“Know what to say when I feel like everything is falling apart.”
I sigh. “I know you baby, whether you like it or not. I see you. Feel you. You are so deep within my soul I know when something is wrong.”
Her head tilts toward me as her hand goes to her abdomen, my own joining on top of hers.
“I may not know what, but I know there is something wrong. I feel your pain Willow, like it’s my own and I just want to take it away and know if I could, if I could somehow take it on myself, I would. But I can’t, so I sit here, and I listen. I will always protect you, Red. Even if I think you’re wrong, I will tell you but, in this case, with what you have endured, I do not think you are wrong, not even close. I am fucking proud of you. I think you dealt with a case beyond your control which allowed you to be who you are. And with that decision you gave me something too.”
“What do you mean?” She breathes.
“You gave me you, Willow.” I admit. “You gave me something I never thought I’d be allowed to have.”
My eyes drop to her stomach.
“You’re giving me a family, something to live for, to breathe for. I always knew you were special, that you were far too good for me but never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d be the one to provide something I never even knew I wanted. You’ve always owned my heart; from the very moment you sat in my lap at our friend’s wedding, but I always told myself you deserved better.”
“I remember seeing you for the first time,” Her mouthtips up in the first hint of a smile in what feels like weeks.
“You called me hot,” I grin.
She quirks a brow, “Well, obviously.”
“I never allowed myself to believe you could be mine. I kept you close because I wanted you but told myself I wasn’t allowed. You were too good, and I just wasn’t but I am weak, Red. So fucking weak when it comes to you.”
“I’m not sure I could have been your friend for much longer,” She tells me, looking down to where our hands are joined, “I loved you too much.”
“You loved me?”
“Iloveyou,” She corrects. “There is no past tense here.”
I swear my heart drops into my stomach.
She gives me the smallest of smiles and then wipes her wet cheeks before she opens the car door and gets out, leaving me staring at her form as she makes her way to the elevators. She hits the button after inputting her code and then turns, meeting my eyes, hers so wide and open and raw.
My head is a fucking mess, this anger bubbling beneath the surface but there’s no way I can leave her alone right now. So, I get out of the car, hitting the button to lock it and cross the space to her. The doors slide open just as I reach her, but I don’t let her stepaway from me. I grasp her face in my hands, tilting her chin up so I can capture her lips with mine. Her sadness sits on her lips, the taste of salt reaching my tongue, but I kiss her in hopes I can help to put all those broken pieces together.
Her fingers curl into my jacket as she kisses me back eagerly but then her hands begin to wander, down my abdomen, pressing in hard enough I feel the threat of her nails against my skin.
“Red,” I warn with a rasp. It’s so damn hard to deny her when I’ve craved her for so long and continue to need her like an addict. She is under my skin, in my fucking bones and there’s never enough time, it’s never long enough.
She is fused to me.
“Make me forget,” She whispers, “Just for tonight. Make me forget.”
The noise that leaves me can only be described as a growl and when it comes to Willow fucking Stanton, I am on my knees.
I reach down and grasp her, hauling her up my body until she can wrap her legs around my waist. My mouth still on hers, I walk us into the elevator and hit the button for her floor before I push her up against the mirrored wall and grind my hips forward, showing her just how fucking much I want her.
She gasps into my mouth, “You like this?” I ask.
“Yes,” she whispers.
“You feel what you do to me, Red?” I nip her bottom lip, “You feel how fucking hard you make me?”
“God,” she whimpers.
“You say my name when your pretty legs are parted for me,” I growl, “It’s me making you feel this good, Willow, only fucking me.”
“Bast!” She cries as I pin her to the wall with my hips and move one of my hands, forcing it beneath her top until my fingers are caressing her breast, palm rolling over her peaked nipple.
