i just stared up at marcus as he slowly made his way around my bed. What did he mean that he came for me? I wasn’t stupid enough to think he meant it in any way other than friendship, though I couldn’t be sure we were still friends.
“Why?” I frowned as I gazed up into his gorgeous blue eyes. A tear rolled down my face.
He gave me a crooked grin and held his hand out to me. “Come here.”
That was all it took for me to feel something other than the complete despair I had suffered for the last two weeks. I only hesitated for a second before taking his hand. I slid out from under the covers and let him pull me up. I barely got completely upright when he pulled me hard against him and wrapped both of his arms around me. My God, he felt so good.
My arms circled around his waist, my head buried into his chest, I finally let myself cry for something good. No matter what the reason was, he was here with me now. Maybe he wanted to be friends. Maybe he wanted more. I didn’t care. I was just glad he was here.
“Oh, Marcus, I’m so sorry,” I cried against his chest, clutching his shirt in my fists behind his back.
“Shh, Han, don’t apologize.” He went to pull away from me, but I held him tighter, half because I was afraid he’d leave me again and half because I was sobbing embarrassingly against his chest. He pulled away just enough to look at me but kept his arms around me, thankfully. “Hannah.”
I bit my lip and looked up at his handsome face smiling softly down at me. I couldn’t believe he was here, and I couldn’t imagine why he would be. I was afraid we were done and I’d never really see him anymore. But here he was.
“Hannah,” he said softly, bringing one of his hands from around my waist to gently wipe my tears away with his thumb as he cupped my face. “I’m sorry.”
My first thought was that he realized he made a mistake in coming here and he was telling me he was sorry before leaving, but as I stood there in his arms, I could see the pain and confusion on his face. This was as hard for him as it was for me. I had no idea what he would say or do, but I didn’t want to scare him off again.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I whispered, leaning into his hand as he caressed my face.
“I did.” He sighed. “There are a lot of things I did wrong. I handled all of this terribly. Will you forgive me?”
I blinked up at him, his words stunning me, and I actually gasped.
I was the one who ruined everything. I was jealous of Amy and caused fight after fight. Hell, I’d even fought with Amy, which he had to know about by now. I was a complete baby in all of this, and he was asking for my forgiveness?
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I finally choked out. “I’m the one who should be asking you for forgiveness.”
He chuckled lightly. “Hannah, there are a lot of things we both need to work on, but we’ll figure it out.”
I braced myself for what could be coming. I just wanted my best friend back. He was here, asking for forgiveness for something he didn’t do. I had him back. I just hoped I wouldn’t keep continuing to screw it up.
“That night…I shouldn’t have asked you to leave.” He took a deep breath, still looking into my eyes, the seriousness back in his expression. “You weren’t wrong that night. I was.”
My heart completely stopped. Tears rolled down my face. Before I could clarify what he said, he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I thought I was going to die.
The kiss was innocent but every bit the sweet kiss I dreamed it would be. Closing my eyes, I couldn’t help myself. I pulled him closer to me by his shirt. He smiled against my lips, and I felt all my cares just lift away.
His thumb continued to caress my cheek as he kissed me, slowly moving his lips against mine. My head was spinning already when he licked at my lips, asking for permission to deepen the kiss. I couldn’t opened my mouth for him fast enough and sucked his tongue gently into my mouth. He tasted so good, even better than I’d been imagining. I could only hope he felt the same way. My body was on fire, and I was shocked at how quickly I responded to him. He gently pulled away but not before kissing my lips a couple more times very sweetly.
I was speechless.
I kept my eyes closed. I was afraid that if I opened them, it would confirm this was just another vivid dream, and Marcus wouldn’t be right in front of me. Even though his hand was resting on my face and his arm was around my waist, his breath mixing with mine, I still didn’t believe it completely.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I said quietly.
He rewarded me with a laugh.
I opened my eyes then. There was nothing better than seeing Marcus laughing in a carefree manner like he was now. Okay, so I was sure there were some things that were better, but I left that up for my imagination. Hopefully, one day, I may find out if that was true or not.
His laugh was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile up at him. My tears were drying on my face, and my heartbeat was slowing back to normal, or as normal as it could while I was in his arms.
“Do you want me to take it back?” He smirked.
“No. I want you to do it again.” I was so bold in that moment I was shocked.
But Marcus eagerly obliged.
