Falling In (30 page)

              “What’s that?”

              “I never claimed to be a gentleman, pixie.” I wink at her as I sit back down on her bed, never taking my eyes off her.

              “Well, do you think you could muster up some gentlemanlike behavior and leave so I can get dressed?” she asks with a raise of her eyebrow.

             
Mmmm, sarcastic Evangeline is just as sexy as fiery Evangeline
. I pretend to think it over, even going as far as putting my fist to my chin and furrowing my brows. She rolls her eyes. I smile.

              “I was thinking—” I trail off, not sure how to ask this.

              “About?”

              “Well, I wondering if you might do me a favor?” she looks intrigued and skeptical.

              “What kind of favor?”
So many possible answers to that question.

              “I was wondering—
hoping
that you might let me see you.” I say, waiting for her to get the true meaning.

              She doesn’t.

              “You
are
seeing me.”

              I shake my head and get back up, needing to be close to her when I explain what I mean. She looks so fucking cute when she’s confused. Once I reach her, I grab her hand and lead her to where I just left. With good reason, she’s hesitant in sitting down, but she does it anyway. I caress her cheek, not able to stop myself from touching her when she’s this close to me.

              “Jake,” she breathes out. “What do you mean?”

              I take a deep breath before asking the most inappropriate question I could ask of her. “Would you let me see you? Without the towel.”

              We both suck in a breath. She releases hers first.

              “Jake,” she says cautiously. I swear, I will never get tired of hearing her say my name, no matter how she says it.

              “Just hear me out, okay?” After she nods tentatively, I go on. “You’re going to have to make a choice soon, and I may not be that choice. I know this. I’ve come to terms with it, as much as I possibly can—which honestly isn’t very much, but you don’t need to worry about that right now.” I release a deep breath as I feel her hand cover mine and squeeze.
God, this woman
. “For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I might not ever get the chance to see you, just you, bare and completely unguarded in front of me. I know that I technically saw you that one day, but you were with him. It doesn’t count. I want to see you looking at me like I’m the only one. I want to know how that feels, even if it’s just for thirty seconds. I’ll take what I can get. I promise I’ll try not to touch,” I add for good measure.

              She’s quiet for a few moments. I search her face for any form of an answer or hint as to what is swirling around in that mind of hers. I know she has something to say, though. I can see it in her eyes and body language.
She’s worried about something
. I squeeze her hand to get her attention. Her eyes immediately fly to mine. “What is it?” I ask her, my stomach turning into a pit of nerves awaiting her answer.

              “Aren’t you afraid it might ruin the fantasy?”

              Well, that was not what I was expecting to come out of her mouth.

              “What do you mean, ‘ruin the fantasy?’” I’m pretty sure I know what she means, but I want to hear her say it. She shrugs uncomfortably. I nudge her to explain.

              “Right now you see my body how you want to see it, how you imagine it to be. But in reality, I am almost positive it is nothing like what you think it is. My tits are small, but my nipples are huge from breastfeeding the twins. My ass is ginormous, and I have cellulite on the backs of my thighs that I can’t get rid of, no matter how many damn lunges and squats I do. And I have stretch marks all over my lower abdomen from carrying said twins that are nowhere near sexy.” She releases an exhausted sigh after finishing her crazy rant.

              She’s staring at me expectantly, waiting to see disgust on my face, but it obviously never comes. All I can do is laugh. Through the veils of tears misting at my eyes, I see her appalled face, which only makes me laugh harder.

              “Are you laughing at me?” she asks, bewilderment clear in her voice.

              It takes me a minute to gain my composure again. Between residual chuckles and deep breaths, I pull her into my arms and stroke her wet curls.

“I’m sorry, pixie. I wasn’t so much laughing at you as I was laughing at the absurdity and complete and utter bullshit of what you were saying.” I pull my head back so I can look into her big brown eyes.

“Do you honestly think I give a shit about any of that? C’mon girl, you may not have known me long, but I know that you know me well enough to realize that I will think you are perfect, no matter how many imperfections you claim to have. You’re—” I start and then stop, trying to swallow down the emotion that is beginning to show itself. I look into her eyes and see the vulnerability that I am sure she sees in mine. “You’re absolutely beautiful. So beautiful, it’s almost unbelievable. You send my body into shock with just one damn look. You have nothing to be ashamed of, or worried about—other than knowing how much I crave you, how much I want to cherish you. Nothing could ever make me stop, not even not choosing me. I will
always
want you. And the sooner you get that through your head, the better.” I finish with a small smile that she returns and nods in surrender. “Now will you let me see you?” I ask again, giving her my best angelic face.

              She stares at me indecisively, absorbing what I just told her while fighting off her insecurities. But finally she lets out a staggered sigh and nods a yes. If it wasn’t such an immature dick move, I would jump with a fist pump to the air right now. Somehow though, I maintain my cool.

              After a deep breath, she gets up from the bed, coming to a stop in front of me. Her right hand grips the top of her towel, while mass amounts of nervous energy oozes out of her.

              “Pixie, you don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to. I would never make you do something you aren’t completely comfortable with.” I tell her, now worried that I might have pressured her into doing this.

              “No. I want to do this.” She says, straightening her back, looking as determined and confident as she usually does.

              That’s my girl.

              My palms are beginning to sweat and my fingers are clenching the blanket in anticipation as I watch her stand before me, nervous as all hell. She takes a giant breath in and closes her eyes as her fingers wrap around the top of the towel. I hold in my own breath, knowing what is about to come next. She grips the towel, and with an audible exhale lets it fall to the floor.

