“I’m not here for one last drink, Lex,” I interrupt him.
His hawk eyes follow me as I approach, and they don’t let go when I soothe my hands over his muscular chest and under his jacket to push it off his shoulders. He’s so entranced that he lets it fall to the floor, not minding the mess.
“Are you sure you want this, Andrea?”
This time, I nod, tugging at his turtleneck to take it out of his slacks. The thick fabric is warm in my hands, and I want to bunch it under my nose to smell him on it.
“If you want to wait longer, if you’re not comfortable with this, we don’t have to continue,” he insists.
Does he not know how much I want this? Can’t he realize just how desperately in love I am with him? After tonight, after our talks, after Seoul… Doesn’t he know we’re each other’s forever? Despite our differences, our rough start, our disagreements… and regardless of what life has in store for us, we’ll always find our way back to one another. I never believed in destiny, but I know I was put on this Earth for Alexander Coleman, and he’s here for me. We exist for each other.
Tenderly, I frame his handsome face with my hands, wanting to show all the affection and love I have for him.
“I want this, Lex. I know you’re trying so hard to protect us from hurting each other again, but I want you. All of you. I want the caring Lex, but I also want the dominant man, the control freak, the greedy and insatiable lover…”
His hands clench slightly on my hips, his inner turmoil easy to guess. His mind processes my words, that brilliant brain running ten miles a second. I love this man so damn much. Which I have yet to tell him. Those three small yet colossal words I was so close to telling him so many times need to come out.
So I let them.
“I love you, Alexander,” I profess, our eyes locked by an unbreakable force.
I see surprise, relief, confusion, and joy pass through his gray irises. A plethora of emotions wreck him, my words affecting him so profoundly that he probably feels them everywhere.
“Andrea, I—”
Words stumble in his throat as he tries to say something, to answer, to say it back… I see the frustration that takes over when his tongue refuses to cooperate.
“I know,” I whisper, stretching up to take his lips and appease him.
He kisses me with everything he has, showing me what he struggles to say. He kisses me like he owns me, and I do it just the same. When he lets go, it’s as though a wave of serenity washed over him.
Lex looks down at me with his incredible eyes and, with a whisper that feels like a scream, says, “I love you, Andrea.”
The most delicious shiver spreads through my entire body, from my heart to the tip of my fingers and toes. I knew it, but hearing it again, with so much conviction and intensity, is spectacular. Lex,myLex, loves me.
And now that he’s told me, I want him toshowme just how much. I take his hand and pull him with me as I walk to his bedroom. He follows in silence, but I feel the burn of his eyes on my skin. Once we’re in his room, I release his hand and twist my head around, looking at him through my lashes.
“Can you help me with…” I touch the back of my neck to show him the zipper along my spine.
He steps in closer so his hands can meticulously comply. As the zipper slides down, he lowers to kiss the curve of my shoulder. Once it’s undone, I step away from him, toward the bed. I turn around to meet his ravenous eyes and slowly pull my dress open, letting it slide down my body.
If I thought he looked entranced earlier, it’s nothing compared to now. His gaze devours every inch of me, discovering the pretty lingerie I’ve worn under my dress the whole time.
The small balconette bra barely reaches high enough to cover my nipples, and the thong is equally inefficient. The flesh-colored lace gives an illusion of nakedness, with tiny and adorable powder-pink butterflies embroidered in strategic spots. I’m wearing matching tights, held by a garter belt at my waist. It’s see through, so I know he can see everything beneath the lace, from my pebbled nipples to the perfectly trimmed triangle of curls between my legs.
His eyes are almost black with need as he stands there, looking at me like I’m dinner. My nerves make my hands tremble just a little, so I bring them behind my back.
“You look ravishing,” he utters with a raspy voice.
“Then ravish me, baby.”
He’s with me in three steps, his big, powerful hands grabbing me with fervent need while his mouth reclaims mine. My palms slip under his turtleneck, following the solid slab of his stomach up to the thin hair on his chest. He complies when I try to remove it but retakes my lips before the garment has even touched the ground.
I look down when he kicks his shoes out, and seeing the Superman socks we bought together in Seoul releases another surge of dopamine through me.
“God, I love you so fucking much,” I say, grabbing his face for another kiss.
I’m working on the fastening of his slacks when he lifts me off the ground, his hands filled with my ass. The world spins around me, but I’m too busy kissing him. The softness of the mattress welcomes my back as he lays me down, his hips nested between my parted thighs. He doesn’t stay there, though, straightening up to help me out of my shoes.
