“Dee? Are you up there?” I smile and drop down further in the tub, enjoying the soothing effects the warm water is having on me. “Dee!” I can hear him panicking slightly when I don’t answer right away.
“I’m in the bathroom,” I yell through the crack in the doorway. I could let him wonder where I am, but I know he’s worried. It wasn’t easy to get him to leave this morning to begin with, so it would be cruel to make him search longer than he has.
He comes bursting through the door and skids to a stop when he sees me sitting in the bath, bubbles surrounding me. I give him a wide smile, and enjoy the fact that his body visibly shutters.
“Jesus Christ…” he mumbles under his breath.
“You found me.” I laugh when his eyes shoot up from where they’ve been staring at my chest. I make sure that I’m still covered under the bubbles before looking back at his face.
He clears his throat a few times and adjusts himself. I laugh when I see how much just being in this room is affecting him.
“Are you okay, Beck?” I ask, pushing myself up in the tub. He looks like he might pass out as my naked breasts clear the bubbles. My nipples harden instantly when I see the look of pure lust that comes over him.
“Dee, if you don’t want to start anything, then please cover yourself up.” His voice is just shy of begging.
My body heats up when I see the outline of his erection against his jeans. My mouth waters and I have to press my thighs together to keep from touching myself.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he pleads.
“Like what?” I question in mock ignorance.
“You’re looking at me like you haven’t eaten in years, and I just brought you a steak dinner.” He sounds strained, almost to the point of pain.
I smile at him and give him one more, slow caress with my eyes. “Will you please hand me a towel?”
He presses his palm against his crotch and groans when he turns to grab the towel I’ve left on the sink. He stands there with his hand clenched tightly against it and his head bowed. The water is almost completely gone by the time he turns back around with his eyes pinched shut.
“You have no idea what I would do to be able to carry you off to the bed and show you for hours how much I’ve dreamed of this moment. It’s been six long months since I’ve been inside that tight body, and when I have you again, and believe me, Baby, I will have you again, it’s going to be forever this time.” He opens his eyes, and the fire I see blazing deep within takes my breath away.
Mutely, I nod my head and accept the bath sheet he’s holding out. He leans in and plants a swift kiss against my lips before walking towards the open door. When I notice the slightly awkward way he’s walking, a nervous giggle bubbles out. I slap my hand over my mouth to try to stop myself, but he turns and narrows his eyes at me.
“This isn’t funny, Dee. I’m so hard right now that I wouldn’t be surprised if my balls are turning blue.”
“I’m sorry, really!” I hold my hands up in surrender, but notice my mistake about two seconds too late. The towel falls from my body and pools around my feet, leaving me standing before him completely naked. He growls low in his throat, the sound so powerful that my pussy throbs. Jesus, that’s hot.
With more willpower than I thought possible, he turns stiffly and walks the rest of the way out the door, closing it softly behind him. I spend the next thirty minutes trying to calm my own hormones down, but quickly realize there isn’t much that can soothe the inferno raging inside me. I want him with an all-consuming thirst.
****
After our bathroom incident, we walk on eggshells around each other. Both of us dance around, knowing that behind each stolen glance and heated glare, we both want nothing more than to collide together in what promises to be the wildest of reunions.
When he looks at me, again, like he’s just finished fucking me against the countertop that I’m fixing dinner on, I slam my knife down. The sexual heat between us has the room thick with tension. It almost feels like a fog of desire is cloaking every inch of space around us.
“I think I might need to skip dinner.”
He puts the plates down and walks over from where he was setting the table. I don’t move. I continue to hold the marble countertop as if my life depends on it, afraid that if I remove my hands, even for a second, that I might shred the clothes straight from his body.
I don’t feel him at first, but I know he’s standing directly behind me. I can feel him, and his body heat warming my back. I fight the urge to turn and throw myself at him. When his hand moves my hair off my shoulder, and his lips press lightly against my exposed neck, my body trembles violently.
“I want you so bad, Beck.” The desperation in my voice causes my cheeks to heat, and I drop my head, annoyed with my body for its shamelessness.
“And I want you right back just as much, so don’t think this isn’t hard on me, too. I’m not going anywhere, Dee. You might think you’re ready, and I have no doubt that your body is, but I want it all. Mind, body, soul, and heart. I promise you that when we finally get there, it’s going to be worth the wait. When you open yourself up to me completely… Baby, you won’t even believe how good it’s going to be.” He nibbles softly across my neck before backing away and picking up the plates he’d abandoned. It takes me longer to calm the heat in my body.
