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We didn't talk on our way down the stairs, both of us lost in our own heads and not quite interested in waking the others yet.

Because he constantly checked in on me, I felt like we spent more time together than we really did. I planned on taking advantage of the time I had with him now.

Chapter Sixteen

"Up," Quinton ordered, as he patted his hand against the countertop.

I slid across the floor on my fuzzy socks until I was right next to him. I smiled up at him, big and carefree.

He stilled, his hand still on the counter. His eyes darkened, his nostrils flared, and the smile slid right off my face.

"Quinton?" I asked cautiously.

"Fuck, but you're so goddamn pretty," he snarled before rushing me. "Always, but it blows me away when you smile."

My eyes grew round. He didn't usually talk to me like this, but it felt good to hear him tell me he thought I was pretty. It wasn't something I usually thought too much about myself. It was something I tried not to think about after getting my face sliced open and permanently marked.

His hands came to my face and he cupped my cheeks in his rough palms. He pressed me back against the counter and my upper body curved backward. He came with me, not giving me an inch of space.

"Smile for me again," he commanded, sounding like he believed it would really be that easy.

I frowned deeper at him instead.

"What's wrong with you?" I inquired in confusion. I often thought he might be possessed. This seemed like one of those times. "Quinton?"

"Even if you were ugly I'd still love you," he growled.

My eyebrows shot up. That wasn't something you said to your girlfriend, at least I didn't think so.

Wait a minute, did he say....

"You love me?" I asked.

He backed up, giving me space, and one of his hands dropped away from my face. He placed his palm over his chest, covering his heart, and slapped it against his chest twice before staying still again, his fingers splayed wide.

"With all my heart and every inch of my fucked-up soul."

The backs of my eyes stung with tears as my heart felt like it seized inside my chest.

"You love me?" I repeated the question, not trusting that I'd heard his answer correctly and needing him to tell me again.

His face softened as he grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest, over his heart. His hand went over top of mine and he slid his fingers in between mine.

"Do you feel that?" he asked me.

I felt all kinds of things when he touched me and looked at me that way.

His heart beat a steady rhythm in his chest. The hard muscle beneath my palm burned through his thin t-shirt as his dark eyes bored into me. There was a different kind of heat in them, one that threatened to catch my skin on fire.

"I feel it," I whispered breathlessly. There was no way I couldn’t feel it, not with Quinton.

He dropped his hands to my thighs. They curled around to the backs of my legs and he lifted me up. I let out a shocked, girly squeal as he sat my butt on the countertop.

He pushed his hips into the space between my legs. His hands went to the small of my back where he pushed me forward until my front pressed up tight against his.

His mouth came down on mine as his hand slid up my back. His fingers slid into my hair as his tongue slid into my mouth.

His fingers fisted in my hair. He tilted my head to the side to get a better angle as he quickly took control of the kiss and I let him do it.