Unstoppable (Forehead Kisses #4) (23 page)

“Is that a problem?” The twinkle was in her eyes.

“No, not one bit.” I took the bag off her shoulder then set it on my bed. Then I walked with her into the living room.

She stopped when she saw my wall.  “You put up the painting.”

“Yeah. I thought it would look good there. The light from the backdoor lights it up during the day.”

She stared at it for a while. “I wasn’t sure if you would hang it up…”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I circled her waist from behind. “It’s the second most beautiful thing in the world.”

“And the first?”

I put my lips to her ear. “I think you can guess.”

“A hippo?” she teased.

I chuckled then kissed the shell of her ear. “No, but the person I’m thinking of is as cute as a hippo.”

“That’s the greatest compliment anyone has ever given me.”

I moved my lips to her neck and gave her a gentle kiss. “I ordered pizza. You like pizza, right?”

“Duh. What kind of question is that?”

“Let me rephrase that; what’s your favorite kind of pizza?”

“All of them.”

“Well, I got pepperoni. That should be good.”

“I’m sure it will be.”

The knock on the door announced the delivery. “Looks like its here.”

“Good. I’m starving.”

I answered the door and grabbed the pizza. I gave the guy a generous tip because I was in a good mood. Then I placed it on the coffee table and she and I ate it straight out of the box. Judging her ease with it, this was something she did with her brother.

“Your brother gave me the run down,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “Ignore him.”

“He wanted to make sure I was serious about you.”

“He’s a dweeb. Just humor him.”

“I like that he’s protective of you.”

“He didn’t hit you or anything, right?”

I laughed. “Not unless he wanted to die.”

She smirked. “Cocky?”

“Well, I’m a professional trained fighter. It’s my turf we’re talking about here.”

“I guess.” She still had a smile on her lips.

“What?”

“I was thinking about what you said…”

“What?”

“That you’re serious about me.” Her cheeks tinted.

“I am.” I kissed her on the cheek. “But you already knew that.”

We finished the entire pizza then left it on the table. Then we watched a movie while we cuddled together. I didn’t watch the movie. Instead, I stared at her, marveling at her beauty. The light in her eyes and the slight curve of her lips was far more interesting to me.

After the sun had set and the hours passed, it was bedtime.

“Well, are you going to carry me?” she asked.

“It is a tradition.” I picked her up and carried her down the hallway. After I set her on the bed, she rummaged through her bag and took out her toothbrush. “You can leave some of your things here.” That was a little presumptuous, but I felt like we were advanced enough for that.

“I can?”

I nodded to one of my drawers. “You can have the top one.”

“Thanks.” Her cheeks blushed.

I liked watching the affect I had on her.

When she went into the bathroom and got ready for bed, I changed into my sweatpants. I never wore a shirt because it was too hot. Actually, I never wore sweatpants either but I thought sleeping in my boxers would make her uncomfortable. Sometimes my morning wood popped out of my shorts when I was still asleep. If she saw that…it wouldn’t exactly be romantic.

She came out of the bathroom wearing one of my t-shirts and no bottoms.

Ugh. Is she trying to make my head explode?

She got under the covers beside me then clung to me.

I loved her legs. They were toned and long. I fantasized about touching them often. I imagined their smoothness. I wanted to kiss her inner thighs…among other things.

My hand moved to her thigh and I let it rest there. Livia didn’t react. I assumed she didn’t mind. My thumb made circles against her skin, feeling the smoothness. I could almost wrap my hand completely around her thigh. Our size difference made me feel even bigger than I really was.

She sighed happily while she cuddled with me. I liked hearing that sound. It usually meant she was relaxed.

I wanted to kiss her. And not just her forehead or her cheek. I wanted to kiss her the way I did last week, letting my passion take hold. Her lips were so soft and she was an excellent kisser. When she breathed the air into my lungs, I thought I would crush her against my chest.

But I couldn’t do that. Having a hot make out session in my bed would undoubtedly make her uncomfortable. And I wouldn’t be able to hide my arousal from her. It would be impossible, even in sweatpants. Besides, I had to be extra careful with her. The last thing I wanted was to make her run away.

We lay still for several minutes, saying nothing. It was dark in my room, and only the faint light from the streetlamp drifted through. I listen to the sound of her breathing, noting how irregular it was. Something was on her mind but I wasn’t sure what it was. Everything seemed fine a few minutes ago.

She sat up, letting her hair fall over one shoulder.

I stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

She looked at me, but her face was hard to see in the darkness. I could see the natural light from her eyes. They were artic blue. She moved over me then pressed her lips to my chest, right on the skin over my heart.

I felt like someone electrocuted me. My spine shivered at her voluntary touch. The chemistry from the brief contact made me take a deep breath. I never expected her to do that, to give me such a loving embrace.

When she pulled away, she stared into my eyes, her lips still slightly parted.

It took all my strength not to lean in and kiss her.

But she made the move instead. She leaned over me, her chest pressed to mine, and gave me a gentle kiss. Every time we touched I thought my heart would stop beating. It worked in overdrive, absorbing the adrenaline and desire.

Her lips moved against mine slowly, taking her time. My mouth reciprocated immediately, my hands moving across her back. She never made a move toward me. I always had to initiate everything, and on broken eggshells. The fact she did told me how much she trusted me. How much she cared about me.

And how much she loved me.