I understand where he’s coming from, but it’s harder to explain to my overactive hormones that we need to put the brakes on it. The last time I had him inside of me was another moment of weakness, and even though it was mind-blowing, as always, it still left me unsatisfied because I ran off in the middle of the night. Six months is a long time to crave someone else. I pause in my tracks when the very vivid images of him with someone else come floating through my mind. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that he could have been with anyone else, but now that the thought has popped in my head, there is no erasing it. My stomach cramps with the idea of him and some faceless woman.
“Beck?” He turns with a frown marring his handsome face, cocking his brow in question. I gulp, trying to calm my emotions. “I have no right to ask this, I know I don’t, but… has there been someone… um, anyone else?” I whisper the question, but I know he hears me because his face goes soft.
His lips curl into a small smile and his eyes darken. “Are you jealous?”
I glare at him when his teasing tone hits me.
“Don’t poke fun at me, Beck. I know that I have no right to even be bothered by the thought, much less question you on it. I pushed you away and I get it, I do. But… I just want to know. I need to know.”
He doesn’t walk over to me, and I appreciate that he’s giving me some space here. My mind is a jumbled mess of questions. On one hand, I know without a doubt that this is where I’m meant to be. I don’t fear that he will change anymore, but I’m still afraid of the unknown. I know now that this is normal with any relationship, but it’s still there. Knowing that I’ve pushed this man away for so long, regardless of what I’ve had going on in my head, is what kills me. I wouldn’t even fault him if there had been someone else.
“Look at me, Dee, and I mean really look at me.” He gives me a second, and I just look into his eyes, waiting for his next words. “The day your drunk ass went on and on about how chocolate is better than sex, you had me hooked. It was never a question of whether or not you were it for me. I knew. You might have pushed me away physically, but I didn’t really go anywhere, and if you think about it long enough, you know I didn’t leave you. Even if we hadn’t had the handful of nights together during all this time apart, there was no way I would have even been able to get it up for another woman. Not when my heart has always been yours. So no, Dee, there hasn’t been anyone else, and there won’t be anyone else. This is the longest we’ve ever gone without falling into each other, and I can wait as long as it takes for your head to catch up with your heart.” He smiles and it isn’t a smile of sadness. It’s one of acceptance. And right then and there, I know without a doubt that I don’t deserve this man, but I’ll fight like hell to be worthy of the love he’s offering.
“For what it’s worth, it’s only been you for me, too.” I echo his words back at him. His smile gets even bigger before he finishes setting the table.
A comfortable silence fills the air, and after sitting down and starting our meal, he clears his throat. I look up, expecting the question I’ve known was coming, but not sure I’m ready to answer. “How did it go with Izzy today?” He finishes cutting a piece of his chicken, but pauses with it halfway to his mouth when he sees the nervousness take over my face. Telling Izzy what Brandon had done to me had been a painful conversation, but it will pale in comparison to how gutting it will be to tell Beck.
I think I’ve always known that he would be the hardest one for me to tell. I have had a very real fear that he would look at me differently if he knew everything that had played a part in keeping me from him. Like he would think I’m damaged goods, tainted, unworthy. Things would have been a lot easier if I hadn’t been afraid to tell him. I took a while, but now I can tell that he would have helped me get over it back then and still would’ve loved me.
“It wasn’t easy.” He nods his head and waits for me to continue. “I think that was one of the hardest conversations I will ever have in my life.”
“How did she take it?”
“Better than I thought she would. She’ll be okay because it’s Izzy.”
He smiles, returning to his meal for a few bites. We both know how strong Izzy is now, and since she has Axel standing by her side, I know she’ll be able to move past this and not have it affect us.
In a way, having the strength to tell Izzy is what gives me the strength to have this conversation with Beck.
“I would like to tell you what we talked about, if that’s okay.” I rush the last part out so that I don’t wuss out before I finish.
He stops what he’s doing, sets his fork down, and gives me his full attention. “I’m done eating if you want to talk now.” His eagerness helps give me the final push to talk. He’s been waiting for this moment since I closed myself off and pushed him away. Patiently waiting for me to open up.
“Why don’t we get everything cleaned up, and then go sit somewhere and have a drink. I think you’re going to need it.” I stand up and do my best to ignore the worried look across his face.
I smile when I walk into the kitchen with our dishes, because I know, with not one single shadow of doubt, that I’m ready to have this conversation. Not only that, but I finally can see with crystal clear clarity that, once I get this out, there won’t be anything left standing in our way.