Chapter 39
Monty
“I need you,” Penny mumbles against my mouth, already pulling on my shirt as our kisses turn more urgent.
I’m not sure how I gather the strength to stop her.
I’m so damn relieved that she’s forgiven me, so fucking happy that she finally knows how I really feel, that it’s hard not to let her do anything she wants in this moment.
But getting naked on Maple Lane will lead to all sorts of gossip that I know she’d prefer to avoid.
“Upstairs, Xuxuzinho,” I say before wrapping an arm under her ass and lifting her in the air.
“But your boom box!” she squeals.
I grin because she doesn’t say a thing about how she’s too heavy to be carried, doesn’t try to wriggle out of my arms.
“It’s Hope Harbor.” I stomp toward the door. “No one’s going to take it.”
“True, though someone might take it to make sure it’s safe.” She laughs and the sound is like oxygen, something I can’t live without. God, I’d missed that sound. “Where did you even find a boom box?”
I smirk as I carry her through the store and toward the stairs to her apartment.
“A book boyfriend never reveals his secrets.” She coughs out a laugh before I add, “But I’m not just your book boyfriend, Penny.”
Her brows raise as she gazes up at me. “No?”
“I’m your real boyfriend.”
“That’s very presumptuous of you, Montgomery.”
“Hey, you told me possessive is hot. And I’m telling you, I’ll take the role of boyfriend for the moment because I don’t want to scare you with how I never plan on letting you go.”
She grabs the neck of my shirt before I walk through the door. “It doesn’t scare me, Monty. Nothing scares me when I have you.”
My heart races wildly in my chest at her admission. “And you’ll always have me.”
Penny pulls my mouth to hers. Somehow I manage to get us through her door, into her apartment, and onto her bed without letting go.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Xuxuzinho,” I murmur. “You have no idea what seeing you in this little tank top with those short shorts is doing to me right now.”
I watch in awe as that beautiful flush flashes across her chest and crawls up her neck toward her cheeks. I’ll never get over the way Penny’s body betrays her every emotion. Never get over the effect I have on her. She’s so goddamn adorable, and the love of my fucking life.
She reaches for my shirt and finally I allow her to tug it over my head. She presses her fingers to my chest, tracing my tattoos.
“When did you get this one?” she asks, stroking the fire on my chest.
I lean back, trying to remember. “A few years ago.”
“Was it really because of bonfire nights?”
“Yes. Because those were the last memories I had that were pure. My grandfather was still alive, my parents were still married. I could sit beneath a maple tree, watch you read, and just be.”
“I like that.” Penny kisses the tattoo and looks up to face me. “That’s why I named my store Bonfire and Bliss. My happiest memories were reading and sitting by that fire with you.”
Pride swells in my chest. I wish we could have kept that precious time, I wish I had held on to our friendship when everything else fell apart. Though maybe, if I’d done that, I wouldn’t have her the way I do now.
“Monty,” she says, voice soft, her eyes searching mine.
“Yes, amor?” I run my fingers through her auburn hair, pushing it behind her ear and holding her cheek in my palm.
“I’m in love with you, too.” She leans into my hand.
“Like tattoo my body with things that remind me of you love you. Like can’t breathe, can’t eat, can’t sleep without thinking about you love you.
Like stand outside your window with a boom box love you.
That epic kind of love they only write about in books. ”
My heart pounds as I stare into the copper eyes that I know I’ll be studying until the day I die. But I don’t say a word, instead taking the time to revel in hers.
“Oh my God, say something,” she mutters. “Please?”
“I love everything about you, Xuxuzinho. I love how fast you talk when you’re nervous.
” I press a kiss to her lips. “I love the way your skin flushes that pretty pink color when I’m around.
” I trace the red hues that run from the tip of her cleavage up to her neck before pulling her close.
Her breath hitches as I press my mouth next to her ear.
“And I love that I know everything you’ve ever wanted to try.
Because now I get to spend the rest of my life making all your fantasies come true. ”
She breathes out the most beautiful whine. “Monty, please.”
“Please what? Please tell you that you’re my every dream come true?
That I love your sense of humor and your obsession with fall?
I love how good you are to my vovo, and all your friends.
I love that you spend your Monday nights with a group of women who tease you endlessly because you know they do it with love.
I love that you love with your whole heart, that you never hold back, even when you know it could hurt.
Penny, you choose to love despite the risks.
You love fiercely, you love bravely, and it all just makes me love you more. ”
“Monty.” Tears cascade down her cheeks and I gently kiss them away.
“And I love that right now I get to make love to you, Penelope Darling. That you’re mine.”
She tears at my clothes then, pulling my pants down as I do what she likes: stroking myself as I watch her undress just as quickly.
“Condom?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I’m on birth control and I haven’t been with anyone but you.”
“Me, neither, Xuxuzinho. And that’s exactly how it’s going to be for the rest of our lives, if you want it.” She flushes again and I groan. “Every time you turn that pretty crimson color, you make me fall harder. I’m in so deep, Penny. So fucking deep.”
She rolls her lips as she tries to fight a laugh.
“Say it…” I tell her.
“You aren’t that deep yet. But you’re about to be,” she quips.
I jump on her then, laughing as I settle between her thighs.
“You’re the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me,” I tell her as I press my fingers between her legs, stroking her heated sex. “Fuck, Xuxuzinho, you feel incredible.”
“I need you inside me,” she pants. “Now.”
I nod, looking down at the space between us, and drag the swollen head of my cock between her silky perfection.
“You’re doing so good, baby.” I push in as she lets out the sweetest of whimpers. “Breathe for me.”
“So good,” she croaks out, as her hand flutters on my heart.
“I love you, Monty. Your beautiful mind, your sense of humor. I’ve never laughed with anyone the way I laugh with you.
” Penny gives me a soft smile as she wraps her hand around my neck, pulling my mouth to hers.
“Now show me what that beautiful cock can do when you make love to me.”
My lips hook up right before she captures them and I push inside her in one swift thrust.
I feel the pounding of her pulse beneath my fingers as I hold them to her neck, wanting every inch of me to touch a piece of her. Because Penny is my past, present, and every second of my future.