Bridge of Hope (38 page)

And there went my heart, melted into a puddle of mush on the floor beneath her furry boots. I leaned in and kissed her tenderly with a smile. “Whatever you choose it
will
be just right.
Because
it’s for us.”

Eventually we went back to the
first
tree we’d looked at—but I now understand this to be a typical female trait. We loaded it into the Landy and climbed in. I glanced over and she looked a little sad.

Reaching over I stroked her cheek. “Hey, what’s wrong, gorgeous?”

“Oh… nothing. I was just wondering…”

After a pause I became inquisitive. “Wondering what?”

“Nothing, it’s silly. You’ll think I’m daft.”

I chuckled. “I already think you’re daft. You’re
my
girl, remember?”

She smiled and rolled her eyes. “I was just wondering… if there
is
a heaven… and Mairi and Sam are up there, do you think… Do you think they’re friends?”

She broke my heart with the way she thought. God, she was so cute sometimes.

Tilting her chin around so she faced me, I placed a kiss on her nose. “I
know
they are.” A peaceful smile played on her lips. I’d apparently satisfied her with my answer, and so we set off for home.

Getting the tree into Mallory’s cottage was interesting. You don’t realise the quirkiness of cottages until you have to manoeuvre something like a hunk of trunk with spiky branches through two doors. Mallory was as much use as a bloody chocolate fire grate. As I struggled with the bloody thing, she giggled uncontrollably which, of course, in turn, had me laughing too. Two laughing adult plus one large, spiky pine tree equals a bad combination.

Once the tree was situated in the living room, I poured us a wee dram of sherry and we started going through our decorations. I have to admit at this point to having
very little
taste when it comes to such things. My ornaments were… how do I put it? Well,
tacky
and brightly coloured, whereas hers were classical and showed an understated elegance that my childish ones could never aspire to in a million years.

Whilst I hung fat-bellied, red-nosed Santa Clauses and goggle-eyed snowmen at the front, she surreptitiously removed them and placed them toward the back, replacing them with her own handmade, wooden Christmas trees and gold-sprayed pine cones. I watched her doing this for a while, trying not to give the game away, but eventually I wrestled her to the ground.

Tickling her ribs, I sat astride her torso. “Admit it, Westerman, admit that you’re ashamed of my plastic snowmen.”

Giggling and struggling, she shouted, “Never! I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re taking them off and moving them, you cheeky wee mare.”

“Not a clue what you mean,” she squealed. “Stop it or I’ll pee!” We rolled around laughing hysterically and eventually, even if a little begrudgingly, my plastic snowmen and Santa ornaments took pride of place amongst her grown-up ones. Greg one… Mallory nil.

As we sat there admiring our stunning, if a little bizarrely decorated tree—it really was having an identity crisis—we chatted about Hogmanay, and Brad and Josie’s visit. It would be good to see them, but that wasn’t what
I was looking forward to the most.

Turning to Mallory, I stroked my hand down her cheek. “Do you know what
I’
m looking forward to?” I moved in closer and could feel her warm breath on my face.

“What?” she whispered, no doubt reading my mind.

“I’m looking forward to unwrapping
you
on Christmas morning and kissing you all over.”

She gasped and her pupils dilated. Leaning in, she took my mouth, slipping her tongue inside and breathing in deeply through her nose. When she pulled away, I locked my eyes on hers through a heady fog of lust.

Swallowing, she smoothed her hand down my chest. “Why wait until Christmas morning?”

Oh. Fucking. Yes
. I needed no further encouragement as I smiled, stood, and took her hand. This was it. It was
finally
happening. I fought back the doubts trying to seep into my mind about whether I would satisfy her and focused on the fact that this was
us
and we were
meant
to be.

I led the way upstairs and once inside the bedroom I pulled her against me, slipping my hands down to her rounded bottom. “I’ve waited for this moment since the day I met you.” My voice was almost unrecognisable as lust and emotion had taken me over. I could hardly speak but I wanted to convey my feelings this time using my
own
words instead of those belonging to another. “I want to savour this. I want to savour
you,
Mallory. I love you with all my heart, but I want you with every inch of my being.”

I’d never spoken a truer word. I was
hers
.
All
of me. I trailed my hand up her body and into her hair. Lowering my mouth so that it almost touched hers, I relished the feeling of her warm breath increasing speed on my lips as I gazed at her, knowing my longing was clearly evident. I closed my eyes as she slid her hands up over my chest; the feel of her hands caressing me this way sent pleasure shooting to my very core. I clenched my jaw, determined to keep my cool and fighting the urge to throw her back onto the bed and climb on top of her.

No, I would take this slowly.

As her hands found my hair, I touched my lips to hers, gently at first but I was grasping onto my self-control by a hair’s breadth. The kiss deepened and the taste of her overtook my senses. I heard a groan escape from my throat and felt slightly embarrassed, but she didn’t pull away. Her breathing quickened as she grasped at my hair and I at hers.

She tugged at the hem of my T-shirt, dragging it from my body it one swift motion as I stooped to make the process easier. Once my chest was fully exposed to her hungry eyes, she leaned in and kissed my tattoo, grazing my nipple with her tongue. I inhaled sharply and my head rolled back as I relished the feel of her lips on my skin.

I pulled her sweater from her body. My eyes were drawn to her full breasts in their blue lace bra, and I swallowed hard. Tracing my fingers along her collar bone, I kept my eyes on hers, watching her every reaction to my touch. Her hands found my waistband, and before I knew it, I was stepping out of my jeans and kicking them to one side. Then it was her turn. Unclasping the button of her jeans, I slipped my hands inside and squeezed her bottom before sliding the denim down her legs.

