“Then we end him.”
“We will.”
Some of the tension radiating from me lessened. I stroked my fingers down Eric’s back, loosening my hold slightly. He always knew how to settle me. How to calm my warring soul. He was my anchor. And that’s when I knew exactly what I wanted to get tattooed next. Something to represent my love for him and Ash. A heart with an A and an E entwined in the centre of it. I wasn’t going to tell him though. I’d surprise the both of them with it. That gave me something to hold on to. A positive thing in my life when so many things were dark.
I continued to trail my fingers along his back, loving the feel of his muscles beneath the tips. He was so handsome and perfectly proportioned. I loved having him against me. Looking down, I swallowed hard as my eyes took in his hips. There’d never been a time in my life when I wanted to know what it felt like to run my tongue along the grooves of another man’s abs and lower. With Eric, I felt differently. I wanted to taste him. To please him. And that fucking scared the shit out of me. It shouldn’t since I’d never been one to shy away from trying something new sexually, but the depth of my feelings towards him. The urges I had with him. Those scared me. They were so new.
I wasn’t ready to admit it to him though. Ready to try. So even as my mouth watered at the thought of having him between my lips, I kept my thoughts to myself. Stupid really to be scared of his reaction. Scared of what he might say. Especially when he knew how vocal I’d been about not wanting to suck dick. I shouldn’t be since Eric had never judged me. I’d just been through too fucking much since Julian’s cancer diagnosis. And my fears were getting the better of me.
Stop making excuses.
I wasn’t ready. Not when everything in my life was in such turmoil.
“I love you, E,” I whispered because I couldn’t voice my real thoughts right then.
I pulled away and stared up at him. The love and affection in his eyes made my heart thump. He stroked my face, smiling down at me.
“Love you too… now, don’t let your tea go cold or you’ll complain about how it’s not the right temperature for dunking your Hobnobs in or some shit like that.”
I couldn’t help snorting. He knew me too well.
“Okay, okay. Since you went to all that effort for me.”
I sat back, releasing him even though I really didn’t want to. I wanted him to stay right here so I could touch him. Be close to him. Love him. He leant against the desk and watched me dunk a biscuit. After I’d eaten it, I looked up at him.
“You staying?”
“If you want me to…”
I reached out and took his hand.
“I always want you to.” And I meant that.
He smiled again and leant down, pressing another kiss to my temple.
“Let me get my laptop and then you can have me here all day, yeah?”
I nodded. Would this man do anything to make me happy? I really think he would. And I’d try my best to do anything to make him happy too. Because that’s what you did for the people you loved. And I loved Eric more than fucking life itself.
Chapter 8
Quinn’s words bolstered my resolve to stay the course with Rory. To bring him out of himself so he could be free with me. So I pushed the door to when Quinn left, careful not to close it. Rory eyed me for a moment before he walked away towards the bed and picked up our discarded t-shirts. He was about to pull his on.
“Don’t.” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
His eyebrow quirked up. The one with the scar. I’d wanted to ask him about it but never had the courage. And now I’d seen the scar running down the side of his abdomen. It gave him an extra air of danger I’d always thought he’d carried. Shirtless Rory was fucking hot as hell. He was toned but not in an outlandish way. All of him was just plain sexy to me.
“I mean… you can, I thought maybe we could, uh, stay like this so you get used to it.”
It seemed like such a lame excuse when really I wanted to stare at him. It’d taken Rory so long to be comfortable enough with me to take his t-shirt off in the first place. Can anyone blame a girl for wanting to admire the guy she liked a little longer?
He bit his lip before folding both our t-shirts and placing them on the end of his bed. I walked over to the bookshelf nearest to me. I didn’t feel awkward being around him with just my bra on since he’d seen me naked before. My eyes scanned over his comics. They seemed to be in series order which made sense to me.
I felt him next to me a moment later. His breath dusted over my shoulder before he placed the gentlest of kisses to it. I shivered at his touch. As much as I hated Quinn interrupting our make out session on his bed, I also knew Rory wasn’t ready for more just yet. That was okay with me. We were taking steps in the right direction. The fact he even let me touch him in the first place
