“Elliot,” I whispered as tears fell from my eyes and meandered down my cheeks. “I love you too.”
“You do?” He smiled, the dimple I loved so much deepening. “So much that you’re breakin’ up with me?”
I laughed and cried at the same time.
“You never asked me to be your gi-girlfriend and I knew I already loved you. I had to pr-protect myself somehow, I didn’t want to co-continue as we were until we were together. I feel too much for you to just ca-casually date you, Elliot. I want a future with you, but I wasn’t willing to give you my all unless you gave me yours.”
“I came to a similar conclusion, which is why I agreed to come by today so I could tell you that I loved ye, and to ask ye to be me girlfriend . . . if ye’ll have me, that is? This will be a mighty awkward moment if ye still plan on dumpin’ me.”
I stared up at him for a long, silent moment, then I screamed with joy and jumped on him, wrapping my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck. I just about squeezed the breath out of him.
“Yes,” I shouted in delight. “I’ll be your girlfriend. Yes, yes, yes!”
Elliot’s laughter mingled with my own, and after a few minutes of me near hugging him to death, he set me down on the floor. With my heart pounding in my chest and the butterflies going mental in my stomach, I grabbed his hand and pulled him from the bathroom and into my bedroom. He offered me no resistance as I closed my bedroom door behind us then hurriedly crossed the room and pushed him on to my bed.
“Woah, woah, woah,” he said, no longer laughing. “This is why I never came here when ye were alone because I knew we’d come together like this. Listen to me, Noah. I didn’t tell ye I love you just so ye’d let me—”
“I know,” I cut him off. “I know it’s not only sex you’re after. You love me.”
“I do,” he said, his eyes finding mine. “God knows I do.”
“And so do I.” I smiled, my heart pounding against my chest. “I love you too.”
I hesitated for just a moment before I gripped the hem of my oversized T-shirt and pulled it off over my head, tossing the fabric somewhere on the floor behind me. Elliot froze as his eyes locked on to my bare chest. I never wore a bra when I was at home – I didn’t need to because I was barely a B cup, but if I was worried about the size of my breasts before, I wasn’t once I saw how Elliot’s eyes stared at them with hunger.
My nipples hardened in an instant.
I didn’t give him time to blink as I pushed down my pyjama pants, along with my lacy red thong, and kicked them off when they reached my ankles. I let my hair out of the messy bun atop my head and my golden-blonde hair fell down my back in waves. I stood before him naked, vulnerable and very nervous.
“God in Heaven.” Elliot swallowed as his gaze lowered to between my thighs. He clenched his hands at his sides into fists. “Have mercy, sasanach.”
I had never felt more feminine, more empowered, than I did in that moment, as his eyes rolled over me like a gentle wave. He wanted my body, and he loved me. That was all the encouragement I needed to take the next step with him.
“You’re wearing way too many clothes,” I said, biting my lower lip. “Should I help you undress?”
Elliot looked pained as he nodded and got to his feet; he lowered his head to mine when I neared him, and he kissed me. It was a different kind of kiss, not filled with raw hunger, but instead soft and seductive. It was a lover’s kiss. I smiled when he tried to encourage my tongue to dance with his and deepen our kiss. I tugged on his jumper, and in two seconds he had it, and his T-shirt, removed and on the floor.
My eyes dropped to his torso.
“Elliot,” I whispered as I stood up on my tiptoes and licked his red, kiss-swollen lips. “Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that you’ve begun your training to become a fireman? Your body . . . you should have mercy on me, paddy.”