Page 104 of Love Me Steadfast
It takes effort to pull away. I kiss her forehead and she gives a soft laugh, like she’s entertaining the same thoughts.
I rest my hand on her knee between shifting gears. Every moment I’m not touching her sends a warning prickle over my skin because it feels absolutely plausible that at any moment, I’ll reach back to find her gone. Just like last time. One minute we were planning our futures together, and the next, she disappeared, obliterating my heart.
At the stop sign, I’m checking both ways when Charlotte gasps. “Another one!”
I look right, but I’ve missed it again.
“Is there a meteor shower going on?” I ask.
She gives me an adorable smirk. “You’re the environmental scientist.”
I laugh, and the tension in my shoulders rolls back. “Yeah, like trees and shit. Not stars.”
“I missed seeing the stars,” she says in a soft voice.
I risk a glance at her profile, drinking in her cute nose and long dark lashes. It’s too dark to see her freckles, but I got my fill during dinner. It was so good to see her happy today, hear her sweet laughter. Those twin doves inside my chest feather their wings over my heart.
I press my lips to her temple, savoring her soft sigh.
“One of my favorite things about fall.” I put the truck in gear and accelerate.
“It must be…different…to not have football,” she says. “You must miss it so much.”
A familiar longing twists behind my breastbone. “Sure, I do.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, wincing. “Bringing up bad memories.”
“It’s okay.” I brush my thumb over her kneecap, reassured by the warmth of her skin. “I have other things to look forward to now. Being in these mountains. Time with my family.”
“They’re a pretty incredible bunch.” She covers my hand with hers, the softness and warmth of her palm radiating into mine.
“The best.” Of course I miss football. But I meant what I told her. It doesn’t make a life.
Crossing over Miner Creek kicks my anticipation into overdrive. I wasn’t expecting to touch her tonight. But now that we’ve stepped over that line, I’m making good on my promise. Fuck the consequences.
“What’s going on with you and Theo?” she asks as I turn onto Morning Star.
Unease churns in my gut. “I think he’s looking out for you.”
She draws a sharp breath. “But I was the one…”
“Shh, baby.” I clasp her hand and bring it to my lips. “It’s just you and me. Nobody else gets a say.”Not this time, I don’t add because that feels like upping the stakes, and she doesn’t need that.
I glance at her, but she’s staring straight ahead. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
When I pull into the driveway, I’m too impatient to put the truck away. So I park in front of the detached garage then hop out and release Ollie from the back. Charlotte doesn’t wait for me, but I swallow the anxiety that she’s going to walk in the house and keep going, alone, with a gulp of cool night air.
She pulls Morgan’s guitar from behind the seat, and I help with the door. Then I take her hand because I need to keep her close, and we follow Ollie through the gate and into the house.
It's warm inside, the scents familiar, but layered with an essence that is distinctly Charlotte’s. My yearning to make her a permanent part of my life becomes a raging beast inside me.
I slip the guitar from her grip and set it down, then step in close and take her face in my hands. The soft desperation in her eyes is the only signal I need before I lower my lips to hers.
She slides her hands to my waist. Even through the fabric of my T-shirt, her touch is electric. I tease her lips apart with flicks of my tongue. She lets me inside, and her grip on my waist tightens. Our breaths quicken, her soft breasts grazing my chest with each inhale. I caress down the curve of her neck and brush her nipple with the pad of my thumb. She makes the slightest whimper and kisses me with a sensual swirl of her tongue. In one motion I lift her into my arms.
Her clogs clatter to the floor and her eyes flash with surprise but she hooks her legs around my waist, forcing her skirt to ride up. Even through the layers of cotton separating us, her wet heat pressed to my navel shunts the last of my blood supply to my cock. With a shaky inhale, I kiss her again to memorize this moment, then toe off my shoes and carry her downthe hallway.
Inside my dark room, I kick the door shut with my heel and shuffle to the side of my bed, then reach over to flick on the bedside table lamp. The warm glow softens the shadows and highlights the gold flecks in her pretty eyes. With one knee on the mattress, I set her down. But she rocks to her knees and reaches for my shirt. I help her tug it over my head, then toss it to the floor. Her eyes tense as she caresses up my bare chest, her soft touch lighting up my skin.
