Page 14 of Say You Love Me

“No, I told you that I’m waitressing now. Remember? At that little place down the road from here in the red brick building?”

“That’s right,” she says, but I can tell I’ve already lost her attention.

“How’s Parker?” Parker is the love of my mother’s life. Everything she does revolves around the ginger tomcat. He’s her excuse for hardly ever leaving the house. Apparently he gets anxiety if she does and poops on the carpet.

I wander into the laundry as Mum launches into a detailed description of Parker’s health and pull the damp clothing out of the machine. The basket is heavy as I hoist it to my hip. We have the smallest of sections out back, but it’s big enough for a washing line to stretch between the posts of the fence. I’m walking back through the living room, listening to what medications the vet has prescribed for Parker’s allergies, when the door opens and Hudson appears.

I drop the laundry basket. Without fail, he takes my breath away. There’s something about the way he looks at me, something that is filled with both hope and relief. It’s like he’s been waiting for this moment, like he’s been holding his breath and now he can finally breathe.

“Mum,” I try to interrupt but she keeps talking.

Hudson just stands in the doorway. He puts his briefcase down and loosens his tie, but he doesn’t step inside. His eyes follow my every move and my chest swells in anticipation. He has this smirk on his face. One that laughs at my mother’s verbal diarrhea concerning her cat. One that speaks of his impatience. One that tells me he loves me.

“Mum, Hudson’s home. I’ve got to go.” After listening to the final bits of her conversation, I end the call and toss the phone onto the table. I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face as I leap into his arms. He holds me securely, his hands resting against my backside as I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck. He doesn’t kiss me. Instead, he presses his forehead to mine and breathes deeply.

“I missed you today.” There’s so much conviction in his voice, it’s hard to deny. Part of me wants to laugh at his comment, protest the fact that he couldn’t possibly miss me when it had only been a few hours since he’s seen me last. But I don’t. I don’t because the rumble of his voice sends waves of longing into the pit of my stomach.

I squeeze my legs tighter around his body as though it were possible to be closer to him. He nuzzles into my face, my hair, my neck, breathing deeply as though he’s inhaling me.

“I missed your smell.” He walks as he talks, butI’m blind as to where we’re going. And I don’t care. As long as Hudson is the one leading me, I’ll never care.

His head tilts to the side until his lips find mine and then he kisses me, his tongue diving into my mouth to swirl against mine, his teeth nipping at my lower lip and causing me to gasp.

“I missed the taste of you.” He whispers the words against my ear, his breath hot and heavy. Suddenly he’s lowering me and I find myself tossed onto the couch, Hudson’s lean body towering over mine. He takes my face between his hands and sighs deeply. “I missed the sight of you.”

His body sort of collapses and he presses himself against me, his head resting on my stomach. One hand comes up and lazily caresses my breast. Shamelessly, I push against it, eager for his touch.

“I missed the feel of you.” His voice is softer, yet deeper. His hand massages, his fingers kneading through the material into my soft flesh. Tendrils of desire twist their way to the place between my legs and I let out a moan.

Hudson lifts his head. Dark hair, which is usually smoothed back from his face, hangs in his eyes. Although he keeps himself clean-shaven for his internship at the law firm, the prickle of his five o’clock shadow is just beginning to show along his jaw. His chin pushes into me as he grins. My god, he’s beautiful.

“Did you miss me?”

I cup his face between my hands and tug him toward me. He clambers up my body, his knees digging into the cushions until his face hovers over mine. I nod, holding my bottom lip between my teeth as I reach up to smooth his eyebrows, choosing to let my feelings come through my eyes rather than my words. Hudson lowers his head. His hair tickles my face.

“And what did you miss about me?” As he says the words, his lips brush over mine softly. I resist the urge to push against them and claim his kiss, instead, I let my mouth slide over his as I reply, our breath mingling, our eyes searching each other’s face as though we’re looking for something lost long ago.

“Only everything,” I say.

He groans and his mouth dives to mine. His kiss is heavy and demanding and his knee pushes at my legs, begging them to fall apart. I open them willingly, and he nestles himself between my thighs. I feel the hardness of him pressing against my core and the knowledge of his arousal turns me into something fiendish with desperation.

I clutch at the back of his shirt, releasing it from the trap of his pants, pulling it up and over his head. Our movements are no longer slow and languid. They are feverish and impatient and we claw at each other’s clothing. Soon the room is littered with material tossed into the air. Everything is gone. Pants, shoes, underwear, until we are both naked. There is no preamble as he pushes into me effortlessly, a groan of satisfaction falling from his lips as soon as he’s buried fully into my heat. We belong this way. We are meant to be connected.

I bite his shoulder and cling onto him as though he is life itself. And then we just stay still for a moment. We breathe in unison. I clench against his hardness and he surges inside. I adore the feel of him. I get drunk on his need. When I lay my head back, his nose brushes over mine. His teeth nibble and toy with my lips. And his hips start to rock.

This is our language.

This is how we say, ‘I love you’.

chapter seven

NOW

~

HUDSON

She isn’t happy that I’ve invited them over for dinner. She said it’s too soon, but she’s been home for over a month now. It’s time we attempted to return to life as normal. Or, at the very least, pretended that life could be normal again.

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