Letting out a long breath in, I’d normally make an excuse to hide or leave, or start digging the hole that the ground won’t open to swallow me.
But with Reeve, it’s different.
Everything’s so easy with him, and I find myself feeling relief instead of nerves.
“Then why don’t you?” I challenge, surprised by the sass in my voice.
“Because when I do, I won’t be able to stop,” he warns me swiftly.
The look in his eyes tells me he’s not kidding either.
It’s not ‘if I kiss you’ it’s ‘when I kiss you.’
And a man of his years, as well as experience, will never settle for just a little peck on the lips.
I feel my mound, my sex quiver in anticipation. As if my womb is shifting itself in readiness, opening up like a catcher’s mitt inside me.
My hormones as well as my body scream for him to do way more than just kiss me on the mouth too.
But whether he’s still unsure himself, or if he’s just enjoying the thrill of the chase, Reeve changes the subject, asking me about what I want from life.
Where I see myself not in five years, but after my mom’s wedding.
It’s the last thing I wanna think about right now, wanting him to threaten just how much he’ll kiss me again.
But Reeve seems to be searching for a bigger green light than just yes I’ll let you kiss me and more like yes I’ll let you take me to bed.
I swallow hard once I catch the true meaning of his question.
Marines don’t play around, and once they make their mind up about something it’s as good as done.
He needs to know that I want him as much as I think he wants me.
I think.
And not just for today or for one or two nights when my mom’s away.
He’s a forever kinda guy.
Like his friend Rhys, when he asked my mom to marry him, he did tell her it was a forever thing. No matter what.
Good times and bad, sickness and health.
The whole nine yards plus one extra for the Marines.
“I… I don’t wanna live with them if that’s what you mean,” I stammer. Glad to be able to tell someone how I really feel about the change and not them yell at me.
“And you won’t have to,” Reeve growls knowingly, curling his lip as if he’s heard enough to cement his own plans.
But he has just one more question.
“Kids?” he asks, really making me think before I answer.
Knowing already this is a guy who plays for keeps.
“If they all looked like you, I could have a hundred,” I say and then try to laugh it off, but my voice catches in my throat as Reeve’s eyes narrow on mine.
“I want you, Piper,” he says, his tone full of conviction. Smashing every doubt I’ve had for a lifetime with four simple words.
“I want you to be mine. Nobody else’s. But I need to know you want it too. That you could be with an older guy and be prepared for everything that goes along with it,” he warns again.
Making it sound like we’re preparing for a skydive without parachutes.
At least, that’s what my stomach feels like right now.
“My mom’s younger than Rhys,” I counter, remembering their age difference.
“Yeah, by like four years, not twenty-four,” he says in a tone that doesn’t suit him.
As if it’s a bad thing, who he is, what he’s done, and all he has.
“Do you think of my age when you look at me?” I ask him, feeling myself flush with near annoyance.
Reeve shakes his head in the negative. “No,” he grunts.
“Then what makes you think I do when I see you?” I ask, surprised when it hits me that he could be forty-two or four hundred and forty-two. I’d still feel the same about him.
Our hands reach for each other at the same time across the table.
And although I know it’s against his better judgment, Reeve stands quickly, pulling me to him.
In a single moment we’ve gone from, should we? To why the fuck shouldn’t we?
All the way to him leaning down and pressing his mouth over mine.
Like a wave crashing against rocks, my heart, body, and soul feel free for the first time ever.
The wildness and freedom of his kiss is a key that unlocks the only word in my mind that could stand up to the power of his affection.
Yes.
Yes, I want Reeve Bannon. I want to give myself to him. All of me.
There’s just maybe one thing I should mention.
But that can wait for now.
Can’t it?
Being kissed by Reeve is like a dream come true.
A dream I don’t want to end.
Ever.
Chapter Nine
Reeve
I could try telling myself it’s not the real reason I came over here.
But as soon as I know she feels the same, as soon as our mouths lock and I can hold her like I’ve longed to since seeing her all grown up.