Chapter Twenty-Eight
KILLIAN
“ I hate to break up your lovefest, but we’re here.” Even Max’s sarcasm couldn’t dampen my happiness. Trissa was curled up in the seat next to me, and for once, everything was right in my world.
It had been a long night for both of us.
Tris yawned. “I’m so tired and my feet are killing me.” She winced when she looked down at her heels.
I slid out of the car and helped her out, steadying her when she stumbled slightly.
“Damn these torture devices,” she muttered, trying to maintain her balance.
I could help with that. I scooped her up into my arms.
Tris shrieked, surprise evident in her widened eyes. She instinctively threw her arms around my neck. “What are you doing?”
She felt so good pressed against my heart. Each curve fit like a puzzle piece and her scent tickled my nose.
“Saving those pretty feet,” I quipped. I laughed again when she scrunched up her nose. Tris was not a feet person. The familiarity of us being together washed over me.
This is what I’d always wanted.
She grinned. “Carry on then, sir.” She settled her cheek against my shoulder and let out a contented sigh.
The comforting warm weight of her in my arms reminded me how things had changed between us tonight. For the better. That ruthless, angry side of me that had wanted her to pay for the pain she’d put me through by choosing Peter and not seeing me had quieted. Only the need to care for her and the desire to make her mine remained.
Oh how I needed to make her mine. I desperately prayed she’d let me.
I carried her down the hall to my bedroom, giving zero consideration to offering her one of the guest rooms. The need to have her in my space and her scent on my sheets was too strong.
The lights in my room were off, and I let the moon and the familiar layout guide me. With care, I eased her down my body, a hiss breaking free from my mouth when she slid over my half-hard cock.
“Killian,” she mumbled sleepily.
“We’re just going to get you into bed.”
“Okay.” Clearly, I hadn’t thought this through.
She reached for the ribbons holding her dress together in the front. With each undone tie, more of her was exposed to my gaze. Was this an invitation? How had I gotten so damn lucky? When she struggled with the sleeves my hands were on her shoulders, over hers helping her. As the sleeves grazed down her arms, and off her wrists. I tugged it over her hips until it pooled at her feet, leaving her standing in only her underwear.
Every curve, every line of her body made more blood flow rapidly to my cock.
Tris confidently met my gaze.
She was so fucking beautiful.
Needing to see her from the front, I turned her to me and raked my eyes over her.
Maybe having her in my bedroom wasn’t the great idea I’d thought it to be. She could stay in here and I’d go to a guest room.
“Take me to bed, Killian.”
Fuck.
I pulled back the covers and lifted her into my arms one last time. I set her down on the black sheets and was surprised when she snaked out a hand to grab my wrist.
“Stay.”
“Tink. You’re tired.” I didn’t want to rush our first time. She deserved better than that.
She didn’t bother to cover herself and grinned when my eyes drifted down. “We can still cuddle.”
I’d always been a tits and ass guy, and Tris did not disappoint. Her voluptuous breasts filled the bra she wore. I wanted nothing more than to run my tongue across their upper swells, but tonight was about her and her needs. And if she needed cuddling, that’s all I would give.
I would be the best damn cuddler in the world.
The Olympic gold medalist of cuddling.
Cuddling World Cup champion.
I curled my hands into fists so I didn’t push that tan lace aside and fill my mouth with her sweetness.
She licked her lips, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her until we were both breathless.
The gentlemanly thing to do would have been to cover her up, but I’d never pretended to be one of those. And my gut told me that wasn’t what she wanted. My eyes greedily took in the changes to her body over the last ten years since I’d seen her in a bathing suit. Her soft stomach, the underwear begging to be peeled down so I could worship, the stretch marks that guided me to her pussy. It took everything in me not to run my nose along the seams of the cotton and tug it aside to lick and suck her clit until she screamed. I hadn’t had the chance to feast on her tonight, and would rectify that the first chance I got—if she let me.
My cock pulsed and tightened.
Pull the covers up, asshole.
I yanked the soft sheet up to her chin. “Stop tempting me, Tink.”
She laughed softly. “Then stop standing there being all sexy-like. Get undressed and come to bed.”
Because I liked to be tortured, I responded in the affirmative, even as my brain told me to leave. That she needed rest. And because I had my doubts that if we shared space tonight, neither one of us would be getting a lot of sleep.
Whether we cuddled or made love, there was no way my thoughts would allow me to sleep one moment away.
I walked around to the other side of the bed, tossed my wallet and phone on the nightstand, and kicked off my shoes. My jacket, shirt, socks, and pants were off me in record time.
As I slid beneath the covers, I hesitated. I needed a moment to control myself before I wrapped my arms around my dream girl. I didn’t want to rush any of this, needing these soft, quiet moments with her just as much as the passion-filled ones.
Her hands reached for me, gripping my bicep, and using that momentum to shift closer. Each wiggle of her body had mine tightening further, increasing my agony. She curled into me, the delicious torture of her curves fitting so perfectly to my hard chest. Our legs laced together with my knee resting between her luscious thighs, heat radiating from our skin. And as she settled deeper into my embrace, I rested my hand on her belly, allowing my fingers to skim her softness before settling around her waist.
