so sweet to you all the time.” He smiled as he moved his head an inch or so forward again, putting himself back into kissing distance from me. “It’s because I’m so sweet on you and I want you to know that. I also want you to know that I’m serious about this. You never have to doubt me. I’m all in”
My heart lurched and skipped, my insides doing a happy little jiggle as I stared into those eyes. “Sometimes, I wonder if you’re even real. I just feel like I might be hallucinating all this. It’s like you’re in my head. When I’m unsure or feeling insecure, you’re already there, giving me the reassurances I didn’t even know I needed. It’s crazy how in sync we are.”
“I’m real.” He brought his forehead to mine as if to prove his point. “I’m right here and you’re not hallucinating. I’ve had to pinch myself a few times too, but this is happening, bug. If you want it to.”
So many thoughts and emotions spun through me all at once as I searched for what I wanted to say first, but all that came out was, “Will you come sing Baby It’s Cold Outside with me?”
“What?”
I dragged in a breath, trying to force my scattered thoughts into some kind of logical order. “It’s snowing outside, I’m in a leather outfit, and that’s one of my favorite Christmas songs. You’d kind of be making one of my greatest dreams come true if you sing that with me right now.”
Singing that song with the boy I’d loved forever while the world outside was starting to look like a winter wonderland?
It was a crazy little fantasy, but with Leif by my side, it had the potential to become my reality. I almost swooned when he stood up and extended his hand.
“I’m in,” he said without hesitation. “If it involves making any of your dreams come true, I’m always going to be in.”
I placed my palm in his, completely unable to believe that this was my life now. All because I reached out to an old flame for a kiss.
We strode to the front of the bar. I giggled nervously as he let go of my hand to talk to the DJ, and a few moments later, I heard the first notes of the song starting to play. Leif turned to smile at me, sweeping a hand out toward the stage as he waited for me to join him.
The seniors burst into applause as we took our places behind the microphone. I closed my eyes, intent on drinking in every last nanosecond of this experience. Leif took my hand about halfway through the song, holding it tight. I finally reopened my eyes, looking out the window at the far end of the bar and watching snow fall under the Christmas lights strung up on the street outside.
When the song finally ended, he pulled me into his arms, grinning. Those twinkling blues locked on mine. His head descended, and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me right there in front of everybody. It elicited a cheer from what sounded like a delighted crowd.
My cheeks, neck, and chest grew hot, but I was still smiling when we finally broke apart. “Come on. We should get off the stage and give someone else a turn.”
He chuckled. “If you insist, but that was really fun.”
After we sat back down at the bar, there was an old couple there. The man slid into the vacant space beside Leif. The woman next to him appeared to be his wife. Their matching, plain golden bands sat on wrinkled hands that were covered in brownish spots, but what jumped out at me was that as soon as they were standing at the bar, they reached for each other as if they were newlyweds. Their fingers intertwined as the old man looked at us.
“I can tell you two kids have been in love for a long time.” The lines etched into the skin around his eyes deepened on a smile. “Darla and I have been married fifty years and we were once in this bar singing together like that too. You’re going to be happy together. I know it.”
I smiled. “Thank you, sir.”
Leif offered to pay for their drinks and chatted to them for a little while longer before we settled our check and left, going back to the Harpeth for his last night in town. By this time tomorrow night, he would be on his flight back home and I would probably already be missing him.
I told him that as we walked back into his suite. He pulled me to him, towering over me despite my heels and looking deep into my eyes. “I’ll already be missing you too, but we’re not there yet.”
As he said it, he slid both of his hands down the length of my arms and slipped his fingers between mine, then bent his head to kiss me. I tipped my head to give him better access, squeezing his fingers. My heart raced in my ears and my very being reached for his.
He responded by kissing me harder, his mouth devouring mine as we finally stumbled over to the bedroom, landing in a pile of entwined limbs. The leather we had on squeaked and creaked softly as we rolled around on the mattress, our mouths fused together as if they would never part.
It briefly occurred to me that getting out of these outfits was not going to be easy in the heat of the moment, but then Leif’s hand landed on my hip and my brain disintegrated. His fingers flexed, the pressure urgent and delicious, and making me feel so wanted that heat pooled between my legs.
As his tongue danced with my own, I moaned, my own hands sliding along the powerful muscles in his back until I was squeezing his hips in turn. Leif groaned when I moved down lower, cupping that ass I’d been ogling in the leathers all night.
He ground against me, the fabric sticking and sliding before he lifted himself up on his knees above me. Eyes flicking with the hottest of flames, he sat up, one of his legs on either side of mine. “We need to get out of this shit.”
I nodded my agreement, but actually doing it presented somewhat of a challenge. “Start with my top. It’s faster than the pants.”
Reaching out to run his palms along my sides, he moved slower than I’d thought he would, his gaze never leaving mine. When his fingers hooked under the leather at my ribs, time itself seemed to slow down.
