A grin tugged at the corner of Woodss mouth as he took another step toward me. I didnt move away. I wanted him close. I wasnt going to run. "Hmm, someones jealous," he said as he reached out and ran a finger along my jawline. I shivered.
"Very," I admitted. I wasnt ashamed of it. I was livid with jealousy.
"Why are you jealous, Della?" He took another step toward me, causing me to back up against the wall. His hands rested against the wall on either side of my head. "Who would you ever have to be jealous of?"
I was having a difficult time breathing normally. He smelled so good. The tanned skin of his throat was right there. I wanted to lick it. Taste him. "Anyone you touch," I said breathlessly.
"Then you only have one person to be jealous of," he replied, and lowered his head to nuzzle my neck. I trembled and reached up to touch his shoulders. I needed some support. There was someone else. He was admitting it. I wanted to hit him and scream and I wanted to grab his shirt and kiss him. Claim him.
"You left me, Della. You left me. You broke me," he whispered against my skin, and then ran the tip of his tongue up my neck and took a small nip at my ear.
"Who is she?" I asked, needing to remind myself that hed been with someone else.
"Who is who?" he asked, pressing against me as he continued his assault on my neck as if it were a delicacy he craved.
"Who have you . . . who are you cooking for? Whos coming here? Who have you touched?" I asked, holding on tighter to his shoulders as my body went warm and weak.
"You. Always, you. Just you," he said, lowering his mouth to my collarbone.
What did he mean "me"? "I dont understand," I panted breathlessly as he ran his lips over my cleavage slowly and murmured about how good I smelled.
"What dont you understand, baby?" he asked as he moved his hand from the wall to cup my right breast.
I let out a strangled cry of pleasure. I wasnt going to be able to think clearly if he kept this up.
"You said there was someone else," I said as my body betrayed me and moved closer to him like a magnet.
"No, I didnt. You asked if I was expecting someone. I said yes. I was expecting you. You asked who I touched. I said only one person. You. Always you," he said, finally lifting his head to look at me. The heat I expected to see in his eyes wasnt what I saw. His heart was in his eyes. He loved me. It was right there for me to see. He was showing me with a look that he hadnt given up on us.
"You knew I was coming back," I said, wondering if it had been Braden or Tripp who had clued him in.
Woods cupped my chin gently in his hand and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. "Ive known exactly what you were doing every day since the day you left me. Ive made sure you had money to stay in hotels that were safe and food to eat. How do you think I kept from going crazy? I had daily calls to tell me how you were. Where you were. I stayed away because I wanted you to come back to me. I wanted you to want me. To want us. "
He had been keeping tabs on me. He had cared. He hadnt just let me leave. Tears filled my eyes and I didnt care. I wanted to cry. I was happy. I was loved.
"Dont cry," he said as he began to kiss each tear from my face. "I cant stand it when you cry. Please, dont cry. "
"You love me," I said, smiling.
Woods pulled back enough to look down at me. "Della. That should have never been a question in your mind. You should have known that. If you didnt know that you had my soul, then Im doing something wrong. "
I reached up and grabbed his face and kissed him. With everything I had, I kissed him. I didnt have the words to make any of this right. So I showed him how I felt. How much he meant to me. His arms wrapped around me and he met each stroke of my tongue with his own. We stood there tasting and indulging in each other. It was perfect. I was home.
When I broke the kiss so I could catch my breath I reached for his shirt. I wanted that shirt off him. I wanted his clothes off. I wanted him inside me. "Now, I need you, now," I told him as I began unbuttoning his shirt.
"I have food. I was going to romance you first. Convince you to stay with me," he said as I pushed his shirt off his shoulders.
I caressed his chest. His broad shoulders always made me feel so small but safe. "Im hungry and well eat but right now I need you inside me," I told him as my hands got busy with the buttons on his shorts.
"Then come to the bedroom," he said, his breathing as out of control as I felt.
"No. I cant wait. " I reached for my sundress and jerked it over my head. I started to push down my panties and Woods let out a growl and took over. His hands covered mine and he pulled them down, and then he ran his hands over my bottom and pressed kisses to the insides of my thighs. "Get inside me," I begged. I wanted all the sweet kisses and I wanted to taste him, too, but right now I needed to be full of Woods.
