Southern Heart (Southern 5)

"Are you staying?" I ask as his fingers touch my chin, and then he palms my face. His thumb rubs my bottom lip. "Are you staying here with me?"

I wait without breathing for his answer. "Yes," he says.

"Then I’ll be safe,” I say, putting my hands on his hips. "With you here, I’m safe."

"I don’t think I can go back," he says, licking his lips. "I won’t be able to go back and pretend you don’t mean anything to me." I look down, and the tears are coming now as my body shakes. "Chelsea." He says my name again, and it’s like music to my ears.

I look up at him and see he has his own tears in his eyes. "Don’t," I finally say. "Don’t go back." My hand comes up to cup his cheek. "I’m yours." I shrug one shoulder. "All of me is yours." I drop my hand and take the biggest risk of my life. "Make me yours." I hold out my hand now. "Make me all yours."

I slide my hand into his as I pull him toward my room. We walk into my bedroom, and I stand here in the middle of the room, right in front of the king-size bed that I picked out with the plush white carpet under my feet. I step up to him now as he looks around my room. A room I took my time picking things out for, secretly hoping for this moment right here. The whole back wall is white rustic wood. A wooden stepladder leans against the side wall with five blankets hanging from it. "I’m nervous," I admit, looking down, trying to calm my nerves down.

He shakes his head, coming to me, and when I look up at him, he pushes my hair behind my ears. "My palms are all sweaty," he admits and picks up one of my hands and places it on the middle of his chest. "I feel like my heart is going to rip through my chest." His heartbeat matches my own. "I’m afraid," he admits, his voice low. "I’m afraid I’m going to get a taste of you and then…" He looks down now, and his heartbeat speeds up. "I’m so afraid it’ll be the happiest day of my life, and then in a blink of an eye, it’ll be gone."

"Don’t let me go," I say, and I’m secretly begging him to never let me go. "I’m not going anywhere," I let him know, and he puts his thumb on the side of my face. He leans his face down, and his lips hover over mine. My whole body shivers from his touch, my stomach flutters just knowing he’s going to kiss me any minute. He turns his head to the side just a bit and slips his tongue into my mouth. My hand moves from the middle of his chest to wrap around his waist. I kiss him with everything I have. We kiss each other softly, our hands pushing ourselves even closer. My fingers roam from his hips to the hem of his T-shirt, slipping under it, and he lets go of my lips to put his head back. I lift his shirt now over his chest. I’ve seen and touched his chest before now, but something about touching him now makes my body come alive. "I don’t want to hurt you,” I say, my hands going to the bandage.

"You could never hurt me," he says. I bend forward and kiss him in the middle of his chest where his heart is beating erratically. "Chelsea,” he whispers my name, and I turn, going to the bed.

"Will you lie with me?" I stand by the bed, waiting for him to come to me. He walks over and puts his knee on my bed and pulls me with him. He lies in the middle of the bed, and I get on the bed beside him. With my hand on his chest, he leans up and kisses my neck, sucking it. My hand roams as his kiss goes from my neck to my ear. I turn now as he takes my mouth again. The kiss is stronger than before as he turns us both on our sides now. Our chests are pressed together just for a minute before he puts me on my back. My legs open for him to fit between.

He lets go of my lips as he trails kisses all the way from my cheek to my neck, my back arches when I think he’s going to cup my breast. I moan out in frustration when I can’t feel his kisses anymore. My eyes flutter open as I look down at him, pulling up the shirt, and then he bends his head and kisses the side of my stomach. "Every single inch of you," he says, "is going to be kissed by me." My hand comes up and goes into his hair as he pulls the shirt higher. He moves his kisses to my ribs as his tongue slips out now and slowly licks all the way up. My nipples are already hard, waiting for him.