“You had me.” I’m crying now, too, crying for the girl I love and all she’s lost. And I’m crying some for myself because I don’t know if I’ll ever be enough to make her forget. “I thought about you every single day, wished for you and prayed for you. All I wanted was you, no matter where we went or what we did. You had me.”
“I needed you, Daltrey. I needed you so bad.”
“You have me.” I kiss her again, her lips, her cheeks, her eyelids. “You’ll never lose me. You have me, Daisy, and you won’t ever be alone again.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Daisy
What in the hell were we waiting for?
That’s the only cognizant thought I can come up with as my lips find Daltrey’s again. How much time have we wasted when we could have been doing this?
I told him everything, showed him the scarred, broken part of me, and he didn’t run or push me away. Instead, he held me and cried with me until I was sure I would break with the pain of it. And after all of that, he still wants me.
I can feel it in the way he kisses me so desperately, as if he can’t get enough. He trails his fingers across my face and holds me tightly to him until I’m sure I won’t be able to breathe. Daltrey wants me. He loves me.
“I don’t want to waste any more time,” he says, pulling back so he can look into my eyes. “I want this with you. Forever.”
I nod, reaching for him again, but he turns to grab a tissue from the side table. He brings it to my face, wiping away my tears so gently it somehow makes me want to cry all over again. He grabs another tissue for himself.
“Better?” he asks. “Or do you want more tea?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine.”
“Your poor little eyes,” he murmurs, running his fingertips beneath them. “I hate it when you cry.”
“I’m sorry I look so gross. I imagined this moment a lot of times, but I never imagined it with swollen eyes and a red face.”
He laughs. “Do you really not know how beautiful you are to me right now?”
“Whatever—”
“No, not whatever, Daisy. You’re perfect.”
The look in his eyes tells me he actually means it. A man so gorgeous his face is plastered on magazines actually thinks I’m beautiful.
He gives me that ridiculous smile that takes my breath away. “Now kiss me again.”
My lips find his, and I can’t help but exhale against his mouth. I feel so relieved. Relieved to be here, finally, where I’ve always wanted to be. Relieved that he, somehow, wants me too, even after everything I’ve told him.
“Daisy,” he whispers, and there’s relief in his voice too. “Finally.”
“I need you. I need you, Daltrey.”
He moans and presses his lips harder against mine. Then his tongue is gently running along my mouth, and I open for him, greedily taking him in. I whimper the moment my tongue touches his, the sensation better than anything I could imagine.
Suddenly, his hands are everywhere, as if my whimper was the permission he’d been waiting for. They press into my lower back, against the swell of my ass, up over my sides, so gentle over my tattoo, until he’s cupping my breasts. I press my body against him, wanting more.
He pulls away, and I gasp, my need for him almost painful. He falls to his knees in front of me, his head tilted back, so he can stare up at me. Slowly, he lifts his hands to the hem of my shirt and begins to push it up over my belly. Impatient, I grab my shirt and pull it over my head.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he whispers.
I laugh a little, but the sound comes out broken. “You’ve seen me in a bikini before, Daltrey.”
He shakes his head. “Not the same.” Then he presses his lips to my stomach, kissing my skin softly.
I gasp, threading my fingers into his golden hair. He kisses a trail across my skin as far as he can reach. Heart pounding, I reach behind me and unclasp my bra. He makes a strangled noise in his throat and reaches up to grasp the straps on my shoulders. He pulls them down so slowly I think I’m going to explode from the anticipation. Finally, the cups fall away from my chest.
Daltrey goes very still. “You have no idea,” he says gruffly, “no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”
I can only shake my head, knowing he can’t understand the depth of my yearning for him. I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.
I take his hands, and place them over my breasts. He groans, squeezing gently before he releases me and takes my hands. I’m disoriented, and it takes me a few seconds to realize that he has brought my wrist to his mouth. First one and then the other, he kisses my scars.