The Real

Stupid, stupid. I should have never confessed how I felt first. But did I?

It didn’t seem possible with all that had happened between us.

He kicked the door shut while I rushed through my living room toward my kitchen. Reeling from the change in his behavior, I opened my fridge and grabbed a water, gulping it down as he stood on the other side of the counter, hands in his pockets.

My blue eyes were engulfed by the intense green blaze and I swallowed while the sweat dried on my forehead.

“Say it again.”

“Cameron,” I pleaded, terrified by the tone of his voice. “The moment has passed, don’t you think?”

“No,” he argued quickly and shook his head. “Not at all. Say it.”

“Maybe I don’t want to,” I said with a shaky voice. “Clearly, I got the wrong impression.”

“Clearly, you don’t know the lengths I would go to hear you say those words to me again, Abbie. Say them.”

“No,” I said with contempt. “Maybe you think I’m taking our relationship lightly, but I’m not. This isn’t a game for me. I got a little carried away back there, but in no way should you punish me for saying how I felt in that moment.”

“I’m not punishing you.”

“Feels like it,” I said, my pulse pounding in my ears.

“And how do you feel now?”

I crossed my arms in front of me and spoke low. “The same.”

He audibly exhaled. “Then say those words to me.”

I scowled at him. “What kind of head trip are you on?”

“Why can’t you just do it?”

“Because I meant it, okay? And you’re acting a little too . . . you’re scaring me.”

I was shaking, and he could see it. He moved toward me as he spoke and gripped my shoulders.

“You’re scared?”

“Yes,” I whispered.”

“Good, because with you I’m a lot of fucking things. I’m a lot crazy about you, I’m a lot terrified, I’m a lot possessive, and that’s new to me. I’m dangerously in love with you, so much so that I’m going to lose my fucking mind if you don’t tell me again that you feel the same. Because I love you, Abbie. I have since before I confessed I was falling, and I kept it to myself for so long that it’s been agony waiting for you. So please. Say it.”

My lips parted, and the words fell easily.

“I love you. I do, so much,” I said as he closed the space between us and smashed his mouth to mine.

Captive in his hold, he kissed me mercilessly, his tongue flicking over mine in long, languid strokes. His seduction was on the back burner of his emotion-filled kiss. I felt the hesitance in his touch only next to insistence that I believe his earnest heart over the bulge in his pants. Our connection only turned to fire when I pulled away on a breath.

“Please touch me, Cameron. It’s much too late to keep us from getting burned,” I begged as I gripped the back of his head and raked my fingers through the hair there.

“I love you,” he murmured as he trailed a soft kiss down my jaw. “Fuck, I need you.” He lifted my hands above my head and held them there. “I just don’t want to screw this up.”

“You won’t do that by touching me,” I promised as he lifted my sweater over my head before his impatient lips found mine. Mouths fused, I unzipped his slacks while he pulled my leggings down mid-thigh before he turned me to face the counter.

He pressed my head down, flattening my breasts as he pressed himself fully inside me. We both sank a little once connected.

“It’s yours, Cameron. It’s all yours.”