He answers me with a scorching and needy kiss. It takes my breath away, and almost my mind too. Luckily I remember I need to change my clothes. It’s embarrassing, but I tell Connor what happened.
“If it makes you feel better I will pee right here, right now.” He points at the yard. “On the grass, I mean.”
I laugh. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“You can shower at my house. I have an oversized t-shirt with your name on it. You left some clothes at my place, too. I found them yesterday and had no intention of giving them back to you.” He grins impishly.
Connor takes my keys and locks the front door. He slips a hand in mine and leads me to his truck in front of Walt’s house.
Oh no. The car service for tomorrow morning. While Connor drives I type out a quick message to the guy who’s supposed to pick me up.
In the morning I’ll deal with canceling my flight. For now, I want to close my eyes and forget tonight happened.
* * *
“It doesn’t lookthe same without your paintings.” Connor’s living room is barren without the canvases, drab without the addition of their color. The empty easels are skeletons. I stop in the center of the room and turn back to him. His t-shirt hangs down to mid-thigh on me, but it’s soft, and clean, and I feel a little better now that I’ve showered.
“I’m sorry I missed your show.”
Connor strides to where I stand. His gaze is intense, his chest heaves once with a massive breath. “Later, Brynn. I’ll tell you all about it.” He grabs me and hoists me into the air. I wrap my legs around his waist and snuggle in.
His nose brushes against my nose, his lips drifting over mine. “You have no idea what it was like to walk in on you tonight. Bound,” he chokes on the word. “The look on your face… It was awful. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
“I’m here.We’rehere,” I whisper against the corner of his mouth. “Forget everything. Let it all go. We didn’t think we’d have tonight, Connor.” I graze his lower lip with my teeth. “Let’s make the most of it.”
Connor’s groan fills my mouth, runs down my throat, slides into every inch of me. I wriggle to get closer, but there isn’t any space to overtake. The only way he’ll be closer is if he’s inside me.
He cradles the back of my head with one hand, using the other to hold up my ass. Carefully, he lowers us as one until we’re seated on the drop-cloth covered floor. I pull back, only long enough to pull off his shirt, then dive back in for more. He tugs on my shirt, lifting it as high as it will go. Again, I stop only long enough to lift my arms and be rid of my top.
Arms under my shoulders, he lifts me a few inches and buries his face between my breasts. “Brynn,” he says in a voice muffled by the valley he’s immersed in. “I love you.”
I look down, opening my mouth. Nothing comes out. I have no words. He said it before, in my birthday card, but hearing him say it is different. Connor peeks up and grins. Gently he tugs my hair and forces my chin to point up at the ceiling. He lowers me inch by inch back down onto him, as he kisses and licks his way up the valley, over my collarbone, and straight up my neck to my jaw.
His eyes meet mine. My hands run through his hair, down his neck and over his chest. How did he sneak past my defenses? How did all my seconds get better when I thought they never would? I stepped in front of his truck, and he stepped into my heart.
“This week was painful, Connor. A pain I don’t want to feel again. The last year has been hell for me. The ugliness of what happened felt suffocating. I never thought I’d find someone who wouldn’t hate me when they learned what happened.”
“That was a tragedy, but it doesn’t define you. I see you, Brynn.” One side of his mouth turns up as he runs a fingertip over my cheek. “You’re funny and kind. There’s light inside of you. When I first met you, I thought your eyes held a storm, but even then, I could see color in them.”
My eyes widen. “The painting? The one of the eye?”
A rosy hue sprouts up on Connor’s cheeks. “Yeah,” he admits.
I laugh. “I’m the buyer.”
His eyebrows form a ‘V’ in the center. “What?”
I laugh harder. The movement makes my breasts bounce and Connor looks down, appreciation softening his features. He lays me back, climbs over me, and I hear the rustle of his pants sliding down his legs.
He pushes inside me, and my breath leaves my chest at the unbelievable feeling of fullness. He rocks above me, his pace a steady rhythm, and in my head, I say the words in time with him.
I.
Love.
You.
I love you.
