“You…” I can’t seem to form the words, in my head or out loud.
“Don’t, Wes.” She holds a hand out in front of her. “You don’t have to say anything. I have to go.”
“No!” I reach for her, catching her hand before she can bolt. She tries to yank it free, but I hold fast. I’m not letting her go. Not again. Not ever. “I’m not leaving, Joss.”
The tension releases just enough, the instinct to flee leaving her body as her eyes search mine.
“I’m not leaving. I’m not,” I say, beseeching her to believe me. To trust me. “Yes, Breck is selling, but that will be months from now. Enough time for me to get applications in with the airlines.Australianairlines, Joss. I’m not leaving, I’m looking for a new jobhere.”
“Here?” Her voice cracks, making it sound high and squeaky, barely contained. She’s not letting herself believe it.
“Here, Joss. In Sydney.”
I tug her forward, our chests not quite touching but close enough that I can see the way hers rises and falls with unsteady breaths. I place her hand over my heart, because it’s hers if she’ll take it.
“It was never fake for me, Grey. I didn’t pretend for a single second. I think I always wanted it to be real.” My hand finds her chin, tilting it up, my thumb caressing her bottom lip. Silver tears shine in her eyes, and I can just see the glimmer of hope there, battling with her doubts. “You know what I figured out last night, Joss? The pretending? It’s what we’ve been doing all along. For months. Pretending we weren’t everything to each other when we are. Pretending we didn’t belong to each other when we do. You are everything to me, Joss. Everything.”
I can’t wait any longer, I crush my lips to hers, pulling her body flush against mine. I can’t take another second of us not touching, of not being together. She finally relaxes, all the fight in her falling away. Her hands lift to my neck and slide into my hair, making a mess of it as she pulls and tugs it between her fingers.
“Wes, I…”
The words are just a pant between breaths, my lips interrupting her ability to continue. She pulls her head back slightly, so I move on to her neck, her pulse a frantic beat under my lips, matching the one in my chest.
“Say it again, Joss.” I punctuate each word with a kiss down her throat. She whimpers when I nip at her collarbone. She looks nervous as I meet her gaze, unsure even after all I’ve told her. “Trust me, please.”
I know I’m asking her to take a leap of faith. To trust I won’t break her. She let the words slip in fear earlier, but I want to hear them in hope this time. Her eyes shutter closed, a stilted breath escaping her before they open again. My sapphire blues meet her graphite greys and there’s nothing here but me and her.
“I love you, Wes.”
Her heart sits between us, almost like I could reach out and touch it, and I have no intention of leaving it there. It will never be anything but mine.Mine.
“I love you too, Joss.”
She moves first now, pressing up to her tiptoes, chest brushing against me as her lips meet mine. I feel it all in this kiss. Her love, my love. The way we move, like two halves of a whole that have finally found each other.
My hands slide low, from her back, over her ass, and down to her thighs. Gripping tight, I lift her, those firm, sexy legs wrapping around my waist. The way her hands tighten in my hair drives me wild and I growl against her mouth. I have never wanted anything in my life more than I want her. Not just her body, which I very muchwant, but all of her. Her heart. Her trust. Her smile. Her very soul. I want every part of her. I want everything with her.
She moves against me, a moan slipping past her lips, giving me access to slide my tongue along the seam and into her mouth. Tasting her, needing more.
I pull back just enough for our eyes to meet again. The burning heat there and the soft nod of her head all the answer I need to the silent question between us. Our lips crash against each other again. Muscle memory carries me toward the bedroom, unseeing, lost in this kiss. We break apart only long enough for me to find the door with my foot and kick it closed behind us.
We made love twice before needing to come up for air. Our bodies sated and tired, I wrapped Joss in my comforter and carried her to the balcony where we now sit, cocooned together watching the sparkling lights of our city.
She’s quiet, and I let her be, knowing that she’ll tell me what’s going on in her head when she’s ready. I smooth soft kisses over any inch of skin that peeks out from beneath the blanket, watching goose bumps erupt in their wake.
“I had dinner with my dad tonight.”
“You did?” I try to keep the tension out of my voice. The protective part of me hates that she went alone, wishing I could have been there. I must not hide it well enough because she laughs under her breath, turning on my lap so she cansee me.
“Yes. And I knew you weren’t going to be happy about it.”
“It’s not that I’m unhappy you went, especially if that’s what you needed to do. I just wish I’d known so I could have gone with you. It’s the caveman in me, I guess. I know how much you love that side of me.”
Her laugh breaks free. Good. After all the tears of the last few days, it’s a relief to hear that laughter, feel it deep in my bones. If she’s genuinely laughing, she must be okay, and that’s all that really matters.
“I do love that side.” There’s that word again. My heart swells every time I hear her say it, no matter the context.
Ireallyliked it when it slipped out between her breathy moans as our bodies melded together earlier. I shift under her, and the look on her face, one eyebrow lifted, smirk across her lips, tells me that I’m not doing a good job of hiding just how affected I am by her.
