Rescue Me(22)

“Okay,” I say gently. God, I am such a fool. He makes me want to feel and every time I think I am going to let him in just a little more my past seems to come back and slap me right in the face. I can’t do this anymore. My feelings are so strong for him, so why? Why can’t I let it go?





Chapter Seven

Adam



A few minutes after locking up the house, I enter my bedroom with Erin’s shirt and bra in my hand only to find her in my bed already under the covers. It takes every bit of restraint I have not to rip those covers off of her and show her just how much I know I can please her, but in her emotional state I know the best thing to do right now is to hold her. I drop her shirt to the floor because there is no way in hell I want it back on her. I need to feel her skin against mine. I need to touch and caress her.

I lift my shirt over my head and take my jeans off, letting them drop to the floor. Erin’s eyes roam up and down my body and her breathing instantly quickens. Climbing into my bed, I pull her close and start to run my fingers through her soft hair. Motherfucking hell, she feels so damn good in my arms.

“You doing okay there, sweet cheeks?”

She giggles. She actually fucking giggles.

“What in the hell is so damn funny, woman?”

She is laughing so uncontrollably right now that she starts snorting.

“Oh shit. I am so sorry,” she wheezes through her laughing fit.

I can’t help myself. I start laughing with her and I have no fucking clue what the hell I am even laughing at. Gradually our laughter starts to die down and her voice becomes more serious as she speaks.

“I have no clue what just came over me and I am so embarrassed I just don’t know what to think of all this, Adam. The thought of someone like you, a man who is so picture perfect and who is every woman’s dream, wants to be with me. It’s all too overwhelming and it scares the living shit out of me. I just don’t know how to act or what to do. I want so badly to let you in.”

I turn so we are face to face. She is so breathtakingly beautiful.

“Erin, I am not used to someone saying what you just said to me, either. And although I’m not quite sure I am every woman’s dream man or even close to perfect, hearing those words come from you- that’s a step in the right direction, sweetheart. It’s a small step and a sign you are letting me in.”

Suddenly, it’s like she has some sort of epiphany. I don’t know if it’s from the words I just said or what, but when she leans up and lightly strokes the stubble on my chin and then kisses the spot where her hand just was, it’s as if I have the same brave Erin back from just a few moments ago.

“You know, I have dreamt so many times about being in this bed with you and just having you hold me and wonder what it would feel like to have you touch me.” She pauses and continues. “Dreams do come true.”

She has a spark in her eyes and a smile spreads across her face as she speaks. I need to do everything I can to keep it there, so I place a soft kiss on both of her cheeks. I pull her over to lie across my chest so I can feel her just as much as I know she wants to feel me.

“Yeah, baby. Just having you in my arms right now is definitely a dream come true.”



************



“Adam.”

I am woken by a voice I will never get tired of hearing.

“Mmm?” I rasp as I caress her soft skin. “What time is it?”

Glancing at the clock and seeing it’s two thirty in the morning, I lie my head back on the pillow but my eyes instantly pop open as I feel Erin’s hand run across my chest.

“I’m sorry to wake you but I can’t fall asleep. My mind is racing like some kind of lunatic, and I...” She stops speaking.

“You what, Erin?”

“Oh, hell. I can’t believe I am even thinking this,” she says with exasperation.

What the hell is she thinking? Whatever it is, it must be really hard for her to get out. I just lay there in silence and give her the time she needs to say whatever is keeping her from being able to sleep.

“I want you to do what you wanted to do earlier,” she finally says.

Her voice is so meek and so small when she makes her confession, but I am now doing a mental fist pump because, hell yes, my girl is letting me in.

I can’t control myself anymore. I sit up and look closely into her eyes for any sign she doesn’t mean what she says.

“Are you sure?” I ask intently. “Because Erin, I will wait as long as it takes. This thing between you and me is not about any type of sex, you know that, right?”

“I do, Adam, but trust me when I say I want this. I have been lying here for the past two hours just thinking and I want...no, I deserve to be happy. And you’re my happy.” She looks deep into my eyes. “You make me want to feel. With every ounce of my body I want to feel it all with you, Adam. I want so badly to just let everything go. Don’t ask me why, or what has made me all of a sudden have this change of heart. What I can tell you is that as I laid here in your arms tonight, for the first time in as long as I can remember I realized I am happy, and I want to continue to be that way. So, yes, Adam. I am more than ready.”