Page 118 of Stay for Me

“So did I,” she murmured.

“I made love to you in my bed, in the morning light, Diana,” I reminded her before repeating her gesture to the windows. “Granted, it is a bit brighter now, but I don’t understand why you only want to be in the dark.” I paused, the gut-wrenching realization hitting me like a train. She was watching me with caution etched into her beauty now, leaning forward slightly, her hair slowly falling over her shoulder.

“Mags, I—”

“It’s as good as it gonna be, baby,” I said darkly, watching her jerk back. “The doctors did all they could to repair the damage the bomb caused. Multiple skin grafts and a ton of surgery, Diana. This is as good as it gets.”

I didn’t even blink as she grabbed my shirt and yanked me to her. Her arms hooked around my neck, pulling me down so our foreheads touched. She shook her head viciously against me, stammering. “No, handsome, God no. That’s not—I wasn’t—you’re beautiful, Mags. So, so beautiful. I wasn’t—”

“Need you to spit it out, baby,” I pushed, not fully believing her.

I never expected anyone other than the doctors to see my wound, let alone have a woman in my bed again. I knew it was hideous, that it was something the world didn’t want to see, but fuck me, I at least hoped the woman in love with me wouldn’t mind fucking me in the light.

“It’s me,” she blurted, halting my thoughts. “I don’t want you seeingmein the light.”

I blinked and pulled back, feeling her hands fall from me. “What?”

That sweet mouth opened and shut twice before I clipped, “I’ve already seen you in the light. Put my mouth on you, had you spread out in my bed, coming on my tongue, and I watched every single second, loved every damn second.”

The heat in her cheeks spread down to her neck. “I was…we were…”

“So wrapped up in it that our insecurities couldn’t stand a fuckin’ chance?” I quipped, my voice harsher than I intended. When she didn’t say anything, I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ve never felt beautiful.” Her confession, a carefully spoken whisper, hit me like a damn grenade as she dropped her head.

“You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”

Her head shot up, tears in her eyes.

“You’ve always been the most stunning woman to me, even when you change your hair,” I said, stepping closer to her. “Even when you lose weight and gain it back. Even when you’re not dressed up, ready to take on the world.”

“Mags,” she croaked.

“Even yesterday, when I found you against that tree, in the dirt and covered in blood, you were beautiful. You will be beautiful when you decide to stop changing your hair and let it go gray, when the smile lines around your mouth and eyes become more prominent. Even when you’re old and walking with a cane, baby, you’ll still be beautiful to me,” I continued, my voice growing softer with each sentence.

Her question came out as a rasp. “You—you noticed when I lost weight?”

My jaw tightened as my nostrils flared. “Yeah, and we’re going to talk about that, but not right now.”

“What do you mean we’re going to—”

“Spent over a decade lovin’ you, and I don’t even know all of you, Diana,” I deadpanned. “You don’t know all of me, but that’s going to change. We have a lot to figure out, and it doesn’t need to be figured out today. Today, I just want you as you are.”

“Are we crazy?” she whispered.

I nodded once. “Yeah, we are, but who the hell cares?”

At that, she started laughing, and it was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever heard.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Diana

“Mags?”

“Mm?”

It was after breakfast, and we were back in bed, my head on his chest, his dark sheets tangled all around us. After I’d woken up and found him on the porch, he brought me into the kitchen, dead set on eating me out on the counter, but my stupid insecurities got in the way. So instead, after we had a conversation, he kissed me on the forehead, went into his bedroom, and came back with one of his flannels for me to wear. It wasn’t super loose on me, but I could get it buttoned and it covered my ass. Then, he made both of us breakfast, instructing me to tell him about Yale.

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