My God,I just hope she’s dreaming about me.
My cock aches, and I run a hand up the side of it, trying to quell some of the urges that threaten my resolve, but they’re impossible to suppress with her still laying here.
Maybe this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have climbed into bed. I shouldn’t be holding her so close.
I nudge her softly. “You awake?”
There’s a long pause before she finally answers, though it’s stiff. “Yeah, why?”
“I think you were having a bad dream.” I, of course, know she’s not having a bad dream at all, but I need the moaning to stop because I want her here. I want her here forever, and if I hear those sounds again, I’m going to lose myself in something far more physical than I intend to.
She sits up in bed and leans against the heavy wooden headboard with me. “I think I’m having stress dreams. What about you? You get any sleep at all?”
“Yeah, I’m solid. The military prepped me for anything and everything. I could—”
“Go days without sleep. I remember. You still talk to the guys in your squad? You used to keep up with them a few times a year, right?”
A smile stretches onto my face. I can’t believe she remembers that. “Yeah, we meet up once a month for breakfast at this pancake house in the Springs. Most of the guys are married now with kids of their own. It’s nice to see.”
She snuggles into my chest like she belongs there. “You’ve wanted kids forever. Why didn’t you have any? I’m sure there are loads of women over the past eight years who’ve tried. I mean, things didn’t work out with us, but I can admit… you’re a catch.”
I smirk and laugh a little under my breath. “It’s hard to move on with someone else when you know the perfect person is out there.”
There’s a long silence and somehow the darkness seems to get darker. “Who’s the perfect person?”
I grin, taking her hand in mine. “I think you know her.”
“Kit?” Marley looks toward me and grins. “She’s into her dad’s best friend, so… that’s going to be awkward for you.”
I laugh. “No, not Kit.”
“Well,” she shrugs, “I don’t know anyone else.”
I weave my fingers through her long, silky hair. “You’re the perfect person for me, honey. I should’ve come back and told you that. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I don’t know… I convinced myself that you’d made your decision, and I needed to accept it.”
She stares at me in the dim light of the room, her pink lips shining in the sliver of silver light coming in from outside. “I didn’t know what I wanted back then.”
“Do you know now?”
She nods slowly. “Yeah, I know now.”
There’s a beat, and then, there’s a moment. A moment where my chest tightens and my body reacts. A moment where my lips are pressed against hers, my hands are in her hair, and the ache inside of me mirrors reality.
Nothing can take her from me now. She’s mine.
Chapter Nine
Marley
I don’t know how long we kiss for, but Tex still has his lips on mine when the sun comes up. In fact, it’s not until his phone rings on the bedside table that we give our attention to anything else.
“It’s Mrs. Robinson,” he says, kissing my lips again with a groan. “I should take the call. I’m sure it’s about the property across from the bookstore. I bugged her all day yesterday. I don’t know when she’ll get around to calling me back.”
I nod and land my lips on his once more, enjoying the scruff from his beard before I pull away. “I’ve gotta pee, anyway. This is just a break, though.”
“Agreed.” He grins and tugs me back once more before I’m off the bed, planting another kiss on my lips.
It’s a simple gesture, one I’m sure is normal in most relationships, but to me, it’s everything. It’s a sign that he wants me. A signal that he doesn’t want to let me go. Richard never did things like this. Most of the time I had to beg for affection.