I slid my hands up and down his chest. All the times I’d touched him before didn’t compare to this. Everything before had been strictly friendly, innocent. Now, we’d finally crossed that line. I knew I should ask questions. I had to, otherwise I would be right where I was before with Justin.
Before his lips could touch mine again, I whispered softly, “What about Amy?” I was almost scared of his answer. The idea that I could have been the side girl to someone else was even more heartbreaking.
“We broke up,” he whispered back, and then he looked deep into my eyes. It was almost like he could sense my worry. “Hannah, I would never do that to someone. Especially you.”
He brought his lips back down to mine as I wrapped my arms around his neck, extremely satisfied with his answer. My fingers ran through his short hair. His arms tightened around my waist, and I fought back a moan now that my body was completely flush against his.
I could feel his heartbeat against my body. I could feel his breath quicken like mine. God, I could even feel his body responding to the kiss. Instinctively, I pressed my hips harder against him. He moaned, and I smiled against his lips.
Marcus broke the connection of our lips breathlessly but didn’t pull away. Grinning, I kept my hands in his hair as he struggled to talk. He finally chuckled lightly, resting his forehead against mine.
“This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen,” he whispered with a smile.
I pulled my face away from his, looking up at him in shock. “What?” I whispered, scared.
He blinked down at me and shook his head. “No, Hannah. That’s now what I meant.” He kissed me again gently and brought my forehead back to his. “I just meant that I came over here to talk to you. This wasn’t what I planned. But,” he added with a grin, “I’m not complaining.”
“Neither am I.” I bit my lip as I smirked as well. “I can’t believe you’re really here. That this is happening.”
“I know.” He sighed contently.
We stood like that for what felt like forever, but neither of us seemed to mind. I absentmindedly played with his hair as he rubbed my lower back underneath my shirt. When had he snuck his hands up there? I just kept smiling up at him, enjoying being in his arms when a realization hit me. It suddenly felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head. I went to pull away, but he held onto me with a frown.
“What about Amy?” I raised an eyebrow.
My heart started to race for an entirely different reason than before. I refused to be that girl again, no matter how much I wanted him. I’d been horrible to Amy before, but I wouldn’t be cruel like this. She didn’t deserve that. I didn’t deserve that.
“We broke up. A couple of weeks ago,” he said softly.
I gasped again. He could always take my breath away, but today, he was becoming the master of surprises for me. I shouldn’t have been that shocked. Marcus wasn’t the kind of person to cheat on anyone, not matter how powerful the moment was.
“You did? Why?” I asked. Did that make me his number two? His back up? The idea made me want to throw up.
“This is where I’m supposed to be. I was just too chicken shit to come sooner than this.” He seemed calm, but I could see his chest rising and falling a little faster again.
He was nervous.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled him, a little roughly, back against me, crushing my lips to his. There were still a lot of things to discuss, but they could all wait. I couldn’t. I’d wanted this man practically my whole life, I just didn’t think I could have him. Yet, here he was, right in front of me, and I was going to take full advantage of it.
He groaned into my mouth, tightening his hold on my waist. I drew him back with me until the backs of my knees hit my bed. Without breaking contact, I leaned backward. He followed my lead, gently lowering me down on the bed, hovering over me. It was then that he finally pulled his lips from mine.
“Hannah, if this is too fast, we can stop. Slow down,” he said calmly, but his heavy breathing and hooded eyes were anything but calm.
I stared up at him in awe, my fingers still in his hair. His body was lying almost completely on top of mine as we lay sideways on my bed. I still couldn’t believe that he was really here and wanted me in a way I’d only dreamed of since I was old enough to realize I wanted it.
Without speaking, I slid my hands to the top of his shirt on his back and slowly started pulling it, inch by inch, over his head. He still looked uncertain whether or not he should continue so I pulled it completely off, hoping he would take that as my cue for him keep going. I tossed his shirt to the side and let my hands run along his muscular back, smirking up at him.
“Don’t stop,” I pleaded.
He finally brought his lips back down to mine, kissing me hungrily and a little rougher than before. His hands ran along my waist beneath my shirt. My breath caught as he boldly brought his hands a little higher, pushing my shirt up as he did. He groaned a little against my lips when he trailed a hand between my breasts and noticed I wasn’t wearing a bra. He broke the kiss just long enough to finally pull my shirt completely off.
There was no going back now, and I didn’t want to.