Page 175 of I Never Stopped Loving You

I can feel him pull off his shirt and sweatpants. He presses his body against me, and I can feel how hard he is already. I move my hand between us and wrap it around his cock. The growl he lets out as he bites down on my neck has a wave of pleasure running right between my legs.

“Come on. This was only part of the surprise.”

He grips my hips and leads me toward the bathroom door before gently kicking it the rest of the way open. The setting sun is even lower now, causing the room to look like it has a reddish-purple hue. There are candles lit on the counter, and the bath is filled with hot water and bubbles.

“You really outdid yourself, Noah. This is amazing.”

“Little Rabbit, if you think this is outdoing myself, you’re in for a treat. This is the bare fucking minimum. Hasn’t anyone ever truly taken care of you?” he asks with genuine concern in his voice.

“I guess I’ve never let anyone before.”

“Why?”

“I’ve never trusted someone to stay long enough to let myself be relaxed around them. I haven’t been with many people, but the couple I have been with were very temporary,” I say honestly.

“Well, I can’t say that I’m not ecstatic from the fact that you haven’t fully given yourself to anyone before,” he says as he spins me in his arms.

He cups my cheek and angles my face up to his to kiss me. It’s slow and passionate as he gently caresses the side of my face with his thumb. His tongue touches my lips, and I immediately open for him. He’s the only man I’ve ever wanted to give myself to.

He lifts the hoodie slowly over my head before letting it fall to the floor. The air is warm and damp in here from the steam, and it clings to my chilled skin. His hands run down both of my arms before he grabs the hem of the shirt and lifts it off as well, leaving me in just my leggings.

He takes his time kissing my lips, my jaw, down my neck and collar bone to my chest. Each kiss seems to leave a trail of fire down my body. As he gets lower, he starts to kneel. He presses a kiss to the center of my stomach then my left hip as he starts to pull my leggings and thong down. Every inch of skin he reveals gets another kiss, and I swear my mind is not going to be able to handle what this man is doing to me. He said this is the bare minimum to him, and honestly, that terrifies me. The nagging voice in the back of my head keeps telling me I don’t deserve this…I don’t deserve someone like him.

“Hey,” Noah says, snapping my attention back to him.

My fingers are firmly pressed into his shoulders stabilizing myself. My leggings were around my ankles and he was about to lift my foot to remove them, but stopped.

“What’s on your mind, Willow? Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing. This is just…It’s amazing. I…”

What the hell do I even say?

“Is it too much?”

“Yes. No. I mean…Shit,” I stammer embarrassingly.

I release his shoulders and bury my face in my hands. I can feel him stand before his hands pull mine from in front of my face.

“What is it?”

“I’m still just having a hard time accepting it, you know?”

He looks at me slightly confused.

“Accepting what?”

“This. Us. You. I don’t get it. I don’t know why you would’ve held onto hope for this long. Jeremy said…” My voice cuts off when I see the look in his eyes change to something darker.

“What did Jeremy say?” he asks flatly.

“He said that he tried to convince you a hundred times to let me go.”

“Obviously a hundred times didn’t work, so what’s wrong? Do you think I’d listen on the one hundred and tenth time? Maybe the one hundred and twentieth? No. I told you, Willow. It’s always been you. You’re the other half of my soul. I’d die for you. I’d kill for you. So what’s wrong?”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Little Rabbit, it’s me who doesn’t deserve you. I didn’t protect you. I didn’t find you soon enough. If either of us doesn’t deserve the other, it’s me. Now stop with all the self-sabotage. Your bath is getting cold.”