She nodded, smiling lips together. “It was a complete science experiment of pink-to-blue ratios, but it worked out. I really like this color after all. I think I’m gonna stick with it for the long haul.”
“Penny,” I started, looking down at her, hoping this was it, that she was mine for good, “I need to know you’re not going to run when it gets hard. Because it will get hard, and I … I can’t hang around on the fence waiting to see which way you’ll go.”
She nodded. “God, I hate that I’ve done this to you, that you’d question it. So I’ll tell you now, and I’ll prove it as we go.” She held my jaw in her hands and looked into my eyes. “I’m here to stay. I’m not going to run, and I know it’ll get hard. And you’re right; we can’t pretend like everything’s fine when it’s not. I can’t be afraid to tell you how I feel, and you can’t either. I promise to be honest with you if you do the same.”
“I promise. But that’s not the only reason you bugged out.”
She took a breath and looked down. “No, it wasn’t the only reason. I’ve never felt like this before, Bodie. For so long, I’ve suppressed all of this, hid from it, stopped it before it started, and now that I’m letting go of that, it’s like learning how to walk. And I want this. I want you. But I’m scared.”
I cupped her cheeks and tilted her face up to meet my eyes. “I know,” I said softly, gently. “But I’m not going to hurt you, Pen. I want to protect you. I want to love you.” My chest tightened as the word passed my lips.
“I want to love you too,” she said as the fear left her eyes, “and I know you won’t hurt me. All you’ve ever done is try to make me happy. So now it’s my turn.”
And when she stretched onto her toes, when her lids closed and lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, when she pressed her lips to mine, I knew without a doubt that it was true.
She opened her mouth and opened her heart, and I slipped in, holding her against me. She held onto me like she never wanted to let me go, and I did the same. Her hands found their way into my hair, her tongue sliding past mine, her back arching her body into my chest, bringing us almost as close as we could be fully clothed.
She seemed to notice the same thing as she brought the kiss to a close and ran her hands down my chest, tilting her chin to watch them.
“I missed you,” she said.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I missed you too.”
My heart chugged under her palm.
“Should we go to the party?” she asked.
I knew for a fact it was the last thing she wanted to do.
I smirked. “How’d you know about the party?”
She smiled back. “Jude. I had his number. He helped me set this all up.”
“No wonder he wouldn’t let me come down,” I said with a laugh.
“He told me they want the game, that you did it. You got the job. You chased your dream down and caught it, and I’m so proud of you. I wish I could have been here for you.”
I held her close, full of gratitude and reassurance and utter joy. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
She smiled. “We should go up and say hi.”
But I bent to grab her around the waist, picking her up as I stood. “Not a chance.”
She wrapped her legs around my waist and smiled, and I slid my hands up her thighs to her bare ass.
I groaned and squeezed. “Fuck, Penny.”
And all she did was laugh and kiss me.
I made my way into my bedroom, lit only by a lamp next to my bed, kicking the door closed behind me before tipping her onto the bed to kiss her, to press her small body into the bed with mine. And for a long time, we lay together in my bed — my hands in her hair, on her face, reverently brushing her collarbone, and her hands in my hair, on my jaw, riding the backs of my fingers as they traced the curves I’d thought I’d never touch again.
I could have kissed Penny forever. If I was lucky, maybe I would.
But our hands and lips and bodies weren’t content with that and moved on their own. Her hips rolled gently against mine, stroking her body against the hard length of my cock, and my hips flexed in answer, my lips harder, my hand roaming to cup her breast through the thin fabric of her dress. When I thumbed the peaked flesh of her nipple between her barbell, she cupped my neck and whimpered. And that was all it took to lose my patience.
I backed off of her, and kneeling at the foot of the bed, I tugged off my shirt and flung it, hands moving for my belt and eyes on Penny shifting on the bed, watching me.
I popped my button and lowered my zipper, hooking my thumbs in the waistband to push my jeans over my ass and down my thighs, shimmying out of them with the help of Penny’s feet.
I nestled my hips against hers, the fabric between her clit and my cock thin enough that I could feel everything — the balls of her piercing, the soft, warm flesh waiting for me. But I left her dress where it was between our hips and kissed her again. I kissed the sweetness of her lips and silently told her I’d take care of her. I kissed her neck and promised her she was safe. I kissed the space between her breasts, her heart thumping against my lips, and vowed I’d never break it.
My fingers pushed the strap of her dress over the curve of her shoulder until her breast was bare, and I ran my hand over the sweet, supple flesh, pressing myself into her with an ache in my chest from the weight of all I wanted and wished for and held dear. And my lips found hers again as our bodies wound together, a knot of arms and legs and hands whose purpose was only to bring us as close as we could get.
Her hips moved with intention, inching her dress up until we were skin-to-skin. She sighed through her nose against my cheek, gave the smallest of hums against my tongue in her mouth, and I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. She tilted her hips to press the slick center of her to the length of my cock, and it was my turn to hum.
It had been too long without her, without this. And now that I had her in my arms again, it was beyond what I’d dreamed of. Because now, she was mine.
With every flex, she angled for my crown until I gave her body what it asked of me, backing up until the tip of me rested just inside her. I waited for only a moment before I slipped into her slowly in a motion that pushed a breath from both our lungs with every aching millimeter.
I pulled out and slid in easier, faster than before but still slow, deliberate, as if I could prolong it. As if I could make it last forever. And when I hit the end of her, when our bodies were a seam, she lay underneath me, bracketed in my arms, lids heavy and eyes full of love, and I committed every sensation — mind, body, and soul — to memory.
And when I kissed her again, it was with more emotion than I knew what to do with.