Underwater (24 page)

His breathing picked up, tickling my skin, our bodies brushing with every breath. His heart beat frantically, making a
thump, thump, thump
sound. I could feel his arousal against my thigh, affecting my senses and awakening me, making me hotter and hotter with every passing moment, forcing my own breaths and heartbeats to match his.

We were in sync, setting each other on fire, burning with every second that passed.

His hands trailed slowly up my arms until they found the palms of my hands, then he threaded his fingers with mine, and placed them over my head. We were tangled and bound together in the most pleasant way.

“I will ask you again,” he spoke into my neck, his breaths caressing my skin, igniting me even more. “Who was that guy?”

“Danny,” I managed to say, relieved that my voice sounded strong, even though my body felt like Jell-O. “Ella’s cousin.”

“What he is to you?”

“He was my childhood friend. I haven’t seen him in years. He was happy to see m-me. That’s all. I knew him as a child, but I don’t know him anymore. The most important men in my life are my dad, Adam, and…y-you.”

I felt his exhalation brush my skin, and his hands that still held onto mine, squeezed hard.
He shook his head, his messy hair tickling me in the process, and then he whispered, “Shit. I really fucked up this time.”

“Don’t worry about it. I already did damage control. It’s all good.”

He pulled back, looking skeptical.

“I mean it,” I said with reassurance. “I explained the situation. They understood.”

“Really?” he asked quietly. I could identify a fragment of hope in his voice. I sensed how important it was for my friend to accept him as my partner. I could see it swirling in the depths of his soul.

“Yes,” I told him firmly and gave him my most heart-warming smile. ”I mean it.”

His eyes softened. “Okay.”

In the back of my mind, I knew there was something that had to be said. Something I wanted to tell him, to once and for all, calm his troubled mind.

“Dorian...”

He bent his head, brushing the tip of his nose against my temple. Then slid down, nuzzling my cheek until he reached my lips and moved lower until he grazed my chin. When he was satisfied with petting me, he made his way up to my ear and asked, “Yes?” His breath was hot, yet it caused me to shiver.

“I...I need you to know something,” I waited for his eyes to lock with mine. “I’m with
you
. I choose to be with you and
nobody else
.”

He shut his eyes. It seemed as if he was suffering actual pain.

“Talk to me,” I pleaded. “I need to know how you feel.”

Without talking about it, there wasn’t a chance for us to move forward. His insecurities. His anxiety. His doubts. His fears. I needed to know his mind in order for us to move past it. When he finally opened his beautiful blues my heart clutched.

“I know I might scare you with the way I feel for you,” he said hoarsely. “But I can’t help it. You’re mine now. But I’m trying, Tiny. I’m trying to be better. I
want
to be better.”

I cleared my throat and confessed, “When I saw you that first day, I never imagined that you were going to mean so much to me. When I walked through that door I wasn’t expecting to find you.”

He bent his head, and I held my breath, anticipating his next move. His eyes fluttered closed, and then he rested his lips across my forehead, showing me with his touch alone how attentive he was to me. I let my eyes shut too, savoring the moment. Too soon for my liking, he pulled back, and when I opened my eyes, I found him smiling, encouraging me to keep talking. So I did.

“I never expected you,” I whispered, my eyes burning. I wiggled my hand underneath his and he let go. I touched his face and stroked his cheek. I trailed my hand higher until I buried my fingers in his dark, messy hair. He hummed in satisfaction when I began to massage his scalp. A smile spread across his lips. “But then you happened,” I whispered again, watching how much he enjoyed my touch, behaving like a docile kitten instead of an untamed leopard. “And for the life of me, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.”

He pulled me closer, and in the process, touched our sensitive spots together.

I gasped.

He groaned.

We stared at each other, our eyes an inferno of lust and passion.

“For years,” he said, “I didn’t feel a thing. Absolutely nothing. Then you walked through that door and I couldn’t see anything but you.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “You were standing there, and the direction my thoughts were headed scared me. But I never stood a chance, Tiny.” He raised his head. His eyes showed determination and his touch showed ownership. “I never stood a chance.”

“I’m yours,” I answered honestly. I wanted him more than I needed my next breath. “And you are mine,” I added in a whisper.

His eyes lit up at my words, and without warning, he slammed our mouths together. His body was all muscle and steal, but his lips were soft and tasted like the Promised Land. I returned his kiss with fervor while his hand moved downward, spreading his fingers underneath my sweater. I clung to his shoulders, holding on to him like a lifeline.
His tongue licked my bottom lip, biting it, and then soothing the sting with soft caresses. I gasped, and he didn’t waste any time deepening the kiss. When his tongue found mine, their reunion started slowly, timidly, gently, until gentle wasn’t enough, and the kiss became all-consuming. My senses were on high alert as we devoured each other’s mouths. His clean-shaven aroma took over and wrapped around me. No one smelled like my Dorian, and in his arms, he felt like home to me.

Our bodies were joined and pressed together. I could feel how hard he was. We moaned in unison and the grip he had on me tightened even more. The heat of his body set me on fire. I pulled back, tearing my mouth from his as I struggled for my next breath. He looked at me with need.

Pure, carnal need.

“I love the way you smell,” he murmured with a husky voice. “You smell like vanilla.” His words danced across my cheek as he ran his lips over my skin. Whispering. Touching. Tasting. “You’re mine.”

