Page 45 of Tru Blue
She found her clothes folded on the deck, smiling at Truman’s thoughtfulness as she pulled on her shirt and panties and moved to the railing to watch the sun come up. Listening to Truman’s loving voice through the monitor, she knew she’d made the right decision coming to see him last night. He was not a man to be feared.
And last night…
She sighed.
Just thinking about the way he’d held her and the way he’d stripped away his walls and let her in made her feel light and dreamy. The electricity between them was undeniably magnetic and explosive, but their intimate connection went so much deeper. When she was lying in his arms last night, they’d been in perfect sync, and the way he breathed easier when they were close filled her with unexpected happiness. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she couldn’t help it after all those intense orgasms and being held tight and warm and safe in Truman’s arms. As much as she longed to wake up in his arms, waking to him loving up Lincoln was even better. He gave those babies all the love she’d wished for growing up, and she knew better than anyone that nothing could ever replace that. Those kids had found a home in his heart, and they were lucky to have him.
The magnitude of her feelings engulfed her, like a tangible thing she could feel and taste and see. She gazed over a sea of mangled and forgotten cars in the distance and heard Truman step outside. When his hands circled her waist and his warm lips touched her cheek, she smiled and turned in his arms, smelling the scent of minty toothpaste and soap.
“Sorry to leave you alone,” he said in a gravelly, sleepy voice.
She felt feminine and petite against his enormous frame. My gentle giant. My Tru Blue. She had no doubt that her gentle giant would turn into a hulklike creature if the situation called for it. Her heart squeezed at the sight of the ink on his chest, seeing it clearly for only the second time. She traced the angry dragon’s neck with her finger and pressed her lips to the flames. She couldn’t change his past, and as terrible as his past was, it made him the man he was, just as her parents’ lack of attention and love, and her father’s suicide, made her who she was. When she met his gaze, she was surprised to see a look of wariness staring back at her.
“You look worried. Is Lincoln’s fever back?”
“No,” he said seriously. “Just trying to read you. Any regrets with the dawn of the new day?”
She shook her head and smiled up at him. “Only that you’ve bared your soul to me and I haven’t shared nearly as much with you.”
Relief washed over his face. “You’ve shared more than you know.” He leaned down and kissed her, and she kept her lips tightly closed. He laughed, cradling her face in his hands. “I would like you to share a better kiss with me, though.”
She covered her mouth to spare him her morning breath. “I haven’t brushed my teeth.”
He laughed and lowered her hand. “I had my mouth buried between your legs last night. Do you really think I care if you’ve brushed your teeth?”
Something was different. Maybe everything was different; she couldn’t be sure. His words came easier, his smiles came more naturally, and that rumbly laugh she really, really liked tumbled out without hesitation. He was letting her in even more, trusting her with more than just his confession. She saw it in his eyes. Relief and something much more powerful. Something that told her he had needed to hear her say that she had no regrets in order to believe it.
When his mouth came down over hers, she felt the difference in his kiss, too. He kissed her more intimately, cradling her jaw in one hand, his other holding her around her waist, bringing their bodies together. It was an intoxicating and territorial kiss. A kiss that said, You are mine and I am yours.
It was the kiss she hadn’t realized she’d been waiting for her whole life.
When their lips parted, his fingers slid over her cheek, brushing lightly over her lower lip, and he kissed her again, soft and tender. Oh, how she liked soft and tender!
“You taste perfect in the morning,” he said with a haughty grin.
She wrinkled her nose.
As if to prove his point, he kissed her again and licked his lips.