"Fuck," he groaned, and stood up, turning me around to face the wall. "You make me crazy, Della. I was gonna be romantic. You deserve romantic. "
"I want you to fuck me hard. Fill me up and remind me that Im yours," I begged.
Woodss body shuddered behind me just before he grabbed my hips and entered me with a yell.
"God, yes! So tight. So hot. This is mine," he said as he stopped and caressed my butt, then slapped it hard one time. "Mine. All this is mine. "
"Yes, its yours," I told him, and pressed back against him.
He let out another animalistic grunt and began moving in and out of me. With each thrust I climbed closer to the release I knew would fill me with completion.
"No one touches my pussy. This is my pussy, Della," he said in a growl before slipping his hand around me and running his fingers over my clit.
I went off like a rocket from his touch. "Yes! Thats it, baby, come on my dick. Thats my girl. " His words made me wilder. I bucked against him and begged him to keep fucking me.
My words caused his body to pause, then jerk again as he began chanting my name over and over. Each tremor through his body made me tingle.
"My Della," he whispered as he rested his head on my back. I moved so that he came out of me, then I turned around and pulled him into my arms.
"Always your Della," I told him.
He held me tighter and we stood there as our bodies hummed our pleasure and our hearts healed.
Page 33
Woods
My welcome-home for Della hadnt gone off in the way I had planned. I hadnt meant to take her in the foyer against the damn wall like a madman. But shed been saying things that made me lose it. She wanted to be fucked and my body wanted to give her what she was asking for.
That hadnt been the plan. But Id needed it. I had needed to hear her say she was mine. The thought of Tripp riding that damn bike while sitting between her legs ate me alive. I hated it. I wanted to remind her who belonged between her legs. Only me.
The idea that she believed I could be with anyone else still blew my mind. If she didnt know how completely I loved her, then that was my fault. I had failed her. I would fix that.
After I dressed her I brought her into the dining room. Jimmy had brought the staff over and set up a table complete with a linen tablecloth, candlelight, and roses. He had also brought the meal. It was Dellas favorite special that we offered at the club. I watched as she took in the room. I had an Erick Baker playlist playing low over the sound system. She shifted her gaze over to mine and smiled at me shyly.
"This is beautiful. "
"You were coming home. I wanted it to be special. " I didnt mean to fuck you against the wall before you could even completely get in the house. Although I didnt say it aloud, her blush made me think she knew what I was thinking.
She turned and then stopped. She had seen the picture. The one Bethy had taken of us at the beach one afternoon. We had been lost in each other and hadnt noticed that Bethy was taking our picture. I had been sitting on the sand and Della had been straddling me, facing me. Our gazes were locked, and even in the photograph you cou
ld see the way we felt. There was no question as to how much I adored her in that moment.
"You had it framed," Della said, staring at it. I walked over and turned the dimmer on the lights up so she could see it better.
"Yeah, I did. "
"I love that picture," she said, glancing back at me.
"Me too. "
She turned around and looked at me. "That girl in the photo was scared. Of her past and her future. She was scared to love you. Thats not me. Im not scared anymore. My past is what made me who I am. My future . . . as long as I get to spend it with you, then I cant wait to live it. Im going to be okay, Woods. Im not going to . . . snap. I have a lot to tell you. "
I already knew but I wanted to hear her tell me. I wanted to know her thoughts. I knew shed met with both her birth parents, and I wanted to hear all about that.
I walked over to her and reached out and took her hand. "I always knew you would be okay. I was with you. I would never leave you. I was here to be strong when you were weak. "
"And I love you for that. But I want to be the strong one sometimes. I dont always want to be the weak one. "
"I just want you. In whatever way I can have you. But Im glad youre happy. Im glad you feel strong. I want you to be happy with yourself. Because you make my life amazing. "
She sniffled and then smiled. "We need to eat. Im fighting the urge to force you to make love to me again or cry because that was so sweet. "
I tugged her hand and brought her to my side. "Baby, if you want me inside you again you just crook your finger. This food can wait," I told her before pressing a kiss to her lips.
"I want you inside me again," she said.
I was at least getting her to my bedroom this time. I had plans in there.