Chapter Thirty-Six
Kennedy
It felt so good to have his lips on mine, and as I leaned in to deepen the kiss, it felt as if I was coming home again. No wonder I had been so miserable these past two weeks. This—thisis what I had wanted more than anything else.
“I missed this,” I said when we pulled away.
“You have? Really? I wasn’t sure if you’d ever want to do this again with me.”
“I have not stopped thinking about you,” I said. “Reed, I swore that I would never get close to anyone again. I made a promise to myself many years ago. But it was impossible with you. I . . . I’m just so happy to be here right now.”
Reed reached out to tuck a strand of hair away from my face and smiled at me. “You’re so beautiful, Kennedy. I love you.”
It was the first time that Reed had ever said the words to me, and for a few seconds, I just sat there staring at him in surprise.
“I love you,” he said again. “And I should’ve told you that long ago. It all happened so quickly with you. I kept trying to fight it, because . . . well . . . because you were looking after Trinity and I didn’t want to hurt her. But . . . it was impossible to stop thinking about you in that way. I think you’re the most amazing person that I have ever met in my life. And not to mention the most beautiful woman I have ever met. And, I love you.”
I smiled. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get tired of hearing him say that. “I love you, too. And I know exactly when it happened for me.”
“You know the moment you fell in love with me?”
I nodded. “Oh yeah. It was in Florida. You were on the balcony, and Trinity was sleeping on your lap. I fell in love with you at that moment.”
“When you took the photo of me?” he asked.
I smiled. “Yeah. It’s now officially my favorite photo in the world. It was very hard to see that picture when Trinity was taking me through all of them. I want a copy of it, by the way. Reed?” I asked.
“Yes?”
“Can we go to your room now?”
He grinned, stood up, and took my hand.
We walked to the bedroom in happy silence. Reed popped his head into Trinity’s room to make sure that she was okay first, and then once we were in his bedroom, we quietly closed the door. We took off our clothes in silence, each of us drinking in the sight of each other’s naked body. I was once again reminded of how incredible he was to look at.
We climbed onto the bed and immediately fell into each other’s arms. The moment he touched my bare body with his hands in a gentle caress, I felt myself fall into that familiar feeling with him again. Reed knew exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it done. He knew what my favorite parts were to be touched, and he knew when to slow down and when to speed up. It sometimes felt as if he were in my head. Every time I thought about him doing something to me, he did it. His body was attuned to mine; he knew my every desire and moved to fulfill them all, one by one. I lay down and opened my legs for him. Reed was above me, smiling down at me. He reached down to kiss and suck each of my breasts, then he kissed me on the mouth and slowly entered inside me. I moaned a little too loudly and quickly bit my lip. Reed chuckled.
“It’s okay, she’s sleeping,” he whispered to me.
“I know. I . . .” but he rocked over me and I seemed to lose my train of thought.
I closed my eyes and let my head flop to the side. My one hand was on his waist, and my other gripped the duvet beside me. Reed straddled me gently, stopping every now and again to kiss me, sometimes softly, sometimes with a ravenous hunger. The kisses gave me a chance to breathe and helped to prolong the inevitable explosion that was building up inside me. I wanted him more than I wanted anything in the entire world. I wanted more and more and more. And when I finally came, I felt all the stress and anxiety from the previous weeks completely disappear. We didn’t just have sex this time. This time, we made love. I hadn’t known there was a difference until that moment, and I knew that my relationship with Reed would never be the same again.
Afterward, Reed and I took a shower together. It was by far one of the best showers I had ever experienced in my life. Reed gently rubbed the soap all over my body, and I did the same to his, and when he leaned down to kiss me, I found myself becoming aroused all over again. When I looked down at Reed, I saw that he was obviously feeling the same way. He pushed me against the wall and slipped his fingers inside me. The rushing water helped drown out my moans as I came all over again, my legs shaking and threatening to give way. Reed kept me standing, and when I was finished, I got down onto my knees, put him in my mouth, and did the same for him.
Afterward, we lay in bed together. I told him that I wanted to sleep over and he gave me a t-shirt of his to wear.
“Trinity is going to go out of her mind when she sees that you spent the night. This is the best gift you could give her right now,” Reed said.
“I was so worried that she would never want to talk to me again.”
“Are you kidding me? You are all that she has spoken about. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to stop thinking about you when she kept bringing up your name every few minutes.”
I chuckled. “That’s good to know.”
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Reed said.
“Me too. Hey, does this mean I’m your girlfriend again?”
“I hope so. Would you like to be?”
“I’d love nothing more.”
He smiled and kissed me gently on the mouth. “I have a feeling that tonight is going to be the best sleep that I’ve had in a long time.”
“You and me both, boyfriend. You and me both.”
“Good night, pretty Petunia,” he said.
I chuckled. “Good night, perfect Peter.”