Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
He feels it, too. I know he does because as soon as he feels my lips against his skin, he groans, spinning to face me.
"You can't," he rasps, his expression savage. His breath comes in pants as he clenches and unclenches his hands. "Christ, Mina. You can't put your mouth on me and expect me to behave."
"Who says you have to behave?" I whisper, staring up at him.
"Me. I say." He swallows, looking like he regrets the bonds he's leashed himself in. "I broke you yesterday, baby. You needed me to tell you no, and I fucking didn't. Until you know how you feel, I can't put you through that again. I can't be the reason for that look on your face ever again."
My heart clenches, guilt crashing through me. God, I've messed up so much with him. All he's done since he came back is try to show me how he feels, and I've been so damn messed up that I've got him all messed up, too. It isn't right. It isn't fair. He deserves better. We both do.
"Grayson, I…"
He reaches out, placing his palm against my cheek. "It's okay, sweetheart," he croons, his expression softening. "I'm not going to push you. I've been without you for six years. I meant it when I told you that I'd wait to rest of my goddamn life if that's what it takes. I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't want you to wait!" I cry, tears blurring my vision. "I was an idiot yesterday. I've been so damn afraid since you came back because…because the thought of loving you and losing you again is terrifying. I've barely been surviving it, Grayson. You weren't here, and every day was hell. When I saw you on that stage, it was like every prayer I had was answered. But all I could think was that it wasn't real. And that if it was real, it meant you could be ripped away from me again." My bottom lip quivers. "It m-meant I l-let them take you from me."
"Fuck," he growls, yanking me into his arms.
I collide with the hard wall of his chest, clinging. "Why did I let them take you?" I whimper against his skin. "I felt you, Grayson. The whole damn time, I felt you. But I still let my dad talk me into declaring you dead."
"You didn't know," he breathes, burying his hands in my hair to press his forehead to mine. "You didn't know."
"I should have," I whisper, my throat raw.
"And I should have known you were real, that you were waiting for me," he whispers back. "We can't go back and redo it, sweetheart. We've already lost six fucking years. Our daughter has lost six years. I'm not ready to give up another day. Another minute. We've got to let it go. It's the only way forward."
He's right. I know he's right.
"Then help me," I plead quietly. "I need your skin on my skin. I need your hands on my body. Put us back together, Grayson. Please."
He exhales a shuddering breath, hesitating. My heart clenches, threatening to crack in half. He's going to deny me. He still doesn't understand how much I need this. How much I believe him. How desperately I've always loved him. I've fucked up so badly that he thinks I'll regret it. That I don't know what I wa—
"Fuck," he groans, his mouth crashing down on mine as he yanks me flush against his trembling body.
I sob in relief, in ecstasy, kissing him back with everything I have. It's intense hunger, two starving souls finding their way back to one another after a lifetime apart. We nip and bite and fall into one another, pressing closer, closer…until every inch of space between us is demolished and every breath I take is full of him, and his are full of me.
And it's still not enough.
I need him all over me, inside me. Until I can't remember what it feels like to be without him. I've been so empty, so lonely for so damn long. He's the only one who can fix it. He's always been the only one capable of feeding this hunger. I belong to him, body and soul. I have from the very first day I saw him standing in the living room, laughing with my dad. I knew then and there that he was my future.
He's still my future. Somehow, despite everything, he's here now. My prayers were answered.
"Need to see you," he rumbles, his hand slipping beneath my shirt. "Every goddamn inch, baby. I have to touch you. Kiss you. Christ, I need to feel you all over me."
"Then touch me," I whisper. "Kiss me. You can have whatever you want. I'm yours, Grayson."
His minty breath washes across my face as he exhales before pulling back. His eyes lock with mine as he fists his hands into the sides of my shirt, slowly tugging it up my body. I shiver as his knuckles graze my sides.