Shallow (23 page)

I walked into the room and she shut the door behind me. I hadn’t had time to come up to the room when I booked it the night before, so I looked around for the first time and took it all in, including the king size bed.

She came up from behind and hugged me with her head against my back. I reached for one of her hands on my chest and grasped it so I could bring it to my lips for a kiss.

She squeezed me tightly and sighed as if having me in her arms was a relief. “I’ve been worried about you. I know it has only been a couple of hours, but it seems like I’ve been in this room waiting on you forever.”

She let go of me and I took her hand as we moved to the bed to sit on the edge. “I’m sorry. I had to wait on my dad to get home from his run.”

She looked so nervous. “Did it go all right?”

I shrugged. “It went as well as it could considering the topic. He knew where she was all these years and I was pissed at first, but then he explained some things and I understand why he didn’t tell us when we were smaller. I still think he should have when we were older, but I see how it was easier for him to let sleeping dogs lie.”

“And you can’t forget that he was in pain as well. She was his wife and she left him, too.”

“It had to be terrible for him, but I don’t remember any kind of reaction out of him. He’s was there, but he wasn’t. It was almost like losing both of them.”

“I don’t understand how she did that. She’s always been so loving toward me, more so than my own mother. I’ve often thought of her as more of a mother to me.”

“Ironic, huh? She wouldn’t stay to be a mother to her own children, but she chose to mother you when you needed one.” I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “I guess I can’t hate her too much since she took care of my girl.”

“Your girl? I like that.”

“I like it, too.”

I kissed the top of her head and she tilted her face up to look at me. I couldn't resist putting my lips against hers, but our position wasn’t right. It felt awkward and uncomfortable.

She must have had the same thought because she slid off the edge of the bed and came to stand between my knees. She put her hands on my face as she looked in my eyes. “I want to take away all of your pain and show you how worthy you are of being loved.” She reached for the hem of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head. She tossed it over her shoulder to the floor and then ran her finger over the words inked across my skin. “This doesn’t have to be true.”

I put my hand on top of hers over my heart. “This was the only truth I’d ever known until I met you. My dad told me I didn’t know the power you had over me, but he was wrong. I know you have the power to heal this and make me whole again.”

“I want to start right now.” She untied the knot of the belt holding the hotel robe around her and allowed it to slide down her arms to a puddle on the floor. Beneath it, she was wearing a short, cream nightgown with layers of black lace ruffles. It was sexy, yet somehow innocent, and no one had ever worn anything like it for me.

I put my finger under one of the slim straps and ran it up to her shoulder and back down again. “When did you get this little number?”

“I swung by to get it on my way here. Do you like it?”

“Hell, yeah! I freakin’ love it.”

“Good. I was hoping you would. I sort of had you in mind when I bought it.”

I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer between my legs. “I better be the only somebody you had on your mind when you bought it.”

“You’re the only somebody ever on my mind.”

“Ditto.”

She pushed me backwards on the bed and took off my socks and shoes before she crawled up my body and straddled me. I put my hands on her waist and guided her to the spot where I needed to feel the pressure of her body against my groin. She put her palms flat on my chest and slowly slid them up until she reached my shoulders. On the way back down, she used her perfectly manicured nails to scratch my skin with just enough pressure to make me groan.

When she finished raking her nails down my chest, she surprised me by reaching for the button on my jeans. “Someone is very frisky today.”

“You have no idea.”

She never took her eyes from mine as she popped the button on my jeans loose and then slid my zipper down. She dipped her fingers into my waistband and pulled downward, so I lifted my hips and she had me out of my jeans, leaving me down to my black and white boxer briefs.

She dropped her mouth to my chest and pressed her body against me as she slid down to kiss my ink. She didn’t linger there long before she moved lower to just above my waistband. It was one of the teasers I had performed on her and to have her do it to me in return was sweet torture.

She was driving me insane and I couldn’t stand the teasing any longer. If I couldn’t be inside her, I needed to at least be on top of her. I grabbed her waist and flipped her onto her back so I could press my body against hers in hopes of a little relief.

She bent her knees and they fell apart to kindly accommodate me. I propped on my elbows and held her face in my palms so I could memorize it. It was foolish to think her mother might not keep us apart, so I had to be honest with myself about where we were going and the truth was...I had no idea.

Her honey colored eyes stared up at my chocolate ones and she saw the uncertainty in them. “It’s gonna work out. It has to.”

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers. “I can’t lose you, Doll Face.”

Things suddenly felt too serious and I needed to lighten the mood. I lifted my head from hers and pulled on her bottom lip with my mouth. “I couldn’t stand to never be shocked by this delicate mouth again. Come on, shock me. I’m dying to hear some new material.”

She reached up and put her palms on my face. “I love you.”

Of all the things I had imagined happening between us, I had highly underestimated the way I would feel hearing her tell me she loved me for the first time. My heart felt like it was swelling and about to burst with the love I had for her.

“I love you, too, Payton Archer.” I rubbed my thumb over her lips. “I think I did the moment you opened this smart ass mouth of yours.”

“Shut up and kiss this smart ass mouth.”

I did as I was told and then I trailed my mouth down her throat to her breasts. I reached under her sexy gown to see what kind of surprise I could find underneath. I got up on my knees and lifted her gown to find matching lace panties. Damn, they looked so hot on her.

