I shake my head as I stare her down. “I want you. That’s it. Just you. Simple as that.”
“But…”
I wait for her to collect her thoughts. I’ve just dumped a lot on her plate and it’s only fair to let her think for a few minutes.
“Are you just saying that because you haven’t seen a woman in a long time and since I’m the first one you come across, you think you’re falling in love?”
She shakes her head and closes her eyes when she realizes what she said.
“Not love,” she mumbles. “Not that you’re in love with me. Of course not. That’s not what I meant.”
“You can say love,” I tell her. “I’m falling in love with you, Mia. If I’m not totally in love already.”
She looks skeptical. “How many girlfriends do you have in the city?”
“Zero.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m serious. I’ve never wanted any of them.”
“Come on,” she says with a derisive laugh. “You’re telling me in a city of four million women, you’ve never wanted any of them?”
“Not until I saw you. I never understood why I was different, but now that I’ve met you, I know I’m not. I was just waiting for the one. You’re the one, Mia.”
“Isn’t that a line from The Matrix?”
“What?”
“Never mind.” She nibbles on her lip as she thinks about it. My love only deepens as I watch her. She’s incredible. I tell this woman that I love her and she’s trying to convince me otherwise.
“You can’t tell me you don’t feel something special,” I say as I put a palm on my chest.
“Well,” she says as she shifts around on the couch. “Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
“I thought it was just… I don’t know. I’m so confused right now. You live out here and I live in the city.”
“I’ll go wherever you want,” I tell her. It’s true. I’ll follow her to the middle of the busiest city on the planet if that’s what she wants. I’ll hate it, but it will be worth it to be with her. “My heart belongs with you.”
She looks at me for a long moment and then takes her wine glass and takes a big giant gulp of it.
I stand up and walk over to her couch. Her eyes widen as I sit down beside her and take her hand. She lets me take it. I love the feel of her. She’s so delicate. So soft and feminine. I just want to touch every inch of her.
“We belong together,” I tell her in a slow calm voice. “I know you know it’s true. Be with me. Be with me tonight. Be with me forever.”
I stare into her green eyes and the air around us thickens with need. Her breath quickens as she stares back at me.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me anything,” I say in groan as I wonder what she’ll ask me. Is it about our future living situation, or the fact that we’re so different in our core? Is it about my past or our future? I’m dying to know what she wants to ask me.
“Can I touch your beard?”
I burst out laughing. She’s the fucking best.
“Absolutely.”
She stares in wonder at my long beard as she touches it with both hands, a big goofy smile on her adorable face. It’s official. I’m obsessed with this girl.
If I don’t have her, I’m going to die. There’s a lifetime of arousal and need built up within me that’s always been hidden, but she’s unleashing it all now. I feel it pouring out and consuming me whole.
I need her like I’ve never needed anything.
“Can I ask you a question?” I say when she’s almost done touching my beard.
She licks her lips as those pretty green eyes find their way back to mine. “Yes.”
“Can I kiss you?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
I cup her cheeks and pull her mouth to mine. Her lips are open and I slide my tongue into her mouth, claiming it as my own. It’s always been mine. This hot tongue, these soft lips, this sweet sensual body—it’s all fucking mine. I’m claiming it. I’m taking it. I’m a wild man when it comes to her and wild men don’t follow any rules.
She moans into my mouth as I kiss her deeper and harder. Her hands start sliding over my body, feeling my shoulders, exploring my arms. They’re nice and hard from a lifetime of chopping wood and dragging logs around. I hope she likes them. I kept them sculpted for her.
“Oh, Cyrus,” she moans when our mouths pull apart and I start kissing her neck. She grabs two fistfuls of my shirt and pulls me against her. “I’m having those same feelings too. I didn’t want to admit it… I wanted to play it cool… I’m not cool. I’m not feeling calm on the inside. It was all a game. I’m dying for you too. I’m falling hard for you.”