“Show me.”

His hard erection was pressed against my heat, firing me up. My mind was a whirl of thoughts, and my body an ocean of emotions. All I wanted to do at this moment was to
feel
. His exhale of breath fluttered across my neck, and his heavy moans vibrated through my body. The spot between my legs became wetter with each sound he made. He began to grind into me. I moaned and he answered with a deep growl and more grinding. Up and down, over and over, slowly, and deliberately.

“Dorian,” I breathed, feeling like I was on the cusp of insanity. “I need...” I needed something more. The friction was driving me crazy but it wasn’t enough this time to pull me over the edge.

“Tiny, let me make you feel good.”

He lowered his mouth, dragging his lips towards my collarbone, grazing, licking and kissing my skin. When he was satisfied there, he inched his head lower until he reached my chest. He looked at me before his hands wrapped around my small breasts, which were still hidden underneath my sweater. With a glint of possessiveness in his lustful gaze, he gave my breasts a squeeze. It sent a wave of pleasure from my head to my toes. My breath caught and my eyes fluttered. Moving lower, he made his way down until his face was inches away from my core. His eyes shot up to mine, waiting for my permission.

I swallowed thickly and nodded.

He popped opened the button of my jeans and dragged the zipper down, slowly. I lifted my bottom up, assisting him with the task at hand. “Hurry,” I breathed out.

He grinned, devilish and sinful. “My little angel is impatient, I see.”

“Very,” I panted. My panties already damp, I couldn’t wait another second. I needed him, and I needed him
now
. Like a marionette doll, I was under his spell.

A smile played across his face as he threw my jeans to the floor, leaving me with only my panties and sweater.

“I want to taste you, Tiny.”

Oh. My.

“Okay.”

He gripped my underwear on both sides, and sent me a questioning look. I nodded my consent once more, dying to feel his touch on my bare skin. Once removed, they disappeared to the floor along with my jeans.

And then he just... looked at me. Like every girl that showed herself to her boyfriend for the first time, I had my fears and insecurities.

“You’re perfect, Tiny,” he breathed.

His eyes closed, leaning forward until the tip of his nose touched my very sensitive spot.

“Dorian…”

I moaned when he kissed me passionately, making love with my warmth. His tongue sunk even deeper. My excitement built with every stroke and every caress.

“You taste like heaven,” he growled. “I can’t get enough of you.”

I fisted the sheets in a frenzied fervor when he dragged his tongue up to my sensitive bundle of nerves. A moan escaped from my mouth. He added one finger, making me gasp.

“More,” I cried out. My core throbbed as I felt close to the edge. He growled again and then added another finger.

It was too much. He was too much. The feelings he evoked in me were too much
.

I writhed, my head thrashed from side to side, and my eyes closed tightly.

“You’re precious, Tiny, so precious.” He moaned and I panted. My skin flushed, my body quivered, and sweat collected across my brows. I cried out as spasms passed through my body, my climax hitting with strong waves of pleasure. I had no idea how much time had passed, but when my tremors subsided, I opened my eyes to the world that was suddenly full of vivid colors.

“Wow…” I breathed. “That was… just…wow.”

He watched me closely, appearing shy.

“What’s wrong?”

“It was my first time,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never done this before,” he admitted. “You can call me old fashioned, but it was something I could never bring myself to do. I never gave, nor received, this kind of act. It always seemed to me to be something intimate… to be done
only
with the woman I saw a future with.”

My heart raced all over again. I reached for him and he crawled up my body until we were eye to eye. “You were absolutely out-of-this-world perfect.”

His face broke into a smile, radiating relief and pure happiness.

“Well,” he said, his eyes dancing. “I’ve been told I’m pretty good at almost anything.”

I laughed out loud. Shaking my head, I said, “I bet you have.”

He laughed, kissing the tip of my nose. When he pulled back our laughter subsided. He looked at me with warmth, but his eyes got that faraway look.

“What are you thinking about?”

“How I wish I could chain you to my bed so you could stay right here... with me... for as long as I wished.”

Dorian was giving my heart a workout. I laced my fingers through his and asked, “How long would you want me to stay?”

“Forever,” he answered. Then he flipped on his back and pulled me into his arms. I rested my head across his chest and drew tiny circles on his scarred skin. After a few minutes of lying still, my eyes started to get heavy.

Enveloped in his protective arms, he whispered, “Go to sleep.”

“Okay,” I murmured, smiling.

“Goodnight, Tiny,” he whispered.

“Goodnight, Dorian.”

“The feelings trembled and flapped in his chest like a bird newly put in a cage.”

—
Rumi

O
pening my eyes after a full night’s sleep without nightmares was fucking fantastic.

Waking up with Tiny in my arms, though? That was
pure, endless bliss
. Nothing compared to this.

Nothing compared to
her
.

The feel of her small frame against my body, her head tucked close to my heart while I cradled her in my arms... I couldn’t even begin to explain what it did to me. She was everything I ever dreamed of and everything I never believed I deserved. But she was mine and hell if I would ever let her go.

We lay on our sides, facing one another. I arranged her body, so her head rested in the crook of my neck. She exhaled puffs of air through her nose, tickling my skin and heating me up from the inside out. Our legs were tangled together underneath the sheets, and she held on to me in her sleep, as if she needed the contact as much as I did.