Shut Up and Kiss Me (17 page)

“
I’ve grown accustomed to women using me,” he continued. “Though I can honestly say that it didn’t always bother me.” He glanced around the room, looking embarrassed by his admission. “But the older I got, the more tiresome it became, knowing that these women only wanted me for the money, for my family name. They’re cheap, these women. I guess that makes me cheap, too. So I tend to… I usually leave before they wake up.”

His eyes flitted to mine. “When I met you, I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to that anymore, that I was going to take it slow. But when it didn’t turn out that way…”

Will trailed off and I found myself frowning. What was he trying to tell me? That he’d thought I’d spent the night with him for selfish reasons? That he thought I was as cheap as all the others?

“
So you left before I woke up because you thought I was cheap?” I asked, sounding far more aggressive than I’d meant to.

Will’s eyes widened, and he hurried to set down his glass and then reach for me. But I was quicker. Standing up before he could touch me, I swiftly backed away from him.

“
I meant what we did was cheap,” he continued hurriedly, still reaching for me.

My eyes went wide, my confusion-turned-anger now turning to anxiety.

“
Fuck, no,” he mumbled, letting his hand fall to his side. “That’s not what I meant at all, Mila. This is coming out all wrong. Just listen, please.”

“
I’m am listening,” I said through my teeth, “to every single word. And I’m about to walk out the door.”

Cursing beneath his breath, he nodded and anxiously ran his hands through his hair, effectively messing it.

“
I’m sorry,” he said quietly, our gazes connecting. “You’re not what I’m used to, and you make me nervous.” He chuckled then, laughing at himself as he shook his head. “And I’m nervous because…” He trailed off, his expression becoming pained, as if he were waging a war inside himself, debating over what to say or do next.

Finally, after several long seconds, he took a deep breath. “My family isn’t going to approve of you,” he said, and this time when our eyes met, I was the one who undoubtedly appeared pained. “And I’m going to hate them for it,” he continued, “but they’re just going to have to deal with it because there’s no way I’m letting you go. I may have lied to you about who I was when we met, but I promise you from here on out, I’ll never lie to you again.”

He paused, looking once again his usual confident self, his unwavering gaze on me, while it was I who was forced to take a calming breath.

“
I’m yours, Mila. All of me.”

The sincerity in his eyes, along with his admission of…everything. My God, my heart was thundering in my chest. Never before had I wanted to scream my secrets aloud, at him, to tell him my truths—of who I really was. It was in that one moment that I realized I’d just one hundred percent, irrevocably, fallen for him. Not just because of his admissions, or the depth of his feelings for me, or for the desperate look taking over his features just then as he waited for me to respond. But for all of it. All of him.

I’d fallen into a cheesy romance novel, and I knew I’d never be the same again. This was it, that moment, that feeling that you read about, that no one could ever quite put into words because it was just so…indescribably…utterly…perfect.

Setting my wine glass down, my lips pressed together, my palms clammy while my stomach flipped and flopped, I began walking toward him. My truth was there, on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill forth from my lips, to give him all of me as he’d done for me. Ready to trust someone again.

A forever can’t be built on lies. If you want it to last, it has to be built on truth.

I knew he was right. And I knew I needed to give him the same respect, to tell him my truths. But when I reached him, was within touching distance, he reached out and clasped both of my arms, immediately pulling me to him. When he was holding my face in his hands, his palms cupping my cheeks, his thumbs drawing achingly soft and sweet lines below my eyes, my words fell away. Staring up at him, into his bright blue eyes, I melted into his body, our mouths finally colliding.

Hunger surged through me like electricity, the sparks of which caused us both to begin eagerly devouring one another. Desire pulsed at me. All coherent thought floated off into the void as I grabbed at him, held him close, and happily let the world become nothing more than background noise.

All too soon Will was pulling away and out of our kiss, his roaming hands pausing in their exploration. Staring into my eyes, he pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear, his heated gaze slowly taking in every inch of my face.

“
You’re perfect,” he said, his nostrils flaring. “As if you were made just for me.”

Our bodies still pressed up against one another, I could feel him through our clothing, hard and twitching, his body—all of him—just as desperate for me as I was for him.

“
Shut up, Will,” I whispered, “and kiss me.”

Will had never felt like this.

Yes, he’d felt overcome with lust before. He’d even come close to thinking he might’ve loved a woman before. But never had he ever felt like this—as if everything in his life had suddenly aligned and righted itself, was no longer titling on its side, leaving him wondering when the precarious balance he’d managed to find was going to spill over entirely and leave him in the middle of a mess of his own making.

It was an incredible sensation, the softness of her mouth molded to his, their breaths growing ragged, the smoothness of her naked skin beneath his body, the slick slide of her fitting tightly around him as he increased the thrust of his hips.

“
Wait,” Mila breathed, grabbing hold of his shoulders. “Wait…”

He stopped moving, pushing off her just enough to look into her eyes. Lying beneath him on his California King, her tan skin glowing white against the dark of his sheets, her body softly illuminated by the small beside lamp, Mila watched him through hooded, hungry eyes.

He meant to ask her what was wrong, if she was all right, when abruptly she was pushing him off her entirely. Reluctantly he slid from her warm body, falling to the side, concern filling his thoughts until Mila was suddenly straddling him, pushing him flat onto his back and taking him into her soft grip as she lowered her hips, guiding him into her.