We finally stood before each other in just our underwear. The butterflies took flight in my stomach. This was
really
happening. A wide smile took over my face and I shook my head.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked in a quiet, nervous voice.

“I’m just looking at you and thinking that I must be the luckiest man on the planet right now.” She peered up at me in disbelief, a frown creasing her brow. Taking her face in my hands, I smoothed my thumbs over her lips. “You truly are beautiful, Mallory. So very sexy. And you just don’t seem to realise that. Your curves, your skin… I mean you’re just…
so beautiful
. I can’t put into words how much I want you.”

“You did a pretty good job with words right there. But if you can’t… can’t find words… just show me?”

There was nothing I wanted more. I kissed her once again as I unfastened the blue lace bra from around her ribs. Dropping it to the floor, I caressed her breasts first with my hands and then with my mouth. Her nipples tightened and she sighed, allowing her eyes to fall closed. She had the most beautiful breasts I had ever seen, and the taste of her skin was like some intoxicating elixir. I couldn’t get enough of her and felt sure that I never would.

Dropping to my knees before her, I gazed up into her half-closed eyes and slipped the blue lace panties down her smooth thighs. Kissing her soft belly and hips, I circled the skin there gently with my thumbs. I loved the noises she made; they told me she was enjoying what I was doing to her as much as I was enjoying
doing
it. I nuzzled the soft hair at the junction of her thighs and inhaled her scent. I was already addicted and needed to taste her there too. I slipped my tongue into her damp flesh and her legs almost buckled. Gripping her hips to steady her, I caressed her with my tongue as she massaged my scalp with her deft fingers, sending shivers down my spine.

I replaced my tongue with my fingers I watched as her breasts heaved and her mouth fell open. That look of sheer ecstasy had me mesmerised. She was on the verge of release but I wanted more. When I removed my hand, she made a cute little whimpering noise that made me smile. I stood once again, removed my boxers, and turned her around. When I pulled her to my chest, my arousal pressed into her lower back, sending delicious tingles down my body to where we connected.

I took her breast into my hand and squeezed the tight bud between my finger and thumb, making her gasp and lean her head back into my shoulder. I kissed and sucked at the soft flesh of her neck and removed my fingers from her tender spot to smooth my hands up and down the curve of her waist; another of my favourite areas of her curvaceous body. Stepping away to take in the vision of her naked body again, I skimmed my eyes down her back to her luscious bottom. What I saw at her lower back made me gasp and drop to my knees once again.

“Mallory.” Her name left my throat as a strangled sob as I took in the image before me. I traced the ink of her tattoo with my fingertips and she shivered, glancing at me over her shoulder. “That’s… that’s the Celtic symbol for everlasting love,” I said as my throat tightened. “And… you’ve got my initial… wait…
our
initials on your body?” I grabbed her hips and pressed my lips to the tattoo. “Mallory it’s beautiful, it’s perfect.” I couldn’t believe she’d done it and wondered when and why.

Standing, I turned her to face me. I couldn’t hide the effect the ink had on me. “When?”

She cupped my face in her hands. “Greg, I realised how I felt about you when I was in Yorkshire, the last time. I was so angry with myself for how I handled things. I figured I’d probably ruined everything, but I wanted a permanent reminder of you. I wanted something to keep forever in case I had blown it by being so racked by guilt at loving you. Something that was out of sight to everyone else, but that
I
knew was there.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t believe she’d thought that
she
’d ruined things after all the crap
I
’d put her through.

She stepped closer to me, her soft breasts connecting with my skin. “I love you, Greg, so much. I was so scared to even acknowledge my feelings until I went away. I was terrified that you’d fallen for Kate. I’m so glad you hadn’t stopped loving me. Now you know how I feel, and whenever you look at my tattoo, you’ll know how much I truly love you. There’s no going back for me now.”

“I love you so much, Mallory. So,
so
much.” I placed kisses over her cheeks, eyes, and lips, and as our mouths reconnected and our tongues tangled, I relished the taste of her once again. We tumbled onto the bed, wrapped around each other.

When we pulled apart, I slipped my fingers into her dampness again, making her moan. She gripped me and began stroking me. The sensations she elicited radiated through my body like a rush of heat through every single nerve ending.

Reaching down to my jeans where they had fallen, I pulled out a small foil packet, opened it, and stretched the sheath down over myself. I began to caress her again and her soft moans were like the best music I’d ever heard, sending shivers down my body and making me desperate for her. She began to tighten around my fingers, and when she cried out I kissed her deeply, swallowing her noises of desire and bliss like they were necessary for to me live. Moving my body between her thighs, I gazed down at her as she breathed heavily, her eyes filled with adoration. She pulled at my shoulders in a silent instruction and I sunk myself inside her body, closing my eyes as the pleasure of our joining filled every fibre of my being.

Never
had making love felt the same as it did with Mallory. In that moment I knew I’d found the other half of my soul; the other half of
me
. As I moved my body within hers, we locked eyes—and fear took over me. What if she changed her mind? What if she realised that I wasn’t the man for her?
Oh God, if I lost her now—

“Greg.” She tangled the fingers of one hand in my hair. “I love you and I want you… and I mean
forever
.” She had read my mind or seen the worry in my eyes. Either way, she spoke and my fears melted away as she gasped and pulled me into her hard with her other hand.

I fell into the abyss, calling out her name, and she joined me as she fell once more too.