I hooked my fingers in the sides and tugged a little, testing her to see if was okay to take them off. “Business as usual, ma'am? Everything with the exception of the deed itself?”

She shook her head at me. “No, not this time. I want everything
plus
the deed itself.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to look back on this and regret it.”

“I love you and I could never regret you making love to me. Not in a million years.” She lifted her hips off the bed, my cue to slip her panties down and this thing I had done so many times suddenly felt like something I had never done before.

I tossed them to the floor next to my clothes and she hooked her thumbs in the elastic waistband of my boxer briefs and pushed down. She caught my underwear with her toes once they were below my hips and pushed them down to the foot of the bed under the sheets.

I felt myself touch her sweetest part and I knew I was in danger of coming apart at the seams as she positioned herself with her knees to either side of my hips. Damn. The condoms were in my jeans pocket. Rookie mistake.

I pulled away to reach for my pants in the floor, but she locked her legs around my waist. “I’m just getting a condom from my pants.”

“We don’t need that. I’ve been on the pill for a while.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

She could see the storm within me. “You told me you’d never been with anyone without protection.”

“That’s right.”

“And I’ve never been with anyone, so we’re good.”

“Are you sure?”

She squeezed me against her using her legs. “I want to feel you inside me with nothing between us.”

There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this girl and I felt myself giving in to what she wanted, which wasn’t terribly difficult to do. I hovered over her and kissed her face as I stroked her cheek with my fingers. “I swear I’ll be gentle.”

She reached for my face with her hands. “I know you will.”

“It’s gonna hurt a little at first until I push all the way through, but then it should get better.”

“I’m ready.”

I don’t think it was possible to love this girl more. “I love you, Payton, and I need you to know something. I may have given my body to a lot of girls, but none of them have ever possessed my heart. It belongs to you and no other.

She smiled and it melted the heart that belonged only to her. “And mine belongs to you and no other.”

I gently pressed myself against her without pushing inside and she shut her eyes tightly like she was waiting for a painful assault. “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes and I could see the fear she was so bravely trying to hide from me. “Don’t stop looking in my eyes.”

“Okay.”

I slowly pushed myself inside this girl I adored and was shocked by how wonderfully different she felt. I heard you couldn’t always feel the barrier that had to tear, but I undeniably felt Payton’s and knew I was about to hurt her because I was in a place where no man had ever been before me.

I watched her eyes as I pushed through and saw the shock and pain the second it happened so I stopped so she could recover from it. She tensed and slammed her eyes shut. She bit her bottom lip and roughly dug her nails into my back, which served me right for what I was doing to her.

After a minute, her pain subsided and I felt her relax beneath me but I waited. I wanted her to ask me for more. And that’s exactly what she did.

23 We Happened

Payton

Shit, that hurt.

I opened my eyes and looked at Nick hovering over me. He was still inside me, but completely motionless and I knew he had stopped because he didn’t want to hurt me more than necessary.

I realized how tense I was so I took a breath and slowly blew it out as I forced my body to relax. I took several more deep breaths and then I felt something entirely different. It wasn’t pain at all. It was a building desire low in my groin and I was desperate to have the full experience of the deed itself.

It felt like someone else was in control of my body as I started to lift my hips against Nick. “Don’t stop. Keep going.”

He happily complied with my command. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

I reached for his hair and grabbed two fistfuls. “You. All of you. Right now.”

I just thought I had screamed his name before.

I was still waiting for my heart to slow down and to catch my breath when Nick rolled off of me. I turned on my side so I could face him and saw a thin sheen of sweat across his brow. It was hotter than hell knowing he had worked that sweat up on me.

He looked at me, assessing my eyes and breathlessly asked, “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you too bad?”

“It only hurt for a minute and then it felt really good.” I couldn’t contain my smile. “I want to do it again.”

He rolled toward me and kissed me through his smile. “Damn, girl. I love you.”

“Damn, boy. I love you, too.”

We spent all day in bed but Nick noticed when my stomach growled in protest from its lack of food. “I need to feed you so you can be strong for tonight.”

“More?”

He glided his nose along mine before he got up. “Yes, ma'am. A lot more.”

Good.

I wanted to stay in and order room service but Nick insisted on taking me out somewhere nice for dinner. I dragged myself out of bed and got ready because I wanted to please him. Again.

I didn’t want to wash Nick’s smell off, but I had to take another shower. When I was finished, I put on a cream sundress with a pair of brown sandals. I hadn’t brought all of my hair straightening supplies so I was left with no option but to go curly. I pulled the front into a twist and secured it to the side with the back hanging in loose curls below my shoulders.

Nick walked up behind me in the bathroom and pushed my hair away from my neck. He planted a kiss behind my ear and watched my face in the mirror. “I told you that we were gonna happen.”

“You did and I’m so glad you were right although I was so positive you were wrong at the time. I didn’t want you to be right.”

“I know.” He reached under my sundress and rubbed his hand across my panties. “I guess it’s a good thing I couldn’t resist trying to get into these.”

We’d never get out of the room if he kept doing things like that, so I pushed his hand away. “We’ll be back in that bed happenin’ again if you don’t stop doing that.”

He loved having that kind of power over me, but he tried to let me think I was the one in control. “Yes, ma'am.”

Nick took me to a romantic Italian restaurant. They weren’t busy because it was the middle of the week and we were seated in a booth in a dark, secluded area off to ourselves. We were in the middle of our meal when I got a text from my aunt.