He sent it to her, proof he already had my mom’s number, and I watched her go upstairs.
“She’s going to say more than a simple thank you,” I said.
He pulled me to my feet and into his embrace.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Depends on what they plot,” I said.
“My guess would be picking out wedding venues.”
I made a pained face, and he chuckled.
“It’s good they get along, though, right?”he asked.
“It is.Your mom is nothing like what that article is trying to paint her to be.”
“She’s like you.Soft when she can be, hard when she needs to be.”
“You think I’m soft?”I asked in disbelief.
“When you can be, yes.You're softer now than when we met.”
He was right.I was softer, and not just with him.I wasn’t as guarded anymore, and it was his fault.Knowing he had my back unconditionally had changed me.It had created the space I needed to let him in even more.
“How much do you like my softness?”I asked, playfully stroking his cheek.
He abruptly tossed me over his shoulder, startling a squeal out of me, and sprinted up two flights of stairs.
When he set me on my feet, I saw the heat in his eyes.
“There’s no going back, Sophia,” he said a second before his lips were on mine.
The kiss was hot, intense, and very distracting.Without realizing we’d moved, my legs hit the back of the bed, and we fell together onto the mattress.
He look down at me hungrily.
“Promise you’ll tell me the second you’re ready to let the world know you’re mine.”
Desperate for more, I was willing to promise him anything.
“I promise.”
He kissed me again.It wasn’t slow, and it wasn’t sweet.It conveyed his need for me, and I answered it eagerly as his hand moved down my side, teasing, kneading.
His touch added to the fire slowly consuming me from the inside.But when it hooked the edge of my pants, I broke the kiss and pushed at his shoulders.
“Wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Can we move this to the shower?”
His gaze, already considerably altered from the kiss, changed to pure gold and vertical slits.
“Yes.”The word was drawn out like a hiss.
The way scales shimmered in and out of existence on his arms cut through some of my lust as he picked me up and strode to the bathroom.
