Redeeming You (Before You #2)(57)
“Plenty.” Eliminating any space between them, he pressed his lips against hers, demanding everything she had to give and more. It was a hard, possessive kiss that left her breathless and flooded her with sensation.
Holding her close, he stood and carried her to the bed. He eased her back onto the bed, never fully breaking contact with her. “So about this song,” he whispered as nibbled along her mouth to her collarbone and back up to her neck. “I’ve been thinking…”
“In the last couple minutes,” she said absently as she felt his body lift from hers and he slipped her pants down her legs, trailing kisses down her legs.
“Yes,” he chuckled.
“About the song?”
He unzipped his pants and stepped out of them. “I think it could go something like this.” He hooked his thumbs into his navy boxer briefs and slid them down his hips and her mind was on anything but the song he wanted to discuss.
He covered his body with hers, his legs between hers, his face resting against her chest as he looked up at her through his dark eyelashes and he started to sing. His voice was low, raspy and filled with emotion.
I was lost, so far gone
Regretting everything and everyone
Not quite broken
Not quite whole
Then your eyes found mine
Bright as the stars
Branded in our hearts
Burning into my soul
Filling my emptiness
With every look, every breath, every kiss
You give me a reason to live again
You redeem me
You redeem me
Nothing except the sound of their breath dancing between them filled the room; almost like the chorus to the lyrics he had just finished singing. She had nothing to add. Words escaped her because she felt as if she could have sang them to him. The song was simple, perfect and beyond compare. “Did you just make that up right now?” she finally whispered hating to break the moment.
He lifted his head, bracing his hands on either side of her head, his blue eyes searching hers. “Do you like it?”
“I love it. No, love isn’t strong enough, but I can’t find the right words.” She smiled. “Apparently you’re the wordsmith, not me.”
“The words have been floating around in my head for a week and they finally came together this morning. I wasn’t ready to share them with anyone, but when you mentioned it, I went with the moment. It’s only fitting that you’d be the first person to hear them.” His hands toyed with her hair, his fingertips gently caressing her scalp. It was becoming a habit of his to play with her hair. Not that she’d complain. She loved every minute of the attention.
“Well, you could give Jax a run for his money.”
“Maybe,” he answered, as bent his head to brush a kiss across her lips. “We didn’t eat anything. Are you hungry?”
“Not really.” She closed her eyes. More than anything, she felt tired. She’d spent the day in a blur of tears, anger and now total peace and happiness.
“You’re tired,” he said, kissing each of her eyelids.
“Not really,” she mumbled pulling his body toward hers. She’d prefer to curl up and snuggle next to his warmth, but that seemed a little lame considering all the work he put into the evening.
“Yes you are.” He chuckled as he rolled off of her and turned her body to the side so they faced each other. His fingers trailed up and down the delicate skin of her waist, resting on her stomach, making her tremble.
“Maybe a little, but that feels nice.” Her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence.
“Go to sleep, Tay.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly without opening her eyes. “We were in the middle of something.”
“Something that can wait.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her fingertips tracing the contours of the long, lean muscles on either side of his spine up to the strong slope of his shoulders.
“We have as much time as we need. There’s no reason to rush to the finish line. I want to take care of you.”
“You already are.”
He pulled the blankets over them and kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m glad you think so.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The minute the bus entered the Seattle metropolitan area, her heart sped up and she felt as if she was coming out of her skin. Some of the landmarks caused an intense longing to course through her body, but at the same time, the thought of being in the same city with Miles made her a little nauseous and anxious.
Miles’ voicemails and texts hadn’t stopped over last month. In fact, in the past few days they had become more frequent. He probably realized Chasing Ruin had a performance in Seattle tonight and he knew she’d be with them. If she saw one more “I miss you” or “I love you” text from him, she would seriously have to consider changing her number at the end of the tour. It was something she should have done when she left Seattle, but she always came up with a reason to avoid severing the last connection to her time there.
She even listened to one of his more recent voicemails. His voice was properly contrite as he babbled about how much he missed her and how much he regretted what happened with Natalie. Of course, he couldn't stop himself adding a long-winded speech on the virtue of giving people a second chance. Finally, he mentioned that he had the blue topaz ring that Alec gave her for her twenty-first birthday. At least his voicemail solved the mystery of where the ring went, not that she’d ever retrieve it from him or give him her address. She didn’t want to invite him back into her life for one second, regardless of how much she loved the ring. It wasn’t worth it. She planned to keep Miles firmly planted in her past along with the rest of her mistakes.