He held the back of her head, staring intently into her eyes.“Oh,” he said.
“Has it been three years for you?”
He shook his head.
But then he cupped her face, thumb sliding over her cheekbones.“It hasn’t been three years.But it’s never been you.”
That was all she needed to hear.It was all she ever needed to hear.
He stripped her shirt off, took her bra off with one clever flex of his fingers.
Then she was finally skin to skin with him as he continued to kiss her, his hands moving over her back.Going to the snap of her jeans, taking the zipper down slowly.
She was naked, held up against his body, and it was surreal.
Beautiful.The fulfilment of a dream she’d never really let herself have.
Desire was driving her, but there was something more, something deeper.Something she’d never shared with another man, not ever.
He lifted his hands, cupped her breasts, squeezed hard, drawing his thumbs over her nipples, and a shuddering gasp escaped her mouth.
“You really want me,” he said, his voice filled with wonder.
“Yes.I wanted you in high school.I wanted you even when I didn’t fully know what it meant.I fantasized about you even when I didn’t know exactly what I was fantasizing about.”
“And you were so goddamn mean to me,” he said, his voice a low growl as he dragged his thumb over her nipple again.One more time.And again.
She shuddered.“I know.I had to be.Otherwise I was going to break.I couldn’t afford to break.We can’t afford to break now.”
“I’m fucking shattered, babe,” he said, closing the distance between them and claiming her mouth in the most intense kiss of her life.She ached between her legs, her flesh slick, her entire body so close to the edge a slight breeze could send her toppling over.
He backed her up against the wall, hand going between her thighs as he began to trace a pattern of torture over her sensitized flesh.
She arched against him, gave herself over to him, clung to his shoulders as he pushed her closer and closer to the peak.
The cry that escaped her lips shocked her, but not as much as how quickly, how easily he took her to the summit.
And even before she came back down, he built it up again.Swallowing the cry of pleasure on her lips before lifting her up and carrying her over to the bed.
He deposited her in the center of it, kissing her lips, her neck, a fiery trail down her body.He sucked her nipple deep into his mouth, and she arched up off the mattress, calling his name over and over again.
It was more than she had ever imagined it could be.Theywere more.
She had let herself believe that they were nothing but a mess.Nothing but fight or flight.Nothing but casualties in thedevastation of their siblings’ lives.But they were their own thing.Right now.This was them.It had nothing to do with anyone else.
Marjorie had brought them together.
But this was about them.
The years of not being able to explore their feelings.The years of denying what they felt.This was about the two of them.
And all the years that had been taken from them.
Because who knew what would’ve happened if the first Parks to kiss a Porter had been Ellie and Clark.Who knew what would’ve happened if they were the ones who had embarked on a teenage love affair.
Would she have supported Clark through his rodeo ambition?
Would he have lived in the city so that she could get her teaching career established?Would they be married with a family?
