Limitless Love (Lotus House #4)(56)
“I…” Her voice shook like a leaf dangling in the wind.
The fear and anxiety she displayed shredded my heart and sat like lead in my gut. I never wanted to see my woman so lost. I softened my tone. “What are you so afraid of?”
Her eyes filled with unshed tears, and I cupped both of her cheeks. One tear slid down and another followed. I swiped them away with my thumbs.
She sniffled but continued. “One day you won’t like what you see, or I’ll do something wrong, and then…” She choked on her words.
A twenty-pound weight falling on my foot wouldn’t have hurt as badly as what I saw in her eyes. The demons of her past were a heavy burden on her soul, on her future. Demons I needed—no, would—work to obliterate for good.
Finally, she laid it out. “You’ll leave me. Us. Me and Lily.” She sounded gutted, ravaged by something that could destroy her, which hadn’t even happened yet.
Somehow, I had to get it through to her that it never would. I shook my head furiously and pulled her mouth to mine. I kissed her hard, harder than I ever had. She needed to feel what I’d say next, in her mind, heart, and all the way down to her fucking marrow.
I brought our faces so close together our noses practically touched. “Listen to me and listen good. I’m here now. I’ll be here tomorrow. And I’ll be here every day after that. You and Lily, you’re mine now. My responsibility. I’ll spend every day of my life worshipping that gift.”
More tears fell from her cheeks, and she licked her lips. Our mouths were so close I could feel the slip of her tongue and the moisture it left in its wake.
My grip on her tightened. “You hear me? Let it sink in, Monet, because I’m not going anywhere.” I gritted my teeth and then took her mouth again.
She sobbed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer until our bodies melded into one another. Time ceased to exist as we gave and took from one another, sealing our commitment the only way we knew how.
I walked her to the bathroom, never letting her go, my lips glued to hers along the way. When I stopped and sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes were giant pools of love and desire. She closed them for a moment and then opened them dazedly. Determination and grit stared back at me.
“Clayton, I love you too.”
There was no stopping the giant smile that spread across my face and the behemoth of fear that dissipated around us.
I hugged her to me and kissed her neck. “You love me?”
She nodded and placed her own face into the crook of my shoulder and neck. I could feel her smile against my bare skin. “Yeah, I do.”
* * *
Steam billowed around the shower stall as I held my love’s hand and led her in. Monet had an enormous shower with two heads that blasted mightily against the dark multicolored tile, which gave the impression of walking into a heated private cave. Hot water sluiced down my back as I grabbed the shower gel and poufy sponge. I poured a liberal amount and set the bottle on the shelf. Monet plastered herself against my back, her lips a welcome pressure between my shoulder blades. Tiny kisses rained down my spine and back up. My cock hardened painfully, a vortex of need following the line of her lips and imprinting everywhere those plump bits of flesh touched down.
Monet’s voice was but a murmur through the sound of the water coming down. “You know, you always call me beautiful, but you’re absolutely magnificent, Clayton.” She ran her fingertips along my back and down each arm, caressing the muscles as if committing them to memory. “Most men don’t look the way you do. Not even close.”
Damn straight. I worked fucking hard in the gym and kept my body fit, toned, and packed with lean muscles. I grinned and turned around, looping my arms and crossing my wrists at her lower back. She was gloriously naked, and her pretty brown nipples puckered sweetly against my chest. I lifted one hand and cupped a breast, watching the tip tighten further as I rubbed my thumb across it. She shivered in my arms, her pelvis slamming against my cock.
“Cold?” I smirked.
“No, the opposite.” She half moaned as I sucked the wet tip into my mouth and tugged with my teeth. “I’m so hot,” she finished, tipping her head back and arching toward me. The second showerhead drenched the black waves of her hair, transforming it into a long flat sheet of flowing black silk.
I took the invitation from her body and sucked on her tits, nipping and pinching the way I knew she liked. I’d learned a bit about her body in the past month, and my girl loved nipple play. It got her wet almost instantly. After I toyed with her breasts, getting her nice and worked up, I moved a step back and rubbed the poufy thing across each sensitive peak.
“Mmm…” She sighed, her chest rising and falling with her breathing, which became more labored with each pass. I squirted more soap on the pouf and swirled it around her belly. I kneeled down and started at her feet. I scrubbed each leg thoroughly, wanting to show her how much I loved her.
Once I’d soaped her legs so they were nice and slippery, I ran my hands up and down them. On the pass up the back, I gripped her ass and squeezed each globe, bringing her pussy forward to hover a scant few inches away from my mouth.
Monet slapped her hands on my shoulders, and her chin shifted toward her chest. Her eyes were dark pools of lust. She licked at the trickling water running down her face and onto mine below.