He kissed my lips with a reverence that had me aching for more as he pulled back and turned me around. The blindfold slipped free. “Okay, take a look.”
I blinked several times, letting my eyes adjust. A door stood open in front of me with a black line etched into a spot on the left panel that read “Samantha.” Farther left was another line marked “Grayson,” with today’s date written between them.
“You got me a door?” It was the sweetest gift I could imagine.
“A place to mark your height,” he said from behind me. “To start our story.”
I turned to face him, and then got distracted by the rest of my surroundings. There was so much light, so many white walls. “An empty house?” I asked, taking in as much as I could. The front door had a glass panel and a tile entry, then a nice-sized living room. Looking to the right, I saw a den, and a kitchen that had raw maple cabinets but no counters.
“There’s a window seat.” Grayson pointed to the den. “Like you wanted.”
“W-w-what?”
“Hardwood in the kitchen. You said that was important, and there’s a small porch out front. I put the swing up last week. I know you wanted granite counters, but that’s kind of personal, and the granite guys said they could be here to install next week if we pick everything out in the next few days.”
“Grayson.”
He swallowed. “It has a good-sized backyard that’s kind of flat. Do you know how hard it is to get a flat backyard on this side of town? Or how expensive this school district is? It’s ludicrous.”
“Grayson.”
“And if there’s something you don’t like, I can remodel it. I bought it, so it’s not like we have to ask permission or anything. But we will have to buy furniture.”
Holy shit. He bought a house. In Colorado. For me.
“Grayson!”
His eyes flew to mine, a state of subdued panic rolling through them. “Samantha.”
“Why would you buy a house here?”
His eyebrows rose. “Because you’re here.”
“But you live in North Carolina.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I found a loophole, and asked another flight student to trade me at the last minute. I live here. I’m assigned to Fort Carson.”
I sucked in a breath. “But your family…” Tears pricked at my eyes, welling so fast that he blurred in front of me.
His thumbs wiped away the tears that fell. “You are my family, and you’re here. I don’t work without you, Samantha.”
I reached into my purse and pulled out the letter I’d been saving. “But I got into UNC. Just in case.”
“Do you want to go to school in North Carolina?”
I shook my head. “I want to be here.”
“Then I do, too. Burn the letter.”
I still couldn’t grasp that he was really in Colorado. “How long have you been here?”
“A few weeks—just long enough to buy the house. You said you needed to tackle that stuff on your own, and I wasn’t going to take that away from you.”
“You’ve been waiting for me? In the same city? For weeks? It must have been hell.” There was no way I could have been that close to him and not have called, reached out, touched him. God, standing here without stripping him down was taking every ounce of restraint I had.
“I would wait forever for you.”
We both snapped, reaching for each other in a fury of open mouths and searching hands. My jacket hit the floor, followed shortly by his. We made our first official mess as we ripped clothes off in a haphazard trail up the stairs.
Something told me it wouldn’t be the last time I left my bra in the upstairs hallway.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sam
His hands were everywhere, stroking my breasts, rolling my nipples, gripping my waist. He pushed me back against the wall, and I barely registered him hitting his knees until he held my folds apart and put his mouth on me.
I screamed his name.