Page 75 of Their Starlight
I am speechless. From the whole story, but also the revelation that I am the only person he’s introduced to his wonderful family. “Well, thank you for letting me be the first. It’s an honour. I honestly thought you hated me a little bit,” I chuckle but Brent doesn’t. He narrows his eyes at the road and stays silent for the rest of the journey.
It’s dark by the time we get home. I am exhausted from all the activity of the day. I’m still building up my endurance from being cooped up for so long. There’s no sign of Lance or Hayden but the lights are on. Moody Brent is back so I offer him a small wave and head to my bedroom…I mean, Hayden’s bedroom.
“When you crashed into me on the staircase because you were carrying too many boxes,” Brent must have been talking to me as there was no one else in the room, but he was looking at the floor.
“Huh?” I stop in the hall, turning back to look at him.
“That was the first time I imagined what it would be like to kiss you.”
Tears sting at the back of my eyes and I stand frozen, waiting for him to continue.
“The first time I heard you sing, I knew you were going to be trouble. I told Lance as much, he just found it funny.” He smilesin amusement. “When you helped me get help at uni, and then shouted at that stupid professor for me…”
“I didn’t shout…”
“…That was the first time I knew I was in love with you, although that had probably been true for a while.”
I took in a sharp breath and concentrated on the feel of my heartbeat in my throat. My eyes blur but I can see his gaze meet mine in a deathly serious stare.
“The first time I kissed you, I knew that no other woman would compare to you. And when I found out that you were with Hayden and Lance, my heart cracked for the first time. But when Lance came to me to tell me that he wanted to tell you everything and he was going to marry you, it shattered into pieces.”Fuck, is Brent crying? His eyes are red and wet and he’s breathing hard.
Lance wanted to marry me? Brent loved me?
“Telling Lance that he had to let you go to protect you was probably the most selfish thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t tell him anything that wasn’t true, but I ensured he thought there was no other way around it. I am so sorry it hurt you, princess. But I couldn’t spend the rest of my life watching from the side lines as you loved another man. I just couldn’t.”
I feel like time has stood still. My heart is in my throat and my stomach is in knots. “You loved me?” I whisper.
He tilts his head sadly, “Not past tense, princess.”
I don’t know who moves first but we collide in a blur of lust and fury. He catches me as I spring at him, wrapping my legs around his thick waist. Our kisses are inelegant and sloppy, but I don’t care, I just can’t get close enough to him.
“Tell me I can have you,” he pants against my lips.
“Yes, God yes,” is my breathy response.
His large hands cover my backside, pulling me closer and holding all of my weight as he carries me down the hall to his room. It’s like we are picking up where we left off all those years ago, but this time we will not be interrupted.
Brent takes me to his room and gently lays me on his bed, following me down and covering me with his delicious body weight. His kisses turn tender, slow but firm movements of his lips over mine. His beard is rough against my skin and I know I will be red from his attention. My fingers are in his hair and hishands are roaming over my body like he is trying to memorise the feel of me. When he delves under the hem of my jumper and finds my breast, he breaks our kiss, staring at where his hand is beneath my clothing.
“Where’s your bra, Elle?” He pants.
“I’m not wearing one,” I lick my lips, trying to taste him still. When he quirks a brow at me, I explain. “I can only wear sports bras at the moment because of my bruise, and I only have one because honestly, I hate working out. I had it on this morning but then I got all sweaty with Ruby and I didn’t want to wear it all day.”
“Are you telling me you’ve spent all afternoon with my family with nothing covering your tits than a flimsy, loose jumper?”
I raise my own brow and smile at him seductively. “Yep,” I pop the ‘p.’ “Could have flashed anyone, at any time.”
He growls and plunders my mouth again, squeezing my breast hard enough to make me whimper against him. As I had imagined, his calloused hands feel amazing against my sensitive flesh, working my nipple to a hard peak. Resenting the clothes between us, I tug at his t-shirt in frustration, feeling his smile against my lips before he gives me a quick peck and sits back on his heels. In that oh-so-sexy way guys have perfected throughout the ages, he reaches behind him and whips his t-shirt off in one swift movement. I’ve seen Brent shirtless before, but this is the first time I’ve been so close. Sitting up, I trail my fingers over his tattoos. His torso is a collage of what must be a hundred different images, all artfully placed to make it look like one cohesive piece.
He has a Claddagh ring inked onto his left pec and underneath in cursive is the word ‘Banphrionsa.’ I trace the word with the tip of my nail, his eyes never leave my face as I take him all in.
“What’s this?”
“It’s Gaelic,” he says over a swallow.
“What does it mean?”
He doesn’t answer immediately, so I look up to see the searing heat in his eyes. “Princess.”