that we meant more.
A feeling of emptiness like I’d never known engulfed me, and I somehow understood that I needed Leo to fill it. My head accepted him. My body wanted him. And my heart reached for him.
Holy shit.
I’m in love with Leo fucking Sharpe.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Thea
In love. With Leo.
I couldn’t say the words.
Didn’t even know how to.
So, I fastened my lips to his full ones and twined my arms around his neck, telling him everything in the kiss that I couldn’t convey through words. To me, he wasn’t Leo, the football star. He wasn’t Leo, the charming playboy. He wasn’t even Leo, the failure of a brother. Or Leo, the guy who used his fists to fight past his disappointments.
He was the twelve-year-old boy I’d adored, all grown up. The one who fought for the people he cared about. And I had no doubt that I was one of those people.
In my desperation to prove my feelings, I plundered his mouth, not pausing for so much as a breath. I sipped and licked and nipped, but it still wasn’t enough. My mouth couldn’t accomplish what I needed my entire body for.
Abruptly pulling away from him, I reached for the hem of my shirt. Skin-to-skin. That was what we needed.
“Thea.” Leo breathed my name. “What—”
I shut him up by stripping off my shirt and reaching behind me for the hooks on my bra. “No more taking things slow. I want you.”
“Are you sure?” His hands tightened on my hips, like he was afraid to let them go. “Because I’m not pressuring you.”
“Pressure me,” I insisted. “Pressure all of me.”
A short, ragged laugh burst out of him before he swatted my hands away to take over. In a split second, he’d unclasped my bra and tossed it to the floor. His eyes skimmed down my shoulders and upper chest, then lingered on my breasts.
“Fuck, babe. You have the most perfect tits.” Cradling both breasts in his big hands, he lowered his head and circled one beaded nipple with his tongue. I whimpered, and he just chuckled and moved on to the other one. “Is there something you want?”
I grinded against his erection, which was digging into me through two layers of denim and underwear. And even with all of that material between us, I was nothing but heat and need.
“Patience, Thea.” He lifted his eyes to mine while he sucked gently on my nipple. “You’re going to let me take my time with you, and you’re going to like it.”
Instead of the playfulness I’d come to expect from Leo, there was nothing but authority in that statement. We were doing this his way, period.
Maybe it should have bothered me.
It didn’t.
I trusted Leo to make me feel good—better than good. And nothing else mattered, other than giving as good as I got.
“Okay.” I tugged at his shirt. “But I want to feel you.”
He reached behind his neck to lift his T-shirt over his head in a single, fluid move. Why was that always so damn sexy? Guys must know it was like the human female equivalent of catnip.
The moment my bare chest brushed against his, Leo groaned and flipped our positions, so that I was lying with my back to the cushions and he was hovering over me. He kissed a trail down my stomach and bit down on the tender flesh on my side while he unzipped my jeans and slid them down my legs.
Instead of reaching for my thong next, he pressed his face into the apex of my thighs. I squirmed as he rubbed his nose against the silky fabric. “You smell so good.”
“Leo.” It was a plea, though I couldn’t have articulated what I wanted to save my soul. There were too many things, all at once. His fingers, his tongue, his cock—I wanted it all.
“Patience,” he replied, brushing his lips against my inner thigh as he spoke.
“You keep saying that.” Patience wasn’t an option when I ached for so much more.
His responding smile was so wicked, so tantalizing, heat shot straight to my core. Just when I was about to give in to the overwhelming desire to beg, he slid my thong down my hips and buried his head between my legs.
I cried out, the pleasure immediate and fierce as he licked along my folds. “Leo,” I repeated on a husky sigh as I clutched his hair with one hand and the couch cushion with the other.
“Yes, beautiful?” he asked, peering up at me while he flicked at