I’ve never felt as though I was important—something necessary. Until this moment, no one has ever made me feel needed. But right now, I’d give my soul to the highest bidder to always feel this way. Because I really like being the person she chose to come to. I’ve never had that before, and that’s a level of trust that warms me to my core.
I start kissing her cheek, slowly moving my lips to find hers, not knowing what else to do. What was meant to be a soft kiss turns into a hungry, desperate entanglement. My tongue slips into her mouth, and her hands fist in my hair as she pulls me closer. Before I know it, I've picked her up by her ass and her legs have wrapped around me.
Her kiss becomes more devouring, and she melts in my arms, losing whatever was weighing her down when she walked in.
"I love you," she says suddenly, shocking me to the point I go stiff and still, releasing my lips from hers as those three words slowly sink in.
She loves me? I couldn't have heard that right. I'm not ready for that. She's not ready for that. We just started dating.
I don't know how I'm supposed to react to that. It's all happening so fast since I finally got her, and I'm not sure what I feel.
She starts to withdraw, probably feeling rejected. I may not be ready to say it, but I'm sure as hell not ready to lose her.
Before she can fully back away, I jerk her to me and give her the most powerful kiss I possibly can, reassuring her that I need her here with me. I pick her up, push her against the wall, and groan when she wraps her legs around my waist again.
Bedroom. We need to be in the bedroom. Now.
She holds on to me while I carry her across the house to our bedroom, preparing to make sure she never doubts what I feel for her. I've never needed something so badly as I need this. My body is on fire, and the way she's kissing me back only fuels me, making me hungrier.
Once I have her on the bed, I do good not to rip her clothes off like some barbarian. They land in a heap, seeming intact, and I revel in her bare body beneath me.
I feel like I've let her down when I see her expectant eyes. She's still waiting on me to say it.
"I want you to stay here," I murmur while kissing her neck, simultaneously kicking out of my jeans.
She doesn't say anything, which worries me, but then she pulls my shirt over my head, making it hard to think about anything else. My mouth is back on hers. She parts her lips, inviting my tongue in, and I'm quick to take the invitation. I grab a condom from beside the bed without breaking the kiss, and then slip it on.
Her words keep running through my head, and her silence is driving me crazy. It stirs a primal need in me to make her say it again. When I sink in and she tightens around me, I lose it.
Any sense of sanity is stolen away with every new twist of her tongue in my mouth. My thrusts get so forceful that I'm forced to break the kiss, which enables me to watch her as I bring her closer to the ecstasy she wants. It's too much. I need to close my eyes, but I can't.
My breath catches in my throat when the words she wants to hear roll to the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them back down and channel all my energy into giving her something she'll never forget. When a harsh grunt falls through her lips, that primal stir kicks back in, leaving me greedily wanting more.
She moans, screams, and calls my name out in unison, a medley that causes me to explode. My whole body goes stiff for a minute as everything in me tenses and shudders in release, and I start to worry I'm about to black out. I believe I just found the definition of epic.
Slowly, my body turns languid and I drop down to be on top of her, my head coming down on her chest. I decide to keep her pinned in case she tries to move, because I don't have the energy it would take to bring her back.
Her fingers running through my hair calm my worry, letting me know I haven't ruined this by not telling her what she wants to hear. My whole body relaxes, but I still want her to promise to stay.
"I mean it, Raya," I say while panting for air, sounding as though I just swam across the ocean.
Holy shit. I don't know if I'll ever be able to move again.
"Hmm?" she mutters absently, her fingers still slipping through my hair.
"I want you to stay here. I don't want you leaving at the beginning of the semester."
She's quiet for a minute, so I start making plans to kidnap her. Obviously that's the next sane choice.
"I won't leave," she says, allowing me to put away my blueprints for abduction.
"Good. Now how the hell am I supposed to drive to the vineyard after that?"
Her laughter fills the room, bringing me a peace I didn't know I lacked. I'm not sure what she's doing to me, but I hope she never stops.
Home. That's what this place has always been to me. When the grapes are in season, this place can't get any more beautiful. I have a feeling that'll change once I see Raya in it. The grapes won't seem as glorious anymore. The more I think about it, the more it scares the hell out of me.
"So... this is it," I say while pulling in, unable to hold back my excited grin as I shove all my worries away.