Page 24 of Just Our Secret
“If a bruised cheek is the worst of the injuries from today, I’ll sport it proudly.”
She smiled, something soft and warm that made my stomach flip. Then she rose to her toes and pressed a featherlight kiss to the tender spot.
I huffed out a breath, her gentleness slaying me. “We have to tell Connor. I don’t want to keep this a secret anymore. I don’t want to hide.”
Her gaze locked with mine. “Okay. Let’s tell him.”
My pulse seemed to know what would happen next before the rest of me did, because it shot into space. I swallowed and pressed my hands into her lower back so we were glued together. “I want you, Andi. I don’t want to rush you, but—”
“I want you, too.”
She kissed my neck and up to my ear while I slipped my hand up her shirt and unhooked her bra. Whatever slow pace we’d set leading up to this moment had been set on fire. Between the drama of the afternoon, the crush of feelings for Liam and her, and the years and years of waiting for this fucking moment, neither one of us seemed to want to go slowly anymore.
She pulled my shirt up my chest, and I reluctantly released her to raise my hands above my head.
“Oh damn, you’re so hot,” she said, staring at my chest like she wanted to lick every inch of me.
I tightened my abs, and another jolt of lust shot through me. “How about returning the favor?”
She bit her bottom lip and gave me a look so fully heated, I almost lost it right there. That look hadplansfor me, and I didn’t mind at all. She stripped off her shirt, leaving her bra loose, but in place. Without breaking eye contact I reached for one strap and slowly pulled it down her arm. She shrugged the other side off, and then, after the anticipation of a goddamn lifetime, I took my fill.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” I said, stumbling back to sit on the bed and pulling her with me. She stepped between my legs and I let my hands take over. Sliding slowly up her sides, and finally,finallyarcing my thumbs over her peaked nipples.
She shuddered, exhaling sharply, and liquid heat raced through my veins at that response. Unable to pep talk myself into staying calm, I dipped my head to lick and suck, andfuckthis was better than a fantasy.
One hand on her perfect tit, mouth on the other, I used my free fingers to work at the button and zipper of her jeans. She held onto one shoulder, her opposite hand in my hair holding me to her chest.
“This isn’t going to—oh,” she stopped when I abandoned touching her to yank her jeans down and switch our position so she now leaned against the bed.
“What’s that?” I said, kneeling and nuzzling at her belly button, lower.
“This isn’t going to ruin everything, is it?”
I’d just run my tongue along the waistband of her underwear while my hands traced up the backs of her thighs.Ruin things?“Fuck no. This is going to make everything even better.”
The sound of her sigh wasn’t breathy or hot. Some part of my lust-fogged brain realized there was a twinge of worry there. And her hands rested on my shoulders now, no nails scratching at my scalp or urging me closer.
When I looked up, her expression poured a small glass of ice water over me. Not a bucket because her perfect tits wereright there, though I suspected no amount of cold would extinguish my need for her. But first, we had to address this. I wanted her doubt-free and completely ready. “You’re really worried sleeping together might ruin things?”
She swallowed and nodded, more nerves in her expression than she’d ever had with me. Maybe even more than when she’d told me she’d had a crush on me for years.
I wrapped my arms around her, resting the side of my face against her bare stomach. “I think if you’re worried about that, I haven’t done my job.”
“What job is that?” she asked, fingers sifting into my hair again.
I pressed a kiss to her skin, then leaned back on my heels. “I haven’t made it clear that I’ve wanted you—this—for years. And to be clear: bythisI don’t mean sex with you, though I am very much looking forward to that.”
She bit her lip to hide a smile.
“I have wantedyou, Andi. I like everything about you. I miss you when I don’t see you, even if it’s for a matter of hours. I want— I want every bit of you. And part of that is absolutely this fucking gorgeous body, but that’s not all.”
She nodded. “That’s a lot of build up. What if I’m not what you’re expecting?”
My heart kicked and I wished I could take back every instant I’d made her doubt my interest. Then she’d know what this meant to me, too. I could tell her I loved her right now, but I didn’t want that to be a means of coercion or trying to patch a hole. I wanted it to be a declaration made completely free of circumstances that would cause her to doubt I meant those words with every fiber of me.
“The only expectation I have is that you’re you. But I could say the same—what if I’m not what you’re expecting? How do you know I don’t have a micropeen under here?”
She burst out laughing and swatted my chest. “Pretty sure I’ve felt evidence to the contrary.”