“Of course. Yes. ” She stumbled as she moved aside for me to enter, and I stifled a laugh. Was she nervous too?
“These are for you. ” I pushed the long-stem roses toward her.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful. ” She leaned in to smell them, and I watched her eyes close as she breathed in their fragrance.
She walked into her tiny kitchen, and I looked around her apartment, my eyes falling on the couch. “I see you got my gifts. ”
“Mm-hmm,” she mumbled, and I wanted to silence her and make her moan all at the same time.
“Cassie. ” I said her name as I inched my body close to hers. I tried to resist touching her, but being that close… a man only has so much willpower. I don’t know what it was exactly about her hair, but I was tempted to reach out and run my fingers through it. Instead, I found myself tucking strands behind her ear as she touched my face. I swear I turned into putty with her touch.
“Do you still love me?” I asked, as desperation and uncertainty coursed within me.
“I never stopped. ”
That’s all I needed to hear. “Me either. ” I grabbed the back of her neck, unable to wait a single solitary second longer. My mouth was instantly on hers, the heat between us radiating. My tongue reached out to meet hers before I pulled away. I needed to apologize before I tossed her fucking clothes to the ground along with my pride.
“I’m sorry for lying to you that morning. I’m sorry for cheating on you that night. I’m sorry for not being the person you knew I could be. ”
Her lips pursed and I was desperate to kiss them, so I leaned in, kissing her bottom lip lightly. “And I don’t know if you can ever forgive me, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t at least ask you to try. ”
Please fucking forgive me.
“And I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. She was fighting the annulment and it took months to get it processed and finalized. I refused to fight for you while I was still carrying all that baggage. But it took a lot longer than I had expected. I should have called you. And I’m so sorry I didn’t. ”
Please don’t let it be too late.
“I thought you hated me,” she whispered, her eyes avoiding mine, and I swear my fucking heart split into pieces.
She thought I hated her.
I’m such a dick.
Instinctively I reached for her chin, tilting her head up toward mine. “I could never hate you. I thought I was going to have to come before the annulment was complete when I’d heard about you and the guy from your work. ” I forced my clenched stomach muscles to loosen their grip on me.
“How’d you know who he was?”
“Dean. I kept tabs on you, Kitten. Not in a creepy way, I swear. Just in a making-sure-I-wasn’t-going-to-lose-you-all-over-again way. See, you’ve always been able to see past the front I put up. I never thought I’d be able to find someone who would know the real me and still want to stick around. And then I saw you at that frat party and my life was never the same. ” I spilled my guts to her, hoping that something I told her would click and she wouldn’t kick my ass to the curb.
A single tear ran down her cheek as I continued. “I know I don’t deserve you, but I need you. ” I reached for her face, wiping the tear from her gorgeous face, finding myself lost in the green of her eyes.
“I need you too. I hate feeling vulnerable, and I want to pretend like I don’t, but it would be a lie. ”
“Then don’t pretend. Tell me you’ll try to forgive me so we can move on from our past. ”
Please forgive me.
“I already have,” she said, and I was torn between collapsing at her feet on the floor and jumping into the air like a pussy.
I leaned my head against hers, “I’ll earn your trust again. I promise. ” I emphasized the word trust, hoping she knew just how much I meant everything I was saying to her.
With her face buried into my shoulder, I breathed in the smell of her shampoo, her soap, her skin. Her arms wrapped around my waist and her breath was hot against my neck as she inched closer toward my face. I was already turned on and excited from her nearness. “Prove it,” she whispered suggestively into my ear.
“Oh, I plan to,” I answered confidently, before giving her a chance to change her mind, or even think at all.
I lifted her into my arms, my hands firmly cupping her ass. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I pressed her back to the wall, rubbing my growing hardness against her. She moaned, and I grew even harder as my tongue traced the curves of her neck, her salty skin familiar and enticing. I licked and nipped my way toward her jawline, where her mouth waited, slightly parted.
Another breathy sound from her, and I thrust my tongue into her mouth. The feel of her tongue against mine caused my body to shudder uncontrollably. I pulled my mouth away, burying my head into her neck once more. I licked and sucked at her, her hips pressing against me as I continued grinding her into the wall.