Page 120 of Almost Yours
I’ve spent years holding tight to every scrap of affection she ever showed me, tucking them away like treasures. There’s something about hearing her say it out loud that makes my chest ache with a fullness I can barely contain.
She’s always seen me clearer than I see myself. Even when I was that half-wild teenager in borrowed clothes, pretending indifference was a personality trait instead of a defense mechanism.
There are a dozen things clawing up my throat. Gratitude. Awe. The overwhelming urge to kiss her senseless, drop to my knees, and swear my lifelong devotion to her. There are no words that could ever be enough to capture what I feel for her.
So I don’t say anything. I just lace my fingers through hers and squeeze, hoping she understands the weight behind it.
She squeezes back, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. “You know…for a guy who always has something to say, you’re awfully quiet.”
I huff a laugh. “Trying not to ruin the moment.”
Violet arches a brow. “Who says talking would ruin it? I’ve heard your sweet talk before, remember?”
I groan. “High school Rowan was an idiot.”
“He was anadorableidiot,” she teases.
I groan louder. “Violet. Please. Spare me.”
She gives me that soft, easy laugh that always makes me want to wrap her up and never let go.“‘If you were a vegetable, you’d be a cute-cumber.’”
I drag my hand down my face. “I hate myself.”
She’s laughing harder now, and damn if it doesn’t ease every last knot in my chest. I could listen to her laugh for the rest of my life and still never get enough. She tilts into me, laughter fading as her head comes to rest against my chest
My arm comes around her instinctively, fingers brushing her shoulder, then settling. This is exactly what she was talking about. It’s not the fireworks or the declarations, but the absolute certainty that sneaks in while you’re not paying attention.
I press my chin to the top of her head. “You know, my sweet talk might have been terrible, but I’ve never heard you complain about the other kind.”
She tilts her head up. “What other kind?”
I lower my voice. “I think you knowexactlywhat I mean.”
She shivers against me, color blooming across her cheeks, that soft pink that wrecks me every time. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth but holds my gaze. Bold even as she’s blushing. “Hmm. Feels irresponsible not to offer a reminder. Might need a refresher.”
I hum in response. “A refresher. Let’s see… You want me to tell you how I’m dying to take you right here? How I want to slide my hands under that shirt and feel how firm those perfect tits are in my palms?” My voice drops lower, rougher. “How I’d spread your thighs and taste you until you’re begging me for mercy?”
Her breath catches, pupils dilating as she shifts against me. “Rowan…”
“I’d make you come with just my tongue,” I continue, letting my hand slide up her thigh, stopping just short of where she wants me. “And then I’d fuck you so deep you’d feel me for days.”
A small sound escapes her throat, somewhere between a gasp and a moan. Her fingers curl into my shirt, tugging me closer.
“You like that?” I whisper, my lips grazing the shell of her ear. “You like when I tell you how hard I get for you? How tight you feel when I’m inside you?”
“Yes,” she breathes, her eyes fluttering closed.
I trace the curve of her jaw with my thumb, tipping her face up to mine. “I’m thinking about bending you over the arm of this couch,” I growl, my hand sliding higher up her thigh, savoring the way she trembles beneath my touch. “Spanking that gorgeous ass while you beg for more. Taking you from behind while I pull your hair, making you scream my name over and over until your throat’s raw.”
Her breathing quickens as she presses against me, her fingers digging into my thigh.
“Then I’d flip you over,” I growl, “so I could watch your face when you come. I love seeing those pretty eyes roll back, hearing those little gasps you make when you’re right on the edge.”
“Please,” she whispers, and the need in her voice makes my cock throb.
I slide my hand higher, my fingers brushing against the seam of her jeans. “You’re soaked through these, aren’t you? If I slipped my hand inside right now, you’d be dripping all over my fingers.”
My cock throbs from the sight of her, all flushed and needy from my words. It’s enough to make me lose my goddamn mind.
