A sharp pain in my chest made me falter. I held her more tightly to me.
What was this?
I didn’t have time to think as she pulled my head to hers and kissed me fiercely.
Obviously, she was done talking.
We’d have to talk later, and there would be some discussion about magic, but not right now.
Right now, I was right where I wanted to be.
She was wearing a light sweater over a tee shirt, and I gently peeled the sweater off of her. Then the shirt, and I could see the light peach bra she wore. It made her skin glow.
“You are beautiful.” The words came out almost by themselves.
“I want to see you.”
I shrugged out of my jacket, and then ripped my tee shirt off, letting it fall to the floor.
“Holy hell, Z. Wow.”
That was what you wanted to hear when you showed your naked self to your lover.
Not that I couldn’t be anything I wanted. But this was me. This was me as I saw myself, as I wanted to be in this new world, this new life.
And my lover was pleased.
I felt ten—twenty—feet tall.
She slid her hands down to hug me around the waist. Her head nestled into my chest as though it had been made to fit there. I let myself just hold her, smelling her lavender scent, letting my head rest against the top of hers.
This was hard. I was hard, harder than I’d been in… I couldn’t remember how long. I wanted to ravish her, taste her, know her body in every way possible.
But I waited.
Roxy deserved it.
I deserved it, I realized.
“You smell like rain.”
“Is that good?” I couldn’t believe I could still speak.
“Mmm-hmm.” She looked up, and stepped away, unbuttoning her jeans. When she slid them down her legs, and I saw that she had on peach colored panties, dainty and trimmed with lace, the sensation of being next to a glowing flower increased.
How in the name of Hades had I gotten this fucking lucky?
If she was a flower, I was going to help her blossom.
For me.
For herself.
For us.
Roxy stepped out of her jeans, and came closer to me. Her hands went behind her back but I stopped her.
“Leave it. You look beautiful.”