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“Faster,” she pleaded against his lips.
“Yes”—he kissed her deeply—“we were always good at fast.”
He released her hands, and she grasped at his back and shoulders, feeling the tight pull of his muscles slide beneath the slick paint on her hands as he clutched her hips and buried himself deeper, time and time again. He angled her hips the way they both loved, bringing them as close together as two people could possibly get.
And when he gazed deeply into her eyes and said, “I truly love you,” she tucked his words away to revel in later, as he took her up, up, up, and then they both fell blissfully over the edge.
Chapter Eighteen
TRENT HADN’T COME to Reese’s studio to make love to her until his heart felt so full that he thought it might explode. And after they’d washed the colorful paint from their skin and made love again beneath the warm spray, he thought for sure she’d rethink things and tell him that they were moving too fast.
He readied himself for the blow as he pulled on his slacks. Now that they’d become even closer and he’d just loved her body and soul, she’d fully reclaimed the part of his heart that he’d locked away for so many years. The part that had never stopped loving her. Not for one single second. Reese stepped gracefully into a clean pair of panties and grabbed a T-shirt from a drawer, the sweet curves of her hips disappearing beneath the hem that dipped over her thighs. When she turned to face him, he realized she was wearing his favorite old T-shirt, which she must have taken with her when she’d left New York.
His heart had already grown impossibly fuller by the time she reached for his hand and surprised him by saying, “Stay with me.”
God, there was nothing he wanted more. But he didn’t want to push her too fast and end up losing her again, so he made himself ask, “You’re sure?” If she said she only wanted him to stay a few minutes and then she’d need her space, he’d take it. A few minutes, a few seconds. Any amount of time with Reese was more than he thought she’d ever give him again.
But instead of saying any of that, she gave him the sweetest smile he’d ever seen as she led him to her bed, then climbed beneath the covers, motioning for him to join her. When he kicked his pants back off and crawled in beside her, she snuggled against him in what was once her favorite sleeping spot and draped her arm over his chest.
He wrapped her in his arms, full of intense gratitude.
“I thought I needed to slow us down,” she said as she rested her chin on his chest and turned a soft, loving gaze toward him. “But I don’t think that’s what I really want.”
“Tell me what you do want.” And he would move heaven and earth to give it to her.
She ran her fingertips down over his bare chest like she used to when she wanted him to stay put and talk to her. She needn’t worry. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t think we’re capable of slowing down our need for each other, and I can live with that.” She dropped her eyes for a beat, then met his gaze again. “I love that part of us, Trent. I love it so much I probably should seek treatment to stop from always wanting you. Trent-Lovers Anonymous,” she teased.
“That would be Trent-Lover Anonymous, and if it’s up to me, I’d rather you stay as far away from that treatment as possible.” He kissed her forehead, and she smiled, but then her eyes turned serious.
“We know how to love each other. We just need to figure out the rest of us. Step by step. Piece by piece. I know that fast, crazy love is who we are, but I also know that we need to work on the things we aren’t so good at. Because if we just up and move back in with each other the way I’m so tempted to do...” She paused and shook her head. “I’m afraid if we don’t lay a good foundation this time everything could just blow up again the way it once did.”
“Agreed.” He scanned the room. “Do you have a pad of paper and a pen?”
“What? Why?”
“So we can make a list and—”
She laughed and rolled her eyes at the same time. “I know that’s how you figure things out, but you and I are not one of your legal proceedings. We’re people, with hearts and souls, needs and wants. We can’t build a strong foundation for our relationship with a neat and tidy list. Of course I know you’ll make lists in your head during your morning runs, and I’ll figure some of it out through my art. But us? We need to communicate with words and actions and feelings.”
