Page 50 of Silent Cravings

“Are you kidding?” A laugh burst out of me, and it felt good. “I was crazy about you. When it seemed like you were in a hurry to get away from me at college and I never heard from you, I convinced myself it was stupid to ever fall for you in the first place.”

“But you did fall for me?”

The hope in his voice melted what little was left of the ice I tried to build around my heart. Reaching out, I caught what was left of the moisture on his cheek. “Yes. Hard. Completely.”

He caught my hand, turning his face toward it to kiss my palm. “And now? Please tell me I don’t have to live without you. I don’t know if I could handle it. I will do everything, whatever you want, to make sure I never make the mistake of losing you again.”

All it took was him opening his eyes and gazing into mine. I never stood a chance, did I? I loved him then. I loved him now. If I hadn’t known it before today, all it took was the tears he’d shed to lift the veil from over my eyes. Now, I could see clearly.

“Of course, I love you,” I whispered. “You idiot. What do you think?”

He burst out laughing, and before I knew it, I was in his arms where I belonged. Where I could finally set down the burden I’d been carrying long enough that I’d gotten used to it. Breathing was easier without weighing me down.

“I’m never leaving your side.” He kissed my cheeks, my forehead, and my nose until I giggled helplessly and hopednobody was watching too closely. “You’re never getting rid of me.”

“Who said I wanted to?” I asked, smiling through my happy tears before a kiss said everything I couldn’t find the words for.

It wasdark when we reached my apartment, the day melting in the face of everything we had to say to each other. An afternoon spent strolling Central Park hand in hand had turned into dinner, with neither of us wanting to break the magic we had wound around ourselves.

Now that the truth was out there—our feelings, the past, everything that had been keeping us apart—what happened after we stepped through the door and closed it on the rest of the world was inevitable.

Our bodies crashed together, and like always, I was swept up in the moment—being close to him, touching him, sizzling in the heat of his caress. But there was something more to it now. Something so deep, I was almost afraid of the intensity. I had to fight the urge to hide from him when happy tears filled my eyes.

There was nothing to be afraid of. I knew it when our mouths met and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close enough that I could feel his heart pounding away. I knew how he felt because mine thudded so hard it made me dizzy. That could have been the effect of his touch—gentle but full of promise. We had been here before, so many times. Only this time, there was the prospect of forever involved.

“I love you.” His breathless whisper in my ear made my tears spill over. We had almost missed this. I locked my armsaround his neck and pressed my face against his shoulder, overwhelmed, weak against the power of those words and what they meant.

He loved me.

I was the love of his life.

He was the love of mine.

I didn’t have to be afraid anymore. There was something joyful about giving myself to him, melting against him once he backed me against the door, holding me in place with his body so his hands could run all over me.

“I can’t wait to do this for a very, very long time.” He chuckled softly, finding my mouth again, stroking my tongue with his until I was completely under his spell. I would’ve done anything he asked. I would have given him anything so long as he never stopped lighting my body and soul on fire with his skillful touch and his deep, searing kisses.

When he started sliding my cardigan over my shoulders, I did the work for him, letting it fall on the floor so he could rain kisses over my bare skin, dropping the straps of my sundress, dragging his lips over my shoulders and across my chest while his hands worked their way up my thighs. His mouth moved lower, his teeth catching the top of the dress and pulling it down, inching it over my breasts until they were bare. My back arched when he molded them in his hands, lifting them to his lips, kissing them almost reverently. The pleasure was just as hot and consuming, but the urgency was gone. In its place was tenderness.

“You’re so perfect,” he grunted out between laps against my skin. There was nothing for me to do but run my fingers through his hair and lose myself in him as he went lower, finally pulling down my thong to press hot, breathless kisses against my mound.

“And this.” His already deep voice dropped in pitch, his breath against my shaved skin driving me wild. “I could live on this.”

It was like he wanted to prove himself. The next thing I knew, he draped my right leg over his shoulder and buried his face in my pussy.

“Oh, God, Evan…” The back of my head touched the door. My eyes closed, all of my awareness narrowing down to the place where his tongue touched me. It was unspeakable, the pleasure, so good it almost hurt, so good there was nothing I could do but stand and let him claim every inch of me.

Soon, my needy whimpers were louder than his deep grunts. His tongue worked me to the point I could only hold onto the back of his head as the tension broke, replaced by wave after wave of warm, sweet bliss.

I was still trembling by the time he stood, pulling off his T-shirt and dropping his jeans and boxer briefs to his knees. His rigid cock pressed against my stomach when he leaned close, touching his forehead to mine.

“I love you.” He lifted my leg, this time draping it over his hip before driving himself into me all at once. The sensations that had only started to fade came back in full color, even stronger than before. I dug my nails into his firm shoulders before he took my wrists and pinned them above my head, holding me in place as he moved, taking me in slow, deep strokes.

“Mine. Mine always.” His dark eyes searched mine as he spoke and filled and stretched me, taking me to the edge. “Say it. Tell me you’re mine.”

“Yours.” With pleasure wiping out almost every conscious thought, that was the one thing that remained. “Yours, always.” There was something so right about sayingit, about letting go and handing my heart, my life, and my future to him. No more fear. No more regret.

Nothing but the satisfaction of taking him inside me and feeling him lose control one stroke at a time, one kiss at a time. “I’m gonna come,” I whispered in his ear, gasping when he responded in a flurry of quick, sharp strokes.

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