She created the most amazing painting just for me, capturing the day I fell for her even more. She caught every emotion, every feeling. Every time I stared at that painting, I was transferred back to that day. It was the first day I kissed her. The first morning she woke up next to me. The first day she really opened herself up to me. It was the firsts of many.

My heart had never pumped so hard for anyone else. Never had I seen a more beautiful woman. Never had I been such a gentleman. She changed my life, completely destroyed the former one, and she made me into someone I was proud of. With her, I was gentle. With her, I was kind. And with her, I was really a man. No girl had ever commanded my respect like she did. No one had ever stolen my heart—ever.

I slowly rolled her to her back until her head was on the pillow. Our kiss was broken and she looked up at me, her lips slightly parted. I moved my lower body to the side, not separating her legs, and continued to kiss her. My hands stayed in respectable areas, like her legs and her stomach. I never went too far south or too far north. Just kissing was fine. I didn’t want anything more or anything less.

She ran one hand through my hair, and the other down my back. Her nails slightly pressed into my skin, putting just the right amount of pressure to make me feel alive. My mouth made love to hers, treasuring every touch of her soft lips. I could do this all night. I hadn’t made out with a girl like this since I was a virgin. After I had the good stuff, I never went back to the amateur stuff. But with her, I loved it.

She breathed harder into my mouth, making my cock spring to life. There was nothing I could do about that. In most cases, it had a mind of its own. I kept my hips tilted at just the right angle to hide it from her. The last thing I wanted her to think was that I wanted something more and I wasn’t satisfied with what we had now.

Because that wasn’t the case.

I gripped her hip through her shirt and sucked her bottom lip. She was the best kisser I ever experienced. Or maybe it was just because I was so headstrong for her. Quiet sighs escaped her lips, making me hotter for her. I loved pleasing her with my mouth. Sometimes I thought about pleasing her in other ways but I closed off those thoughts before they got out of control. She didn’t want to be thought of in that way so I would try not to.

But I was only human.

I really wanted to kiss her legs. It’s something I wanted to do for a while. I think she would let me.

I broke our kiss then moved my body down, finding her knee. I gave her gentle kisses everywhere, moving to her thigh. I never went past the end of her shirt and I stayed in her safety zone. Judging the quiet moans she made, she liked it. I moved up again then yanked down the side of her shirt, exposing her shoulder and neck. Scooping one arm under her back and around her neck, I exposed the skin and kissed her the way I fantasized about.

She loved this even more
.

Her moans became louder while I ran my tongue across the skin. I trailed kisses to her shoulder, feeling how small she was. My lips moved back up as I kissed the line of her jaw. Then I found her lips again, seizing them with everything I had.

Both of her hands moved through my hair, spinning strands in her forefingers. Every touch she made was gentle and precise. Despite her fear of intimacy, and rightfully so, I could tell she wanted me in the way I wanted her. Not tonight, but someday. And that made me realize how much progress she made. She really trusted me.

I broke our kiss then pressed my head to hers. I was out of breath but not because I was tired. My heart was about to explode from the love I had for her. Being with her made me realize just how dark and depressing my life used to be. All the sex I had was satisfying temporarily, but in the end, it was painful. I was being used as much as I was using. No woman really cared about me. No one loved me. They just liked me for my looks. None of them understood me.

Not like Livia.

“I love you.”

A small reaction took place in her eyes. In the limited light, I could see her eyes dilate. The artic blue darkened to gray for just a moment before it returned to its former color. Her eyes softened, squinting slightly. But she held her gaze to mine, not looking away.

Her hand was still tangled in my hair, and her other hand clenched my biceps. She was rigid and tense, caught off guard by my declaration of love. I wasn’t thinking when I said it, just feeling. But what could be a better time to say it? I said it in the moment when I felt it. Actually, I’ve felt it for a long time. My feelings for her existed long before our trip to the zoo. I couldn’t pinpoint when it happened, but it did.

I was in love with her.

And I knew she felt the same way.

She breathed hard, still looking at me.

I waited for her to say it back, to tell me what I already knew.

As the seconds trailed by, I knew the words I wanted to hear would never come. But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel that way. She was just scared. After the trauma she experienced, she probably assumed she would never feel this way for anyone—ever. “You don’t need to say it back. Because I already know you do.” My lips moved back to hers.

Her lips didn’t respond, being lifeless. But after a moment of feeling my warm mouth, she reciprocated. Her fingers dug into my hair again, fisting it. My hand tightened on her flat stomach, wanting to pull her into my chest. My lips were burning, scorched by her loving touch. She left me winded but grounded at the same time.

After hours of kissing, I finally pulled away and ended it. I had a massive hard-on the entire time and it was starting to hurt. Plus, I feared I would get carried away. I like taking it slow with Livia. We loved each other, but that didn’t mean we needed to rush into anything.

I was happy with the way things were.

The next morning, I had breakfast ready when she woke up.

Still wearing my long t-shirt, she came to the table, her hair pulled over one shoulder. “Smells good.”

I kissed her cheek. “I added a special ingredient.”

“What is it?” She sat down and placed her napkin over her lap.

“It wouldn’t be a secret if I told you.” I sat across from her then took a bite of the hash browns.

She dug into her food, eating the pancakes first. She lathered them in syrup, making it run into her bacon and eggs.

“You like syrup?” I teased.

“It’s my favorite part of the meal.”

When we were finished, I tossed the plates in the sink. “What did you want to do today?”

She averted her gaze and played with her hair. “Actually, I have homework to do… I should get going.”