He half groaned, half growled, his eyes nearly closing, but not quite. Her, seated atop him, naked, her pert breasts thrust forward, her long hair messy, her face flushed, her lips parted…

Watching as she began to rock softly back and forth at first, then picking up momentum, gripping hold of his thighs and using her toned legs to bounce her body up and then down, up and then down…

Watching himself disappear inside of her.

That was not a sight he wanted to miss.

The faster she rode him, the more the soft mewling moans escaping Mila’s lips turned quickly into hoarse, desperate-sounding cries. Her breasts began to bounce, her dark nipples hardening as her movements grew jerky, no longer riding him but downright grinding.

He had been alternating his grip on her between her breasts and her thighs, never satisfied with one or other and finding himself wishing he had four hands—six, even—and the ability to touch her everywhere—her breasts, her thighs, her ass—all at the same time. It was a welling sensation, growing wildly as his release grew closer, one that overrode all other trains of thought, him wanting…

All of her.

Something primal rose from his depths and he found himself gripping her hips, digging his fingertips into the soft flesh, stilling her as he rose up beneath her and took sole control of his thrusts.

Mila collapsed forward onto his torso, her hair spilling out across his face and arms, her lips pressing hot, wet kisses against his skin. He continued, raising his hips, slamming his body into hers over and over again while she simply clung to him, whimpering and moaning against his heaving chest until her body stiffened and he felt her teeth sink into his skin as she let out a muffled cry that only spurred him on. Again and again she cried out as he dragged her over-sensitized body though one orgasm after another, refusing to relent until he’d wrung her dry.

When he was close, on the precipice of his own orgasm, he gripped her harder and used his strength to flip them both over, reversing their position. Taking hold of one of her legs, he lifted it up and around his hips and sank quickly back inside of her.

For a moment they simply stared at one another, both of them breathing hard, tears shining in Mila’s eyes, the sight of which gave him pause.

He started moving again, but held her gaze instead of kissing her, preferring to watch intently every nuance of her beautiful face, every subtle and not-so-subtle change in her features as he pushed and pulled in and out of her body.

“
Will,” she mumbled, her eyelids fluttering. Her hands found his back, her nails lightly scoring the skin over his shoulders, everything about her begging him to continue.

He picked up speed, pumping harder and faster, feeling his chest tighten and his thigh muscles lock in place. He finished on a groan, jerking inside of her as her body wound tightly around his. Her legs secured around his waist, her arms around his neck, his eyes closed and his head fell forward into the dip of her neck.

His breathing ragged, his chest heavy from exertion, he stayed as he was, motionless inside of her, still holding her, her still holding him, not yet ready to move. If he were a stupid man—and the answer to that was highly debatable, in his opinion—he would have told her right then and there that he loved her.

Because Will, for the first time in his life, wanted to possess a woman, body, mind, and soul, and though that feeling should have terrified him, it did not. Instead he felt excited, giddy, much like a teenager again, ready to go out and find himself, the whole world waiting for him.

I watched Will sleeping
soundly, almost afraid to move or breathe too hard in case I woke him. It was a little after three a.m. but I couldn’t seem to doze off, and instead of trying, had chosen to watch him. I enjoyed watching him like this; seeing the soft rise and fall of his toned chest made me feel peaceful inside, and calmer than I’d felt in a long time. The need to run and hide seemed to vanish when I was with Will.

His lips parted ever so slightly, and the air left his mouth in a soft
whoosh
as he turned on his side. I smiled contentedly and curled into him, feeling his body heat wash over me, warming me from head to toe. Will offered me a different kind of warmth than what I was used to. There was a softness in this man where I had only ever known hardness, a playfulness to his features where I had only ever seen anger and danger. He was different, and he made me want more of his difference, because slowly and surely, he was bringing me back to life.

The soft bed covers were tangled around our naked bodies, a telltale sign of last night’s acrobatics. I slipped one of my legs between his, enjoying the feel of my smooth to his rough as our skin rubbed against each other’s. In response he rumbled happily, his eyes still closed.

“
How long have you been awake?” he asked, his voice still rough and thick with sleep.

I grinned. “Not long.”

Will cracked an eye open. “You look amazing.” He grinned. “Are you sure you didn’t slip out of bed and fix yourself up?”

I chuckled. “No, definitely not.”

“
And here I was under the impression that all women looked awful in the morning,” he teased.

“
That’s because all the women you normally go for are fakes and frauds,” I shot back, smiling broadly.

“
You’re very feisty this morning,” he said, pulling me closer and closer. Rolling over top of me, he pinned me in place, trapping my body under his. “I like it.” Grinning, he dipped his head and our lips connected.

His actions were desperate, as if this was the first kiss we had shared, as if I were the oxygen that he needed to breathe, and when he finally pulled away, I was the one left breathless and gasping. He was hard against my inner thigh, and I squirmed to nudge him to the place where I wanted him most. His mouth quirked, his blue eyes sparking with devilish intent, and then he was on me again, hard, hot kisses that left me nothing more than a pool of liquid wanting.

*
* *

Will’s hand palmed my backside, squeezing gently. Jerking, I mumbled something unintelligible into my pillow even as I responded to his touch. My traitorous body didn’t seem to understand that I had to work in a couple of hours and needed to sleep at some point tonight…today. I had no idea what time it was, only that the last time Will had finished with me, I’d finally drifted off. Yet now, awake again, it seemed as if only minutes had passed.