“It’s the circumstances in which I blurted those words out. Instead of giving you a surprise, that’s what I regret, Kaeli.”
For some reason, my heart starts to beat with hope again.
Pulling back, he gazes right into my eyes andcups my face. “I mean every word, Kaeli. I love you. I have wanted you from the moment you literally collided right into me.” My eyebrow arches despite myself.
He rolls his eyes, his lips tilting upwards. “Fine.Icollided with you and almost cost you your job. I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s okay,” I reply in the lowest of voices.
“No, it’s not. But that’s a discussion for another time.” I open my mouth, but he cuts me off before I can get a word in. “Shhh, Feather. Just listen,” he says, pressing his index finger to my lips. But it’s like he’s issuing a command using that nickname.
I nod, and he continues. “Good girl.” I blush furiously.
“I love you, Kaeli. I don’t know when or how. One day, I woke up with the truth rooted in my heart.” His earnest voice makes me believe every word he says. “I want to spend every waking moment staring at your beautiful face and every night kissing it in your warm embrace.”
He tucks strands of hair behind my ears. “I want to take care of you and show you that not everyone wants to be around you for something you can give them. I want to smother you inlove.”
Ezra’s electric blue eyes rake over my figure before coming back to meet my brown ones. “I want to prove to you that I want to be with you for you. Because I’m so utterly and entirely in love with you, Feather.”
I choke on a sob and smash my lips to his. I might not be able to say those same words back to him; instead, I pour all of my feelings for him into this one kiss. I hope that it’s enough for him.
The relief he experiences is evident from the way his shoulders relax under my touch, and his breath comes a little easier, as if he’d have died if I rejected him.
Grabbing my waist, he pulls me to the edge of the couch, rising on his knees. I feel like I’ll melt when his tongue swipes in and caresses mine. I feel him surrendering to me, giving me his heart to protect or to break.
Although it practically hurts me to say, I pull back and let him know. “I can’t…I can’t say it back.” I worry my bottom lip, scared that he’ll pull away.
Instead, he amazes me by giving me a soft smile. “I don’t need you to, Feather. My love is not selfish. I’m entirely satisfied just being ableto hold you and call you mine.”
He swallows my gasp of surprise with his skilled and fluffy lips. He taps my hips, and my hands and legs wrap around him. I want to bathe in the love he’s giving me. I’ve spent my entire life surviving on crumbs, and this feels surreal.
“Room?” he asks against my lips.
I direct him, and we climb the steps to the guest bedroom. This feels so much like the first time we slept together.
But this time, there are feelings involved, and even though I’m afraid, I’m not complaining. I want this man in whichever shape or form I can have. Stumbling inside the room and fumbling with our clothes, our movements turn impatient.
Finally, we stand in front of each other in nothing but our underwear. His eyes rake over me, taking in every visible inch.
“Fuck, Kaeli. You’re so beautiful, it hurts,” he marvels with an audible gulp under closed lights as the moon’s luster reflects off of him.
“I’ve never been as comfortable with anyone as I feel with you,” I say, walking closer to him. He deserves a piece of truth, even if I can’t give him what he wants.
His eyes shine with so much love and pride. Icup his cheek, and he leans into it, covering it with his own.
“You make me feel safe,” I admit.
His eyes fall shut as he leans into my palm. “Fuck, Kaeli. You’re killing me,” he curses.
My hand slides down his torso and reaches his dick, gripping him through his boxers. Ezra’s eyes flare open, a shit-eating grin spanning across his face. “So, that’s how you wanna do it? Alright.”
In an instant, he flicks open the hook of my bra and tears my thong right off me, making me gasp.
Picking me up, he tosses me on the bed. I squeal as my body bounces on the mattress.
Ezra stands at the edge of the bed, removing his boxers. He gives his cock slow and deliberate pumps, precum already leaking from the tip. He rubs that with his thumb, and suddenly, I envy the thumb.
Getting to my knees, I crawl toward him. My tits jiggling as gravity beckons them the same way his cock beckons me like a moth to a flame.