The lighting in the room was just right. The soft glow of the lights filtered in from outside and a single, small lamp was lit on the nightstand. Although we couldn’t magic off our clothes, Leif was strong enough to be able to slide the top off over my head, his muscles bulging a little from the force he was using.
He sucked in a sharp breath when he realized I hadn’t been wearing a bra, and without saying a word, he pushed me back down on the mattress and sucked a nipple into his hot mouth. I sighed, my fingers tangling into his hair as my lids fluttered closed.
For just a moment, I let myself get lost in the sensations he was eliciting, focusing on the heat of him above me and the slick feeling of his tongue as it ran around my nipple. My insides tightened with anticipation and desire, and I finally reached for the button-down shirt he had on.
I didn’t want to waste time undoing his buttons, so I scrunched the material into my palms and hoped like hell this would work. Miraculously—or probably only because his shirt was normal fabric instead of leather—it slid free easily.
Leif lifted his head from my chest for only enough time for it to pass between us. Then he licked a path around the other nipple, nipping at it with his teeth. I tossed his shirt away. My back arched as I tried to push myself deeper into his mouth, my heart beating much too loud. I tugged at his hair and squeezed my eyes shut, wondering when on earth my nipples had become so sensitive.
Under his mouth and his fingers, I felt like I might be able to go all the way just from this, but I didn’t want to. Not tonight.
Tonight would be our last time together for a few weeks and I wanted to milk it for every second I could. Leif finally released my nipples, his lips kissing a flaming hot path down the length of my abdomen to the waistband of the impossible pants.
Writhing underneath him, I silently begged the leather to disappear, but to my utmost disappointment, it didn’t oblige. Leif glanced up at me after undoing my fly, his head still hovering above my lips. “Alright, bug. Lift that gorgeous butt. Let’s see if we can do this without falling off the bed.”
I giggled, surprised that he and I could have fun together even while doing this, but on the other hand, we had fun together no matter what. I did what he’d said, nearly flying off the mattress myself with the force of the tug he gave the pants, but thankfully, I managed to dig my heels in just in time and only the fabric slid free.
Once it reached mid-thigh, the job was basically done and relief splashed across his features. He grinned up at me again. “That wasn’t so bad. Keep these. Bring them when you come visit me in Denver.”
I giggled, pulling him back up to me and pressing a hard kiss on his mouth. “Do you really like them that much?”
“Fucking love them,” he groaned. “Just not having to get out of them.”
“On that note.” I took hold of his shoulders and nudged his hip with my leg to let him know I wanted him to roll over. When he went, I placed my knees on the outside of his thighs, straddling him. I dragged my gaze from his all the way down his defined torso to where the leather rested across the V of his hips. “Let’s do this.”
Flicking open his button, I unzipped him, not missing the sighing groan of his relief as the bulge in his underwear came into view. I tutted and ran the flat of my palm from his chest to his pelvis.
“Poor thing. You really strangled it tonight, didn’t you?”
He chuckled but arched an eyebrow at me. “Told you there was nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Why? You planning on kissing it to make it all better.”
“In a minute,” I murmured. My heart skipped at the pleasured sound that vibrated through his chest when I said it. “We need to get these all the way off first.”
It took a fair amount of effort, but finally, his pants hit the floor and I sent his underwear with them, immediately scooting down to sit on my knees between his legs. I tucked my hair behind my ears as I stared down at his dick, face to face with it for the first time in a long time.
“I’ve been wanting to do this,” I murmured, my gaze sweeping across the length of his proudly curved shaft as I reached for his belly button. “Hello, you.”
Leif let out a shuddering chuckle. “Are you speaking to my cock?”
“It’s been a long time. I’m just being polite.”
He bit down laughter, but as soon as I bent over to take his glistening, bare tip into my mouth, the laughter faded into a groan and his hands flew into my hair. I moaned around him, swirling my tongue around the head before I sank my lips farther down.
Leif’s hips started bucking soon, his thrusts gentle but urgent as his breathing became staggered. It wasn’t long before he frantically pulled me off him, flipping me over and grabbing a condom from the nightstand.
Standing on his knees between my legs, his eyes were locked on mine as he rolled it on, the sight so incredibly raw and erotic that it made me pulse for him. I had no doubt that I was going to go off like an errant firework as soon as he touched me, but he slid his fingers between mine as he lowered himself onto me, drawing my attention away from my throbbing clit as I brought my gaze up to his.
I looked right into his eyes as he brought himself to my entrance. His eyelids were heavy and his lips parted as he slowly pushed into me. A lock of his light hair dropped over his forehead as he moved, his brow furrowed as a groan slid from his lips.
I wrapped my legs around him, my fingers in his hair as he stretched me open, filling me completely and touching me everywhere I needed to be touched inside. When he started moving, moans fell unbidden from my lips and I rocked with him, our bodies blending into one as his mouth sealed over mine.
Everything I had ever known ceased to exist except for the love I felt for this man and the pleasure he brought me. My entire existence boiled down to only him and this moment, the moment in which I knew for a fact not only that I was irrevocably and undeniably in love with him, but also that I would do whatever it took to stay with him.