              If there is a heaven, this is what it looks like.

              I am in awe. I can’t take my eyes off of her. All I can do is stare. Her long curls are draped over her shoulders, beads of water dripping down her perky breasts. I lick my lips at the sight of her long brown nipples pointing directly at me, as if calling me to put my mouth on them. I’ve seen slivers of her stomach before, but it has never looked this good, the way it curves into her hips, creating that luscious ass that I’ve been dying to see without clothes. For being so petite, her legs are long and toned from all of that yoga she does. I can’t wait to have those limbs wrapped around my waist. But what is really making my dick hard as a fucking stone is what she’s got going on down below. Her pussy is bare, save for a small strip of tiny brown curls, with puffy lips that I want to spread open right this fucking second. And I know for damn sure she’ll taste as sweet as she is. Every inch of her is more beyond what I could ever imagine, from her cute as hell turquoise toenails to the top of her head. And motherfucking hell, I want to touch all of those inches in between.

              “Say something,” she pleads.

              I look up to her face, and she looks so damn unsure of herself, I almost come undone.
How can she not know how perfect she is?

              When I still don’t say anything, she bends down to reach for the towel again, and I jump to my feet as quickly as humanly possible.

              “Don’t.” I say, touching her hand. “Please don’t. Not yet,” I beg her, releasing a sigh of relief when the towel once again slips from her hands. She straightens back up, but I know she’s fighting the urge to cover herself with her hands, to hide her body, her ‘flaws’ from me. Her eyes won’t meet mine directly; they’re staring right past me. I run my index finger down her soft, sun-kissed cheek and revel in the way her eyes close and the sweet sound of her sharp intake of breath. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your body tells a story, paints a picture. It’s living art, pixie.”

              I slowly move my finger from her cheek, drawing a line down the crevice of her breasts. Her body shivers at my touch, bringing a smile to my face. I continue to drag my finger down and around each breast, just underneath and over the top, never grabbing or fondling, just grazing with the tip of my finger. “These breasts were made just for me, and they’re a perfect fit for my hands.” I say as I move my finger down her left breast, over her areola and just barely touching her peaks. “And don’t get me started on these nipples. The bigger, the better, baby. More for my mouth to devour.” Her breathing has become staggered, and I almost grab her and throw her down onto that bed when I see her pull that lip between her teeth.

              “Jake, I thought you said you weren’t going to touch,” she whispers as my hand travels over her nipples and I slowly make my way down her torso.

              “I lied. Sue me.” I challenge, meeting her glazed eyes with a smirk as I rest my hand on her midsection. I begin to make small circles over the light scarring on her lower abdomen. “These tiny little scars are not something you should be ashamed of, pixie. You carried and nurtured two amazing little children inside of this gorgeous stomach. You should be proud. These aren’t scars or blemishes or flaws, they’re badges of honor. They’re a part of you. A part of what makes you, you. And
you
are unlike any woman I have ever known. You’re everything I ever wanted, and I swear I’m not saying that just because you’re butt-ass naked.”

              The sound of laughter bubbling out of her cuts the nervous tension surrounding us in half. At least it did until I start to relocate my fingers from her stomach down to her pelvic bone, drawing lines across the top, teasing her. I look up to find her eyes on mine, unsure of what I will do next.
Her and me both
.

              Before I take things further than she’s ready for, I move my fingers around her hips and down her ass cheeks, squeezing each one, eliciting a squeal from her. I pull her closer to me, my eyes involuntarily closing as I feel her bare breasts rub against my chest.

              Damn, that feels good.

              I bring my mouth to her ear, squeezing her cheeks one more time before whispering, “This ass—there are no words, baby, for how much I love this ass. I’ve got plans for it, if or when the time comes.” I give her left cheek a little slap, smiling when she yelps and moves even closer into me.

              “
Asshole
.” She whispers into my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my neck.

              I start to rub the spot I smacked. Feeling the soft skin under my fingertips is intoxicating, and all too damn erotic knowing that I could just slide my finger here or around and down there. My dick seems to be thinking the same thing, because it is at full mast behind my jeans, and could quite possibly bust the zipper at any moment.

              I stop rubbing her juicy ass and run my hand back up her spine, producing a slight moan from her directly into my ear. I have to bite the inside of my cheeks to stop me from saying the hell with it and finally take her.
Fuck
.

              “Fuck, pixie.” I parrot my thoughts and whisper into her wet hair.

              “What?” she huskily breathes out, sounding so motherfucking sexy I can’t stand it.
This is too much
.

              “As much as I would love to stay here all day with you wearing absolutely nothing, my cock just can’t take it, baby,” I tell her honestly. She giggles a bit before nodding her agreement.

              I kiss the top of her head, and then bend down to grab her towel off the floor. Taking a step back, I give her body one last head to toe glance, committing every single curve and appendage to memory before regrettably wrapping her body back up.

              I cup her face in my hands and kiss her gently. “Thank you for that. It was the best ten minutes of my life, and I will never forget it.” She smiles and nods. “All right then, I’ll let you get dressed. Do you want me to go, or can I hang out with you a bit longer?” I ask, hoping for the latter.

              “No. Stay. I have to pack a few bags up for the kids. You could watch me or help or whatever—you know, if you want to or don’t mind,” she rambles nervously.

             
God damn, she’s so cute.