Tris let out a deep sigh, pushing towards me as though she sought to get even closer than we were.
She closed her eyes, and as the minutes passed, her breath deepened. My fingers idly traced her skin until my own eyes reluctantly closed. I had a hard time believing she was mine and I wanted to cherish every second she allowed me to hold her.
A few hours later, sunlight streamed through the windows, piercing my eyes drawing me awake from the best dream of my fucking life. I cursed myself for forgetting to close the shades last night.
My cell phone buzzed on my nightstand. I grumbled quietly, attempting to extricate myself from Tris. During the night, she’d wrapped herself around me. More than half her body draped over mine. I wasn’t sure I could move without waking her. And I didn’t want to wake her. I was terrified that she’d wake up and realize this was a mistake.
That I was a mistake.
I shifted a little so she was snuggled into my side instead of on top of me. Her quiet breathing fanned my skin driving me crazy. Despite my efforts not to wake her, she began to stir in my arms.
Tris stretched, stopping suddenly as though she realized she wasn’t alone in her own bed. Her eyes sprung open. “Killian?”
“Hey,” I said, leaving my arm circled around her neck. I’d check my phone later to see who called. It was probably Smee, anyway.
“Uh.” In between each of her slow blinks, I caught signs of various emotions bubbling inside her. Her initial surprise and confusion morphed into contentment and joy.
From the brightness of the sun, I suspected it was getting late. “I’m going to pull together a breakfast for us. Anything you don’t like?”
“No. I’m sorry. I just fell asleep last night … ” She frowned.
I leaned in and placed a kiss on her pouty lips. “Take your time.”
She was so damn beautiful, even with rumpled morning hair and sleepy eyes. “You were tired. I was, too. It’s no big deal.” And it wasn’t, now that we were on the same page.
We had forever to figure this all out.
“Right. No big deal … ” Her uncertainty stopped me cold. It felt like a repeat of her doubts last night.
“No. I didn’t mean it that way.” I pressed my forehead to hers and kissed her nose. I’d finally gotten what I wanted and this wasn’t going to get fucked up by miscommunication again. My doubts. Her doubts. That was what drove our words this morning. Not the truth.
I still saw uncertainty in her eyes.
“I’ve waited for this moment with you for what feels like forever, Tris. I’m not about to fuck it up. You were tired. We have plenty of time to go there, or anywhere. Everywhere. That’s what I meant.”
She looked into my eyes. “Okay.”
I needed to get her out of her own head and I needed to stop my negative train of thought, too. This was so new between us that given the chance, we questioned what was before our eyes.
That needed to stop. “Do you regret last night?”
She froze in my arms.
Shit.
She did.
Tris threw a leg over me and settled her knees by my hips. So much for standing and going to make breakfast. I settled back against the bed, leaning away, unsure what to say. Her hands flew up and clutched at my face. “No, oh my God. No, Killian.”
It was suddenly easier to breathe.
“Do you regret anything?” she asked, a slight waver to her voice.
“No. Never.” There would never be a time I didn’t want her. Not just physically, but all of her. Mind, body, and soul.
Tris let out a satisfied hum. “I’m sorry I was being an idiot again. I guess part of me was still stuck on whether this is real between us … ”
“Why would you doubt me?”
“I … ” She paused. “I think for so long I thought I was the problem. That guys didn’t like me, for well, me. And—this was supposed to be fake.”
Then she smiled. A real one. Full of confidence.
I couldn’t be fucking happier if my next song was certified platinum.
“I’m sorry, Killian. After my mini-freak out last night, and my instant misunderstanding this morning, you handled both perfectly. I let my anxiety override my common sense. And I’m done doing that.”
“Good. And no need to apologize.” It was imperative she knew—and believed—I loved her just the way she was. “I’ll always reassure you if it happens again. We all have our wounds, our demons. The things that make us second-guess when things are going right and whether we deserve them.”
“How did you get to be such a perfect book boyfriend?”
I smiled. “I have been reading those romance books you like so much. Maybe that’s it.”
“I think they could take notes from you.” She leaned up to press her lips softly to mine. The gentle kiss stirred a warmth inside my chest so strong I was sure my heart grew three fucking sizes. “While I regret it took me so long to see you, Killian, I need you to know that I see you now. Really see you. All of you. And there’s no other place I’d rather be, and no other person I’d rather be with.”
Before I could respond, her lips captured mine again, hands cupping my face gently like I was a piece of glass and rubbing at my scruff.
“Tink,” I moaned, pulling back.
“You okay?” she asked, concern evident in her worried tone.
“Yeah, I’ve just … Never better. I’ve waited so long for this moment. I need a second to breathe. To take it all in.”
This was everything I’d ever wanted. The life I’d imagined with her. I needed a moment to treasure it, appreciate it, and sear it deep into my heart.