Chapter 27 #2
As I jiggle the doorknob, he finally breaks free from his mental haze and almost falls out of the truck.
He forgets to shut the door and has to run back.
He slams it and comes toward me, then he stops and runs back again, forgetting the cans of tomato soup.
His eyes are hot as they roam up and down my body, full of surprise and promise.
It takes him a few times to find the right key, his hands shaking with nervous energy. Finally, the door swings open, and I step into the garage. The automatic lights flicker on, and I eye the staircase with excitement.
Not willing to overthink this, I walk toward the steps, trying not to run. The door clicks shut behind me, then the lock turns. I don’t look back, not until I make it to the apartment above the garage and turn that handle.
When I step inside, Arlo’s scent wraps around me, hugging me and reminding me that with him, I will never have to feel unwanted or unsafe again.
The space screams Arlo, with simple lines and colors in grayish blues and a lighter gray. There’s nothing more than a kitchenette, a bed, and a door that I assume leads to a bathroom.
My body hums, and I can feel Arlo behind me.
The cans drop to the floor one by one.
Then he’s there, pressing against my back.
He brushes my hair off my shoulder and presses his lips against my neck.
A shiver races up and down my body, creating a sense of excitement that I don’t think I have ever felt in my entire life.
It’s because I didn’t have Arlo my entire life.
I have him now though, and I refuse to waste any more of my time without him.
“You stink,” he whispers against my neck as he presses his body against mine. Arlo moves so he can brush his lips against my forehead.
“You stink too.” My heart races, but not in fear. Not anymore. Never again.
I know that with this man by my side, I will never once again feel alone or be alone. That fact both terrifies me as much as it exhilarates me.
This must be what falling in love feels like.
“We don’t have to…” He trails off. I can feel the vibration of his words against my back and the swallow that slides down his throat.
I turn in his arms, linking my hands behind his head.
“What? We don’t have to what?” I tease him with a raised brow before deciding to go easy on him and give him something real.
Something all me. “Arlo, I know we don’t have to.
I want to. This isn’t to prove anything or to solidify anything, because mentally, I’m already with you. Mentally, you are already mine.”
He presses his forehead against my own, his breath gusting over my lips. “You hold my heart in your hands, Birdie. I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours.” I press my lips to his, gently at first, learning his touch, his feel, and the way his breath hitches with each brush of my lips.
“We really smell.” He lifts me in his arms before stalking toward the bathroom, where he sets me on the sink.
“The cans of soup are in the other room.” His lips are so close, but I want to draw this moment out and make it slow so I can remember every brief touch and breath, even the scent of skunk that lingers on our skin.
“We are going to have to burn our clothing,” he grumbles. “This is my favorite flannel.”
“I am willing to bet there is a drawer out there with a dozen of them.” My smile widens because I know it’s true.
“Close.”
“What? There’s no way I wasn’t right on target there.”
“Baker’s dozen.”
A laugh tumbles from my lips before I catch his gaze, where no mirth lives. Only desire, desire for me. For us. For our future.
His lips crash against mine, and his fingers grip my hips, pulling me as close to him as we can get to one another, allowing me to feel every inch of him.
We spent the past four weeks building to this moment, to a singular blip in time that I will always remember, that I will always cherish. The feel of him as his heart beats against my palm and the heat of his skin as I drag his shirt off his body.
There are memories that won’t just always be remembered, but are impossible to forget.
That’s how I know that Arlo Larson is my forever. Because with each touch, each kiss and caress, I cannot imagine a future without him in it. In the moments between losing pieces of our clothing and baring ourselves to each other, flashes of a bright future rip through my imagination.
I want to savor each one and embed them in my soul so I can make every single one come true. He treats me like a queen, his lips lingering on my skin, his teeth grazing each curve.
Then he moves inside me, with me, stealing every single last thought and breath until nothing more exists between us, until our lives intertwine and the world fades away.
All because the universe decided enough was enough and directed me down a path I never would have chosen toward a life I never dreamed possible, catapulting me into a love that I’m only just beginning to scratch the surface of, full of passion and devotion.
That darn skunk began something by darting into the road one day, and I can’t help but wonder if he knew this would happen when he sprayed us earlier.
I’m pretty sure animals have that sixth sense that we humans just don’t have.
I’ll have to reward him later, a long time later. After we burn our clothing.
Oh, and after we take that tomato bath.