Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“I want to go out with you.”
“Been meaning to do that anyway.”
“And not just so the neighborhood knows I’m your wife,” she clarified.
“Not just,” I agreed.
“I want to know more about your family. And you. What your childhood was like, that kind of thing.”
“I can do that.” It would be like picking off barely-healed scabs. Letting that shit bleed out all over again. But I could do it for her. “What else?”
There was a long pause, like she was struggling to make herself say the next part, letting me know just how important it must have been.
“I want you to kiss me.”
“What?” I asked, jerking back, sure I misunderstood.
“You never have,” she said, looking me square in the eye. “Not at the altar… and not since. No matter… anything else that has happened. You’ve never kissed me.”
“Oh, mouse,” I said, my hand resting on the side of her neck as I leaned in, my nose brushing the side of hers.
What a simple fucking thing to want.
But she was right.
I’d never done it.
I rarely ever did with anyone in the past, honestly.
Dunno, I guess it always seemed somehow more intimate than anything else.
But if there was anyone I could let myself be intimate with, it was my own fucking wife, right?
Lore’s pulse was a frantic beat against my hand, her breathing quick and shallow as I leaned downward slightly, and sealed my lips to hers.
She gasped at the barely-there contact.
Then, fuck, she completely melted.
Into it.
Into me.
Shifting closer, sliding her leg over my hip, her arm moving under mine and up to rest on my back between my shoulder blades.
Why the fuck again had I been avoiding this?
Her lips were soft under mine as that little kitten noise she made that I loved so much escaped her.
My teeth gently nipped her lower lip until it parted, allowing my tongue to move inside and claim hers.
A shiver moved through her, making me want to press deeper, to roll her under me.
But I was far too aware of where we were. Of her brother, if not outright listening at the door, then at least aware enough to know if I started to fuck his baby sister in his own damn guest room.
Besides, this wasn’t supposed to be about sex.
Just… intimacy.
Something I, admittedly, wasn’t good at. But I was willing to learn. For her. To make her happy.
So I kept myself under control as my lips slanted over hers again and again, reveling in the feel of her, the taste of her, the sweet little noises she made and how she clung to me like a lifeboat in a restless sea.
I couldn’t tell you how long we stayed like that, just close, just kissing, but when I finally pulled back, my lips felt swollen and fuzzy.
When Lore’s eyes fluttered open, the look in them stole my fucking breath.
I didn’t know shit about it.
But I could swear it was love I was looking at.
I felt that tugging sensation again in my chest, and found myself wondering if that was what that was too.
“Like that?” I asked, voice low, not wanting to disrupt the dreamy look she had on her face.
She shot me a little smile and nodded.
“I can get behind doing that,” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “As often as you want,” I added. “Anything else?” I asked.
“I just…” she started, then squeezed her eyes closed, her forehead pressing to mine before she could continue. “I just want you to care about me,” she said, voice small and raw.
“Hey,” I said, voice a little firmer as I pulled back, snagging her chin in my fingers, and forcing her face back up. “Look at me,” I demanded when she kept her gaze lowered. “I do care about you. I might not have been any good at showing it, but I always have. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“I’ll get better at showing it. What?” I asked when she looked unconvinced.
“You can’t… change people,” she said.
“You can’t change me,” I agreed. “But I can change me. Think this is one of those when you know better, you do better type of situations, right? Now I know. And I’ll do better. I fucking promise, Lore. If you come back with me, I’ll do better.”
She watched me for a long moment before her eyes went all watery, and a tear slipped down her cheek.
“What’s this?” I asked, reaching out to wipe it away with my thumb.
“I just really hope you mean that,” she said, blinking the other tears back.
“I do mean it,” I assured her. “Come home with me, mouse,” I said, finger tracing across her jaw.
“Okay,” she said, sucking in a deep breath.
“Okay?” I asked, scared of being too fucking hopeful.
“Yeah,” she said, giving me a small smile as she suddenly turned away from me and climbed off of the bed.