Page 24 of Want Me

When she finally turned back to me her eyes were red and smeared with mascara. “You had sex with him,” she snapped, her words laced with anger and pain.

“So did you!” I hadn’t intended for my voice to rise, but it did. I tried to hold it in and fight it back, but there was something new growing in my chest. Something bright, warm, and dangerous. Hope. Hope that she was reacting like this because I meant something to her; something that I had been missing this whole time.

Her lips quivered. “You kissed him,” she whispered.

“What?”

“You kissed him,” she repeated, her voice shaking. “You kissed him, and you kissed someone at that fucking club, but you’ve never kissed me.” Her tears were falling freely now, and she didn’t bother to hide them. “You said that you only kiss your lovers, but you’ve never kissed me.”

I’ve always been impulsive. There would be moments when I lost all sense of reason and acted purely on instinct. It took a while, but, eventually, I learned to control it. To think before I acted. But this time, I didn’t need to think.

The moment my lips met hers I knew I would never be able to kiss anyone else. Nothing could compare to the woman I loved.

When I finally pulled away I buried my head in the crook of her neck, unable to look at her. “I never kissed you because I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide how much I love you.”

She didn’t answer at first, but then her arms came up and wrapped around me, like she was afraid I would try to escape. “Really?”

I nodded into her shoulder. “I’ve been jealous of Donovan because he has a thing for you. When we all slept together…it wasn’t that I was attracted to him, it was more of a power thing. I don’t really know how to describe it, but the kiss was just something that happened. I don’t feel anything towards him. You’re the one that I want.”

Her hands moved tentatively up and down my back as if she was unsure how to touch me. “I want you, too,” she whispered, her lips pressed into my hair. “I’m in love with you. Only you.”

We stayed like that for a time, just holding each other. My legs felt like jelly, but she kept me standing. I could have stood there forever, but as the worry and fear fell away, something else took its place.

“Daphne,” I nuzzled against her skin. “I want to spend the night with you.”

She pressed a gentle kiss against the top of my head. “We can go back to my place.”

“I can’t wait that long.” Heat was already pooling between my legs. I tilted my hips forward to rub against her body.

I felt her throat contract as she gulped. “My room is upstairs.” She whimpered as I dragged my tongue along her neck. “I need to shower; I was on a plane for six hours.”

My head rolled back far enough to look at her, and I grinned at the flush rising into her face. “I’ll join you.”

Chapter 14

MyfirstimpressionofDaphne’s childhood bedroom was that it was huge and it was floral. The wallpaper was a pinkish white covered in depictions of flowering vines. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected, but I only had a few moments to look around before Daphne pulled me into her bathroom.

It was bright and white, with swirled marble and tasteful abstract art against the walls. This felt more like Daphne than her room, but, again, my chance to examine my surroundings was quickly cut away as Daphne pinned me against the wall, devouring me in her kiss.

Now that we had started I doubted we would ever be able to stop, and so be it. Her tongue twisted around mine, pulling me in. Every touch burned but the pain was addicting.

Her clothes came off and so did mine. We were finally bared to each other, no more secrets between us. Just as it was always meant to be.

I let my mouth drop to rest against her neck, peppering her skin with kisses. “Marina,” she breathed, “I need to shower.”

“You started this,” I hummed, letting my hands roam freely across her body. I caressed and I squeezed and I filled my hands with her soft flesh, drawing her always closer to me.

“And I thought you were going to join me.”

Touché.

Reluctantly, I let my arms fall to my sides. She stepped over our pile of discarded clothes and crossed to the shower - which was just as large as I had expected. She slid open the glass door and fiddled with the handles until water came rushing from the shower head. After a few seconds, she checked the temperature with her finger and deemed it warm enough to enter.

Not interested in wasting any time, I hopped in after her and pushed her back against the grey tile as the water sluiced over our bodies. There was no resistance, no hesitation in her kiss, only an eager energy I matched ten-fold.

We stayed kissing like that until steam began to build around us and I finally broke away. There was a bench in the corner and I took the opportunity to plop down and catch my breath. I had been so anxious leading up to this moment that I hadn’t realized the strain on my mind, but now that everything was cleared up I could feel the toll it had taken.

All the stress and tension left my body and I was lighter than I had been in years. I smiled, unable to hold it in. “You’re so beautiful.”

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