Page 19

Chapter Nineteen

Sometimes it takes almost losing someone for you to realize how important they are to you. -Flora

His house looks exactly like him. Masculine, clean, and endearing. There are very few pictures, but I can tell the ones that are around him are of the people he cares for most. I pick up one of the pictures from the mantle. It’s one of him and a couple of other military guys with their arms thrown around each other. His smile in it is youthful and buoyant. I trace that sweet smile with my finger.

“That was a long time ago,” he says, and I turn.

“You were very handsome. And I love that smile. You don’t give me smiles very often, but when you do, I love it.” I cross to him and trace his lips with my fingernail.

He sucks in a breath and his eyes turn molten.

“You make me smile. You make me smile more than I have in years.” His voice is raspy with want and need, and the heat of my own feminine power floods my core.

I stand taller and give him a lingering kiss on his lips. “You make me smile too.”

The kiss quickly turns into something deeper. I open to him and his tongue slides against mine. I emit a small sigh as I sink into the kiss. Fuck, it feels good to just lose control and let him take me.

His arms encircle me, and then I feel his palms against my ass. I move closer, feeling his hard length against my heat, and knowing I’m ready. I’m ready for everything.

I pull back. “I want you. I want you to be my first.”

The corner of his mouth lifts into a half grin. His eyes are glazed over with lust and something more precious: adoration.

“Your first and only. I love you, Flora,” he says gruffly, and I can’t help but nod.

I’ve accepted that by now. This is my man. This is the man I choose to be mine, forever.

When he lays me down on his cream bedspread, I look up at him with awe. “Thank you, Levi. Thank you for loving me.”

He kisses me gently. “You deserve to be loved, Flora. You always have.”

Our actions are unhurried, which surprises me. I always thought that when I got to this moment, the man would be tearing at my clothes, rushing me. In the past, I had frozen at the first signs that things were about to get serious and that clothes were about to come off. This time I didn’t freeze. I didn’t hesitate. Maybe it’s because of the gentle way he handles me.

Instead, he takes his time, removing each piece of my clothing with care. Even his touch is gently. By the time I’m naked, I’m the one ready to rush things. I’m desperate to feel him inside of me. I’m desperate to become his.

I’m the one tearing at his clothes. He grabs my hands as I pull at his shirt. “We don’t have to rush. We have all the time in the world.”

I stick my lower lip out. “But I want you now. Please,” I add for good measure.

He grins and pulls his shirt over his head. I suck in a breath at the sight of his muscular chest. God, he’s so handsome. I trace the line in between his abdominal muscles, and he mutters “Fuck,” under his breath.

“You can lose control with me,” I whisper. “I want all of you. The good and the bad. The gentle and the rough. All of it.”

Those words stoke something within him.

He hurriedly pushes down his pants and underwear and I can feel his manhood slide along my entrance. He leans down to give me a kiss.

“Are you sure?” He pulls back and looks into my eyes. “I never want to hurt you.”

I stroke my hands down his back. “You never will. I want this.”

I feel him enter me slowly and I instantly tense. When he gently kisses my forehead, I sigh and finally open my legs to him. I’m wet and ready.

I expected to have old memories resurface, but instead all I can concentrate is that point where the two of us meet. He pushes into me, his girth sliding me open in the most sensual way until I’m open and unguarded to him. We’re connected and it feels like heaven.

I gasp when he pushes through that final barrier between us.

“Fuck, you feel so good, baby. So damn good.” He plants kisses along my face. “Breathe, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”

There is a small burn, but mostly all I feel is pleasure.

I grab his ass and spur him on. “Keep going. It feels good,” I answer huskily.

We find our own rhythm then. I lift my hips to accept him, and we move together. The heat builds within me until it’s at a frenzy.

When his finger reaches down to rub my clit, I reach my tipping point. I break apart into a million pieces and feel his release at the same time.

He holds me for a long time after, and for the first time in my life, I feel like a part of something. I’ve found my place. I’ve found where I belong.