She looked so nervous. “Did it go all right?”
I shrugged. “It went as well as it could considering the topic. He knew where she was all these years and I was pissed at first, but then he explained some things and I understand why he didn’t tell us when we were smaller. I still think he should have when we were older, but I see how it was easier for him to let sleeping dogs lie.”
“And you can’t forget that he was in pain as well. She was his wife and she left him, too.”
“It had to be terrible for him, but I don’t remember any kind of reaction out of him. He’s was there, but he wasn’t. It was almost like losing both of them.”
“I don’t understand how she did that. She’s always been so loving toward me, more so than my own mother. I’ve often thought of her as more of a mother to me.”
“Ironic, huh? She wouldn’t stay to be a mother to her own children, but she chose to mother you when you needed one.” I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “I guess I can’t hate her too much since she took care of my girl.”
“Your girl? I like that.”
“I like it, too.”
I kissed the top of her head and she tilted her face up to look at me. I couldn't resist putting my lips against hers, but our position wasn’t right. It felt awkward and uncomfortable.
She must have had the same thought because she slid off the edge of the bed and came to stand between my knees. She put her hands on my face as she looked in my eyes. “I want to take away all of your pain and show you how worthy you are of being loved.” She reached for the hem of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head. She tossed it over her shoulder to the floor and then ran her finger over the words inked across my skin. “This doesn’t have to be true.”
I put my hand on top of hers over my heart. “This was the only truth I’d ever known until I met you. My dad told me I didn’t know the power you had over me, but he was wrong. I know you have the power to heal this and make me whole again.”
“I want to start right now.” She untied the knot of the belt holding the hotel robe around her and allowed it to slide down her arms to a puddle on the floor. Beneath it, she was wearing a short, cream nightgown with layers of black lace ruffles. It was sexy, yet somehow innocent, and no one had ever worn anything like it for me.
I put my finger under one of the slim straps and ran it up to her shoulder and back down again. “When did you get this little number?”
“I swung by to get it on my way here. Do you like it?”
“Hell, yeah! I freakin’ love it.”
“Good. I was hoping you would. I sort of had you in mind when I bought it.”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer between my legs. “I better be the only somebody you had on your mind when you bought it.”
“You’re the only somebody ever on my mind.”
“Ditto.”
She pushed me backwards on the bed and took off my socks and shoes before she crawled up my body and straddled me. I put my hands on her waist and guided her to the spot where I needed to feel the pressure of her body against my groin. She put her palms flat on my chest and slowly slid them up until she reached my shoulders. On the way back down, she used her perfectly manicured nails to scratch my skin with just enough pressure to make me groan.
When she finished raking her nails down my chest, she surprised me by reaching for the button on my jeans. “Someone is very frisky today.”
“You have no idea.”
She never took her eyes from mine as she popped the button on my jeans loose and then slid my zipper down. She dipped her fingers into my waistband and pulled downward, so I lifted my hips and she had me out of my jeans, leaving me down to my black and white boxer briefs.
She dropped her mouth to my chest and pressed her body against me as she slid down to kiss my ink. She didn’t linger there long before she moved lower to just above my waistband. It was one of the teasers I had performed on her and to have her do it to me in return was sweet torture.
She was driving me insane and I couldn’t stand the teasing any longer. If I couldn’t be inside her, I needed to at least be on top of her. I grabbed her waist and flipped her onto her back so I could press my body against hers in hopes of a little relief.
She bent her knees and they fell apart to kindly accommodate me. I propped on my elbows and held her face in my palms so I could memorize it. It was foolish to think her mother might not keep us apart, so I had to be honest with myself about where we were going and the truth was...I had no idea.
Her honey colored eyes stared up at my chocolate ones and she saw the uncertainty in them. “It’s gonna work out. It has to.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers. “I can’t lose you, Doll Face.”
Things suddenly felt too serious and I needed to lighten the mood. I lifted my head from hers and pulled on her bottom lip with my mouth. “I couldn’t stand to never be shocked by this delicate mouth again. Come on, shock me. I’m dying to hear some new material.”
She reached up and put her palms on my face. “I love you.”
Of all the things I had imagined happening between us, I had highly underestimated the way I would feel hearing her tell me she loved me for the first time. My heart felt like it was swelling and about to burst with the love I had for her.
“I love you, too, Payton Archer.” I rubbed my thumb over her lips. “I think I did the moment you opened this smart ass mouth of yours.”
“Shut up and kiss this smart ass mouth.”
I did as I was told and then I trailed my mouth down her throat to her br**sts. I reached under her sexy gown to see what kind of surprise I could find underneath. I got up on my knees and lifted her gown to find matching lace panties. Damn, they looked so hot on her.
I hooked my fingers in the sides and tugged a little, testing her to see if was okay to take them off. “Business as usual, ma'am? Everything with the exception of the deed itself?”
She shook her head at me. “No, not this time. I want everything plus the deed itself.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to look back on this and regret it.”
“I love you and I could never regret you making love to me. Not in a million years.” She lifted her hips off the bed, my cue to slip her panties down and this thing I had done so many times suddenly felt like something I had never done before.
I tossed them to the floor next to my clothes and she hooked her thumbs in the elastic waistband of my boxer briefs and pushed down. She caught my underwear with her toes once they were below my hips and pushed them down to the foot of the bed under the sheets.