Page 142 of Love Me Steadfast
“So instead you carried that burden all by yourself,” he says, his eyes glassy with emotion. He caresses my cheek. “Now it’s my turn to protect you. To love you and cherish you. All of you.”
“I love you so much.” I pull him back for another kiss, this one salty from my tears.
“I’m going to love you forever, Charlotte. Say we can start again.”
The questions I haven’t had the courage to ask yet come tumbling free before I can stop them. “What will we do if I get an offer from the Seattle Symphony?”
He leans back and strokes my forehead. “It’s time I supported your dreams, blackbird.”
“So…you’d move? What about your family? What about your career?”
He gives me an easy laugh. “We’ll figure it out.”
The knot of worry I’ve been holding so tight slips a little, losing its grip. “What about the club?”
He gives me a one-shoulder shrug. “I bought it for you, but if you don’t want it…I’ll find someone else to take it over.”
My heart is going to burst. “You bought it…for me?”
“Of course.” He rolls me on top of him and cradles the back of my thighs. “I know you have strong feelings about it, but there’s some good memories too. Maybe you’d like to make a few more of them. Maybe Morgan would want to help.”
Theo tracked Morgan down just like he promised, to Dad’s cabin on the Middle Fork. She’s back at Jackson. We shared a short buttearful reunion where I told her about Nic’s arrest and the case being built against him. We have more to talk about, and Theo admitted as much to me too. It’s hard not to feel hopeful. Maybe now she can heal. We can all heal together.
I think about what Wren said to me that day at the Sweet Spot.What if your dream job was here in Finn River?Something Will said to me is quick to follow.At the end of the day, it’s only a job. It doesn’t make a life.
It’s impossible not to want to grab onto that possibility with both hands and never let go.
A single tear rolls down my cheek and lands on his collarbone. “That’s quite the gift.”
His eyes soften, and he rolls us so we’re on our sides. “There’s nothing I won’t do for you, baby.”
I kiss him, savoring the bright tenderness that’s so full inside me I’m going to crack. He kisses his way to my neck, sucking gently on my pulse point before nibbling on the edge of my ear.
“You smell like gingerbread,” he says. “Especially right here. It makes me want to gobble you up.” He plants a soft kiss behind my ear, then leans back and tugs the hem of my T-shirt, a question in his eyes.
I push off the bed and he helps me slide it off.
He drinks me in, his eyes soft with yearning. “You’re so beautiful.” He caresses the hair back from my forehead, then leans down to kiss my shoulder. “I love you here,” he says, then presses a kiss to my collarbone. “And here.”
He kisses between my breasts, rolling me to my back, then gently swirls his tongue around my nipple.
With a groan, I rock into him.
“And here.” He kisses his way to my other breast.
Sucking in a breath, I comb my fingers through his hair.
The pleasure skips beneath my skin, drawing my heartbeat lower.
William kisses down, making the bed sway, to my navel. “I love you here,” he says, using the tip of his tongue and the brush of hislips just above the waistline of my joggers. “Okay if I keep going? I have a lot more ground to cover.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Only if I get a turn.”
He hums, the deep rumble vibrating through my tummy, twisting my cravings even tighter.
With a gentle tug, he slips my pants down my hips, kissing as he goes. By the time his tongue parts me open, I’m breathless and quivering.
“I can’t wait to show you how much I love this pussy,” he says, gliding a finger inside me.
