Page 111 of Always Will
Hunter packs up his gaming system and stands behind Ashlie. “Well, we’ll leave you to it.” He smirks at me, and Ashlie shoots a sly grin over to Willa. “Maybe check your condom for holes this time, though.” He dodges a shove from Ashlie.
“Bye, Hunter.” Willa rolls her eyes and, with warmed bottle in one hand and Lyla in the other, turns toward the nursery. “I’ll see if I can get her back down,” she calls over her shoulder. I lock the front door and take the temporary freedom to hop in the shower.
Adjusting the top of the towel around my waist, I step from the bathroom and nearly walk into Willa, her fingers clutched tightly. “Everything okay, Gem?” I ask nervously. The worry etched on her face sets me on edge. But then she steps toward me and smooths her hands over my ribs. Her touch sends a frisson across my body, igniting at the tips of her fingers. Gripping the back of her neck, I tug her toward me. I just need to get lost in this—in her—for a fraction of a second before my worries take over again. Her breathless moan into my mouth sends my body into overdrive, and I crush her to my chest. The towel on my hips threatens to fall, but how bad would that be, really?
“Tre,” she whimpers around my lips when I graze her nipple through the sheer bodice of her dress.
We need to have this conversation, but I can’t find the motivation to unlatch myself from her. “Is it me, Willa?” I ask, trailing my lips from hers, across her jaw, until I reach the coconut scented pulse on her neck. “Did I do something?”
“What?” She pulls away enough for me to see her mouth gaping. “No. You’re…perfect, Tre. This is me. It’s all me.”
“Please talk to me. I’m floundering here.”
She bites her lip, her eyes sliding down to the space between us. “I’m scared shitless.”
“About what?”
She puffs her cheeks as she breathes out. “So many things.” I brush a knuckle over her cheek, and she leans into my hand, shaking her head. “I don’t want more kids.”
“Great. Me either.”
Her eyes pop wide, and she searches my face. “But before, when we were talking about future things, you said you always wanted to be a dad.”
“Good thing it only takes one kid to make that happen.” I smile, pulling her back to me. My thumbs caress her back. “What else?”
“How do you know there’s anything else?”
“Because I know you, Willa,” I say, dipping down to kiss the tip of her nose. “So tell me. What else?”
“I’m starting to feel like my old self again. I can be a lot to deal with…”
Staring into her eyes, I take in the full weight of her fear, and it’s devastating.She thinks I’ll stop loving her. “Gem, the people who convinced you that you’re hard to love were never worthy in the first place.” I press a kiss to her lips, then her chin, and down to her neck. “Loving you is easier than breathing,” I whisper across her skin, smiling at the goosebumps rising. “I was crazy about you before Lyla. Now that I finally have you, there’s not a chance in hell that’s changing.” Sucking on her neck earns me a moan filled with desire, and she tips her head back to give me better access. “What else?” I murmur. I know that’s not it. Those things aren’t what’s actually stopping her from dragging me to bed like she used to.
“I’m not the same as before. My body, I mean. Things arestretchier and lumpier.” She looks down at her chest. “Lower. I just don’t want you to be expecting an unblemished body.”
I jut my head back and scan her face.That’s what this is all about? She purses her lips, curling her hands into fists to quell that finger habit. She’s worried I’m not attracted to her anymore, and I’m so speechless I do the first thing that crosses my mind. I spin her around and march her to the full-length mirror across from the bed.
When I rest my chin on her shoulder, we stare at each other through the reflection, neither of us blinking while we take each other in. I slide my hands over her shoulders, then caress the soft skin on her upper arms. “Willa, all I’ve wanted to do is melt with you, touch you, feel your sweet body shuddering around me. This body”—I whisper in her ear—“is a goddamn masterpiece. It handcrafted my greatest treasure. If you think, for one second, I don’t love every single part of you…well, I guess I’m gonna have to show you.” She inhales sharply, eyes fluttering when my hand slips under her dress. I trail up her thigh, stopping when I reach her ass.No panties. “Do you like when I touch you like this?”
She nods, biting her lip.
“Do you want me to keep touching you?”
She nods again, eyelids hooded to slits as my thumb brushes her nipple. Hissing a breath, she leans back against my chest, giving my towel the last bit of permission it needs to break free of the knot and drop to the floor. “I need your words.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
WILLA
“Touch me,” I gasp. Trevor slides my dress zipper down to the small of my back, his touch slow and tender, as if he’s holding the most delicate stardust in the universe. He eases the straps over my shoulders, replacing every inch of fabric with light brushes of his lips before doing it all again to remove my bra. I’ve missed this feeling coursing through my body, his yearning for me skirting over my skin, piercing straight into my soul.
My dress drops to the floor next to his towel, and his fingertips trail down my sides until his hands grip my naked hips. “Just look at yourself. You’re my fucking dream.” His warm breath fans over the crest of my ear, and I shudder.
What the hell was my problem?Why keep myself from this—from him? “Pleasedon’t stop,” I whine.
He pulls me against him, palming one breast while I grind into his erection. “You without panties has me hard as a rock, Gem.” He walks me backward, and when his legs hit the bed, he sits on the mattress and pulls me into his lap. I melt into his sturdy chest supporting my back as his orange, clove cologne wraps around me. “Eyes on the mirror, Willa.” His warm, broad hands glide over my stomach, sending hot shivers through mybody. He tugs my nipples, and I gasp in surprise as he soothes them with a caress.
I silently thank the little pep talk from earlier becausethisis something I’ve been missing fiercely. He takes his time stroking my body, like I’m the first thing he’s ever touched in his life. Each gentle swipe of his fingers awakens the desire I’ve been scared to unleash. “Tre, don’t stop.”
