Leandra
I felt like I was on cloud nine, and that was such a dangerous way to feel when the fall was such a long one. Yes, I felt safe with Dalton, but life didn’t care about that, so I knew that there were going to be lots of challenges in our future, which I was more than willing to face.
Nevertheless, I was all in, and the tattoo on my arm was proof enough of that. I was committed to seeing this thing through, and it was scary, exciting, and fulfilling all at the same time. Honestly, I felt like I could be high, and I could see how a person could easily get addicted to the feeling.
“What are you doing, baby?”
I turned from the mirror to see Dalton sitting up on the bed, eyeing me like he might be worried.
When we’d gotten back to his place, instead of making good on all his dirty promises, Dalton had decided to let me sleep, and I’d needed it.
Not only had the sex done a number on me, but my mother’s threats had also exhausted me enough to put me into a deep sleep, something that my body had obviously needed.
However, about a couple of hours ago, I’d woken up to Dalton’s fingers inside me, coaxing me out of my slumber, and a third finger had been penetrating my curiosity.
The double penetration had been enough to make me forget sleep, and it’d even been enough to roll over and let the man do whatever he’d wanted to me.
So, after taking his time to prove that he was all that I’d ever need, Dalton had taken control of all my fantasies, and I was no longer curious about the unexplored.
Yeah, I was sore as hell, but I was officially no longer curious about anal sex, and I was more than fine with doing it again in the future.
At any rate, after Dalton had done his best with me, he’d fallen right back asleep, leaving me to lay in the dark, wanting to pinch myself because I was so used to losers in my bed.
I’d been settling for so long because of my insecurities, and now that I had Dalton at my side, I wasn’t necessarily looking for the other shoe to drop, but I was still juggling how this was too good to be true.
Needless to say, with my eyes refusing to close, I’d gotten up out of bed, then had walked over to admire my tattoo in the mirror, wondering exactly when I’d lost my damn mind.
In only a matter of days, I’d gone from minding my own business to falling into bed with Dalton Summit, getting a tattoo with his name on it, and then letting him defile me in a million different ways.
I was also in love.
No doubt about it, I was in love with Dalton Summit.
“Admiring my tattoo,” I answered, grinning widely over my shoulder.
Dalton smirked at me, and he looked so sexy all rumpled up in the bed. “Admiring it, huh?”
Turning back towards the full-length mirror, I said, “Yes, I’m admiring it.”
I watched in the mirror as Dalton tossed the sheets back, then got out of bed naked as the day that he was born, and it took a special kind of confidence to be able to look capable when completely naked, which Dalton clearly had.
My eyes stayed glued to his through the mirror as he came up behind me, then wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned back in his embrace, feeling like there was no other place where I’d rather be, and even though I was dressed in the shirt that he had discarded earlier, I could still feel his warmth as if we were both naked.
“Christ, you’re beautiful,” he said quietly. “I know that I keep saying it, but it’s true. Every inch of you is like a priceless work of art, and I can’t believe that you’re finally mine.”
“You know, I never would have pegged you for a romantic,” I teased, a small grin playing on my lips. “But you sure do know how to say the right things to a girl.”
Dalton turned me around in his arms before looking down at me, saying, “I’m not saying the right things to a girl. I’m telling my girl how I feel about her.”
Swoon again.
“Well, just so we’re clear, I won’t ever get tired of hearing you tell me what you’re feeling,” I told him seriously. “It’s actually nice to hear someone say sweet things to me and mean it.”
After a few seconds, he said, “Well, tell me how it feels to hear that I love you.”
I could feel my heart get stuck in my throat as Dalton looked down at me, the truth in that dark gaze of his, and I’d been wrong about thinking that this moment couldn’t get any more perfect.
In the quietness of his home, in the aftermath of our amazing night, Dalton Summit was telling me that he loved me, and it felt a bit overwhelming when it was everything that I’d always wanted from him.
“You...you, what?”
Dalton kept one hand on my hip as the other came up to cradle the side of my face. “I love you, Leandra. I’m pretty sure that I always have.”
My throat was clogged with emotion, but I was still able to speak. “I don’t need the extra flair, Dalton. Telling me that you love me is more than enough for me.”
His brows immediately furrowed. “First off, I don’t do flair. Second, why in the fuck else would you have been able to make me so goddamn crazy if it wasn’t love?”
My heart hurt with how much I wanted to believe him, and while I had no reason not to, I was being handed a moment that I’d been wanting for ages, so it was understandable that I might be bungling this a bit. This moment mattered, and so did the relationship that we were building together.
“That’s some pretty scary stuff,” I whispered, going with honesty since he was.
“No shit,” he snorted, and I could only smile with how this was definitely a Dalton Summit moment. “You say that like I’m not petrified about it.”
“I guess we’re going to have to just suffer through it,” I muttered, looking up at him.
“I’m sure that we can figure it out,” he replied quietly, his dark eyes staring down at me like he never wanted to look away. “If not, then I still see no reason why we can’t be miserable together.”
“Better miserable together than happy with someone else?” I joked.
“Oh, baby, if you think it’s possible for me to be happy with someone else, then you haven’t been paying close attention all these years,” he replied easily. “You’re the only one that I want getting on my nerves.”
My lips twitched at that before getting demanding. “Say it again.”
Without needing clarification, he said, “I love you, Leandra Rollins. I love the fuck out of you, baby.”
“I love you, Dalton Summit,” I said, feeling incredibly free to finally be able to say it. “I’ve loved you for a very long time.”
His entire face softened as he said, “Well, if I can just have you love me for the rest of your life, then I’m all good.”
Tears immediately sprung to my eyes with everything that I was suddenly feeling. “I’ve wanted to be able to say that to you for so long, Dalton. I can’t tell you how heavy it sat on my chest every single time that I saw you.”
Using both of his hands to cup my face this time, Dalton ducked down a bit, so that he could look me straight in the face. “And I can’t tell you how much I wanted to hear those words from you, and now that I have, I want to hear them every goddamn day, Leandra.”
I grabbed his wrists in my hands, letting him see the emotion in my eyes. “I love you, Dalton. I really do, and I don’t ever want you thinking that I’m only saying it in response to what you said. There is no I love you too; there’s just I love you, period.”
“I like that,” he said, a sweet smile on his face. “I really like that.”
“Yeah, so do I,” I grinned.
Straightening, Dalton let go of my face, then smoothed my messy hair down. “How about a hot bath?”
My cheeks immediately turned red. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
“Sore?” he smirked.
I nodded. “A bit.”
“But was it worth it?” he asked wolfishly.
“It was more than worth it,” I answered honestly. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind doing it again, though not tonight.”
That got a laugh out of him. “Definitely not again tonight.”
I stepped back to let Dalton take off the shirt that I was wearing, and it wasn’t ten minutes later that we were both soaking in his tub, and I knew for a fact that this was another first for Dalton.
Not only was he too no-nonsense to be taking baths, but he had sorely misjudged the water levels when filling the tub. It’d been cute, sweet, and endearing.
“I could get used to this,” I muttered, the steam making my eyelids heavy.
“We’re definitely going to need a bigger tub then,” he replied easily, and for him, it really was that easy. “I’m too tall for this shit.”
All I could do was laugh at that, and it was about goddamn time.