Thoughtful(172)
With a reassuring smile, I gave her my typical greeting. “Mornin’.” I wondered if she could tell that in my head, I always added the word beautiful after that.
I started walking toward her, but that was too slow for Kiera. She ran to me. Tossing her arms around my neck, she buried her head in my shoulder and started to cry. That wasn’t the reaction I’d been hoping for. I held her tight while she sobbed out, “I thought you left. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Feeling horrible for being gone so long, I rubbed her back. “I’m sorry, Kiera. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I needed…to take care of something.”
She pulled away from me, then smacked me in the chest. Her eyes were fiery as she snapped, “Don’t ever do that again!” Amused at how cute she was when she was angry, I put a hand on her cheek. Her anger faded as she stared at me. In a softer voice, she added, “Don’t leave me like that…”
From the way she said it, it was clear she thought I would leave her one day. She was right, and she was wrong. I would leave her to save her. To save her relationship with the man she deserved to be with, the one she truly wanted, I would back down. But I would say goodbye first. “I wouldn’t, Kiera. I wouldn’t just…disappear.” I won’t leave us unfinished. I’ll give you closure.
As I stroked her cheek, Kiera studied my eyes. I loved it when she looked at me. I could swim for days in her ever-shifting eyes. Out of the blue, Kiera spoke a set of words I’d been waiting a lifetime to hear…
“I love you.”
The words were so simple, a barely speaking child could learn them, but they were so damn powerful…lives had been destroyed because of them. And their effect on me was immediate. My eyes burned as moisture worked its way to the surface. I shut them and twin tears worked their way down my cheeks. I felt like sobbing, I felt like laughing. Joy and pain spun around within me in an agonizing dance, and I had no idea which emotion was in the lead. She does love me. Someone loves me.
I felt Kiera brush my tears aside. “I love you…so much.”
The honesty in her voice, the sadness, the compassion, the elation…it all made me want to crumple to my knees, wrap my arms around her, and never let her go. How can I leave the only person who has ever admitted they loved me? More tears escaped my eyes as I opened them. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I’ve wanted…How long I’ve waited…”
I could barely speak through the torrent of emotions circulating throughout my body, slicing me open and yet healing me, all at the same time. Kiera didn’t let me finish. She didn’t need an explanation; she knew my inner turmoil, my lifetime of pain. And right now, she wanted me to feel more than the emptiness of my lonely, disconnected existence. She wanted to show me the love she felt for me, and I wanted to let her.
Raising her lips to mine, she stopped my painful revelation with a tender kiss. I cupped her cheek with my other hand, savoring her warmth. Gently pulling on my neck, Kiera urged me to follow her. Our mouths still moving together, I did. She led us into my bedroom and stopped us beside the bed. Without a word, with our lips only momentarily pausing, we undressed. When her body was bare before me—perfectly sculpted, lean, athletic, yet soft and arousing—I pulled back to admire her.
“You are so beautiful,” I whispered, running a hand through her wavy hair.
She didn’t blush with my compliment this time; a warm smile was her only response. Bringing my lips back to hers, I gently eased her onto the bed. I didn’t want to rush this. I wanted to know every curve of her body by heart. I wanted to hear every noise she made when I touched her, and I wanted to understand what each sound meant. I wanted to please her, give her a moment that she would never forget, because this was going to be with me forever.
My fingers moved against her skin as effortlessly as they moved against my guitar. And the sounds that came from her were just as wondrous as that instrument. Even though our bodies were ready, we took our time. Her hands ran along my shoulders, down my back. Mine traced the ridges of her ribs, the curve of her hip. Her mouth placed soft kisses along my jaw line, mine trailed down her neck. By the time my lips wandered down to her breasts, she was arching her back with need. A moan escaped me as I lovingly wrapped my mouth around her nipple. I want this every day.
When I could finally leave her chest, I traveled farther south. Kiera clutched my skin, squeezing, then smoothing, as the anticipation climbed higher. I stretched it out as long as possible, touching every part of her except the one part she really wanted. When I finally did run my tongue over the most sensitive part of her, the cry she let out was glorious. I want her so much.