mine, and my gaze stays on him. There’s no other place I want to be, or nobody I want to be with.
“I love you, sweetheart. I really love you.”
I knew this. I guess I’d second-guessed myself for so long that I didn’t think it was possible, but when he carried me inside the Montgomery house ten days ago, it had been the way he held me close to him, worshiping my body as he does in the here and now.
“Faster, I can take more of you,” I encourage. “I’m okay.”
His speed and thrusts continue when my pussy begins to orgasm with Wells inside me.
“I’m close, sweetheart,” he says as I find release in him, and fuck, he’s the sweetest. My moans fill his room, and in one last thrust, he finds his own release.
I lie in his arms, his fingers lightly stroking my hair as my fingers dance across his six-pack.
“Why did you wait?” he asks, and I knew we would discuss this eventually.
“No one was you.” It’s the truth. Sure, I had boyfriends, but my trust had been shattered, and putting faith in anyone but myself wasn’t something I could do. But with Wells, he’s a whole other situation.
“Moving forward, you can’t keep these kind of secrets, Mal. I wish you would have told me.”
There’s a truth to his statement, and I want to address it. “I didn’t want it to be the last straw. I finally had you willing to admit this, and as squeamish as you’ve been, you didn’t need another reason to pull away.” I take a quick breath because I have more to say. “I trust you, Wells. With my body, my mind, and soul. I’ve always trusted you, and I knew you’d treat me with the utmost respect, but I promise, moving on, I won’t keep the big things from you.”
I can’t see him because my head is buried in the crook of his neck. A soft kiss gets placed on the top of my head. “That’s all I want, sweetheart.” His hand holding me close to his body rubs down my arm. “I can’t believe this is our reality, and, hell, it’s a great reality, too.”
“So, no regrets in the morning?” I ask.
“No fucking regrets in the morning. I promise.” He kisses the top of my head again. “Now get some sleep because you start school. Gotta have my star pupil on the top of her game for the first day of classes tomorrow.”
I fall asleep in his arms, and it’s the best night’s sleep since before my parents were slaughtered. But in my slumber, the nightmares don’t keep me awake, but as I drift off, I only dream of calling Wells mine.
I push myself from the bed, ready to give Wells all sorts of hell. Securing a bra on, I slip on my yoga pants and am through the threshold leading to the kitchen when what I believe is the shower running grabs my attention. I’m upset, thinking he indeed regrets his decision when I cross back through the room and open the doors to the bathroom, and the silhouette of his perfectly formed body is behind the white shower curtain.
He peeks his head out at the intrusion of his privacy. “Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing?”
His simple smile, a little lopsided, sends my heart into a pitter-patter. I really am in a good mood.
“Yeah, at first, I thought you left me.”
He sticks his index finger out toward me, telling me to come to him. “I told you last night that I‘m not leaving you. I may be a stubborn son of a bitch, but I keep my promises.” I get closer and closer to him, and when he steps from his shower with one foot, he grabs me by the hips. His large frame is nothing compared to my hundred and ten pounds. He lifts me, placing me under the water fully clothed.
“What the fuck, Shanahan?” I begin, and he smiles as I use his last name. “I’m dressed.”
But he’s naked, and I’ll never tire of seeing him in his full glory.
“Yeah, do you know what this means? I can undress you now.”
I hadn’t even thought of this perk, and he rips my top and bottoms off me. “No underwear, you naughty little girl.” His tone is lowered, and sultry, thick with desire as his eyes rake over my body.
“Yeah, I was too pissed off to put them on, thinking you had left me.” My own pitch matches his.
“Yeah, but now