“I don’t think that’s true,” I snickered, but the humor dropped out of me when he tilted his head slightly, and I saw the expression on his face more clearly. He looked hungry and like he was only barely holding onto his self-control.
“If you’re not ready for this, baby, I swear I won’t put any pressure on you.”
Was he out of his mind? If he’d done this during our first night together, I’d have likely already written a song about it. For the last two and a half months, we’d made out and cuddled almost every day, and I had to concede that his vow about needing this more than he needed to breathe wasn’t far from the truth.
When I didn’t say anything, though, the expression on his face changed, and he kissed me gently on the forehead, holding his lips against it as he spoke. “I get it. We’ll wait until you’re ready, but will you sleep next to me tonight. I wan—”
“I need you,” I repeated his words back to him, stopping him mid-retreat. “I need you to be inside me more than I need to breathe at this point.”
The hand resting on the back of my neck tightened slightly, and I saw and felt the change in him.
One minute I was standing there with his lips on me. The next, I was over his shoulder, and he was taking the stairs two at a time.
“I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to be this tall,” I chuckled, smacking him on the ass and then grabbing hold of the cheek I’d hit. “Wow, how do you get your butt this tight? I need to add it into my new workouts if—”
Whatever I was going to say next disappeared as I was sent flying through the air. It wasn’t until I landed on the mattress of his bed that I realized Marcus’s hands had never left my body once during it, keeping me safe and guiding me where he wanted me instead of assuming I’d get there on my own. This was something I was learning was all Marcus Townsend-Rossi—he kept control of situations and made it happen himself.
I’d taken my hair out of its ponytail while we’d been sitting around the fire, and the momentum of my descent and impact of me hitting the mattress made it fly up in the air and land over my face. Yeah, how sexy was the Cousin It look this year?
Before I could move it or blow it out the way, his hands were there, gently pushing it aside as he stared down at me.
“For six months, I dreamed about having you in my bed. Dreamed about being able to touch you and hold you.”
“I’m sure that’s not all you dreamed about doing to me in your bed.” I gave him an exaggerated wink, expecting him to laugh, but his expression didn’t change.
“I’ve had fantasies about taking you in every position known to man and some I’ve made up, Adrienne, but I’d have been happy just to be able to see you and touch you tonight.”
The words were extreme for my emotions, and they kicked them up into what felt like an emotional storm inside of me.
“And now you can,” I whispered finally.
“Yeah,” he whispered back, “and now I can.”
“I never thought I’d see you again, and it ate away at me,” I admitted, opening myself up to feeling vulnerable like I knew he was feeling at that moment. “I still wake up shocked that you’re not only my neighbor, but I can call you, see you, and touch you whenever I want now.”
“That’s because I’m yours. All of me.”
My eyes slid shut as I absorbed the words, knowing it was the same in reverse. Opening them back up, I lifted my hand to cup his cheek, feeling the muscle tensing in it and the rasp of his whatever-o’clock-it-was shadow on my palm.
“And all of me is yours.”
Those six words broke something in him, because Marcus growled and swooped down, taking my mouth in a kiss that almost stole my breath. I held on tightly as he licked into my mouth and then nuzzled the side of my neck as he made his way down it.
When I’d come to see him today, I’d just thrown on a t-shirt and jeans, knowing it was the best gear to wear on the ranch, especially when there was every chance I’d be on my knees in straw with Rocky, or that I might be climbing over fences while I walked around with Marcus or Santana. And I was damning my clothing choices at that moment.
Why the hell had I put so many on, and why had I chosen ones that didn’t just lift or come off with a tug? Would a wrap around dress be so bad on the ranch?