Page 49 of You Before Me

“Can we go watch a movie?” She glances into the living room. “Maybe in your room, so we don't have to clean up yet?”

“Yeah, you're in charge, remember?”

Ryan stands, and I follow her into the bedroom after putting the ice cream away. I prop some pillows against the headboard before lying down with the remote, turning on the TV. Ryan cuddles up to me, resting her head on my chest as I search for a horror movie. Once I find one, I set the remote down next to me, idly running my hands through her hair, pulling out silly string along the way. Ryan becomes immersed in the movie, but my mind is elsewhere.

How do we scare her? What was she about to say before that? I'm full of unanswered questions. While I'm thinking, my hand leaves her hair and the tips of my fingers skim down her back, finding a sliver of bare skin from where her shirt rode up a bit. I'm so happy I decided to do this for her. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't have made her told me though. She deserved to have a party, especially one like this that was full of child-play.

Ryan lifts her head to look at me, distracting me from my thoughts. Lust has taken over once more. She grabs the remote and turns off the movie, the end credits disappearing into blackness. Ryan straddles me, sitting upright. The hem of her shirt bunches in her fingers as she pulls it up and over her head. Ryan throws it aside, leaning down to kiss me.

“I'm ready for my hot birthday sex, Gabe,” she whispers, kissing along my bearded jaw. Ryan grazes her teeth over my ear.

I roll us over, so I hover above her. Ryan's gloriously red hair is splayed across my pillows. Right then, I decided that we're not going to have hot birthday sex. We're going to make slow, deliciously scorching love. With every ounce of emotion in me, I kiss her. Ryan sighs into my mouth. I run my tongue along her teeth, already lost. Ryan sucks on the tip of my tongue before swiping hers against it. My hands turn into fists on either side of her shoulders. Abandoning her mouth, I settle between her legs, grinding against her as I kiss her shoulder to her collarbone. Then I dip my head inward to kiss the swells of her breasts.

“Take off your pants,” I mur

mur, lifting myself back off her. I hover as if I'm about to do a push up while Ryan quickly works underneath me to remove her pants. “Bra too.” Once Ryan is completely naked, my eyes rake over her body. God, she's beautiful. I move so I'm only half laying on her, leaving part of her exposed.

Ryan hungrily brings my face back to hers so she can kiss me. I cup my hand over her between her legs. She inhales with surprise. My fingers brush over her, feeling how wet she is already. My middle finger runs between her folds before sinking lower, inserting into her. Ryan's leg between my legs moves, brushing against my erection and making me groan into her mouth. Leaving that behind, I travel to give special attention to her breasts, slowing moving my finger inside her.

Just as I take her nipple into mouth, I push in another finger. Ryan tightens around them, and I smile. I tug her nipple between my teeth and pull until it pops out, moving more vigorously inside her.

“Fuck, Gabe.” She claws at my shirt, wanting to take it off. “I want you now.”

Chuckling, I have no problem giving her what she wants. “Get the condom.” I lift my chin towards the side table. She's got it in her hands, ripping the wrapper before I can unbutton my jeans. I take them off and I'm on my knees beside her. Ryan sits up and rolls the condom on me. She strokes me a few times. I love how I feel in her hand.

“Lay down, legs open wide.”

I move in between her legs, quickly entering her. Ryan hooks her legs around my waist, lifting to have more of me. I put my hand low on her belly and push her back down. She lets out a low whimper, only the tip of me inside her now. Leaning down, I kiss her and begin to move deliberately slow. Ryan attempts to push me further and harder with her calves, but it doesn't work. The hand on her stomach moves lower to rub her clit.

“Good lord, Gabe,” she breathes, her eyes tightly closed as I move slightly faster, kissing along her jaw. Ryan arches her back when my pace picks up even more, my thumb aggressively moving over her clit. She grabs onto my shoulders, squeezing. “Harder,” she pleads.

That one word as she pulses around me, releases an animalistic vigor within me. I slam into her relentlessly, deeper and harder. When her hands reach down, the tips of her fingers digging into my ass as she tries to push me even further, I lose all control. I drive into her with everything I have, kissing her with all the passion I can muster.

She bites my lower lip, clenching around me, her legs tightening around my waist, and a throaty groan pushes its way out as she shudders beneath me with her climax. I don't stop, can't. Not until I find my own release. Ryan squeezes around my cock and I explode with a grunt, slowing down dramatically to prolong our orgasms. Her legs slip off my hips as I pull out and fall next to her.

I'm drained, so I go to the bathroom to clean myself up. When I come back, Ryan is snuggled underneath the covers, which are pulled all the way up to her neck. Her smile grows when she sees me. I crawl in next to her and she cuddles up to me.

“Today has been fantastic,” she whispers. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” I answer, my eyes already starting to droop. It's been a long week, and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. Twenty minutes later, I'm dozing when I faintly hear Ryan talking.

Her voice is soft and low with a hint of fear. “I think I'm in love with you.” My heart stops, fully awake now, but I don't stir. “I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do about that, Gabe. That's why I'm terrified. You hold a power over me and don't even know it.” She wiggles to get closer to me and without thinking, I tug her tighter against me. Ryan sinks into me, oblivious that I'm not, in fact, sleeping. It's not until I feel her breathing even out that what she said hits me.

She's in love with me? Is that what she was on the verge of saying earlier? I almost don't know what to do about it either. This wasn't something I was expecting and especially not to hear it this way. I've learned so much about Ryan since we've started seeing each other. Her feelings kind of worry me. Only because I don't want to hurt or disappoint her. She deserves so much more than that, and I don't want to be one more person on her list of people not good enough for her.

I'm not about to let Ryan slip away from me, though. Like I was thinking earlier, she's mine. I don't want her going anywhere. I only want her where she is right now. In my arms. As I fall asleep, my last thought is that maybe it is time for Ryan to meet my mother.

Chapter Ten

Ryan

I wake up at four in the morning, my dreams terrible as I professed my love for Gabe, and he turned me down. Over and over. I didn't sleep well at all. You know, it's one thing to have your thoughts consumed with worry over a realization, but it's entirely another thing when you voice them. Even if it was barely a whisper, and Gabe was sound asleep. This massive piece of information has me completely clueless. What am I supposed to do about it? Wait until Gabe falls in love with me? What if that never happens? What if I disappoint him and he realizes I'm not good enough for him?

I remember Gabe saying something about how he thought I was intriguing when we first met, but that doesn't prove anything about him or his feelings for me. Maybe that means Gabe knew there was something about me the moment we met. Or it can mean nothing at all. It doesn't matter because I know without a doubt, I've fallen in love with him. There have been bits and pieces about Gabe along that way that sunk me into this quicksand of love for him. We shared moments together that would make me slip and fall a little further for him. There were moments, like yesterday, when I didn't fall, but I tripped and rolled down a hill, building speed along the way, helpless to stop it.

With all these damn thoughts in my head, more sleep is a hopeless wish. Remembering that there's a mess out there waiting for us, I quietly get out of bed, slipping on the first thing I find, which is Gabe's t-shirt. I silently close the door behind me and walk to the end of the hallway. Looking at the balloons, the streamers, the broken seahorse, and the array of silly string everywhere, my heart swells again. He did all of this for me. The least I can do is clean it up, so he won't have to come home to it after work. Besides, cleaning can help me relax, and I'm on pins and needles.

It doesn't take but maybe an hour to throw away the trash, wash the few dishes, and put the games neatly on the kitchen table, which is my current task. Thankfully, this busy work has soothed me a bit.

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