“If I say it, will you say it too?” I asked, swallowing hard, even though my mouth was dry. I willed him silently not to joke around or say anything that could hurt me.
“Yes, but I need to hear you say it first,” he answered in a voice filled with tension.
“What are you, four? Why can’t we just say it at the same time?” I asked, panicking.
“Because that’s stupid. And when I was four, I said it by licking your Fruit Roll-Up. Why can’t you just say it? Don’t you trust me?”
“Why do you always get to decide who does what? I let you lift, and I wiped!”
“You’re comparing us declaring our love for each other to wiping a baby’s ass?!”
“Ah ha! You said it!” I announced victoriously.
“I did not! I was saying it generally. That’s different than saying it!”
“You said ‘declaring our love’!”
“That’s different than saying ‘I love you’!”
“Ah ha!” I cried again.
“Oh Jesus H. Christ! Who’s the one who’s four? Will you just say it, woman?!”
“Fine! I love you, you ass**le!”
“I love you too, you nutty broad!” In two strides he was in front of me and picking me up. He slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried me into the bedroom. It was much more caveman than Rhett Butler.
“Why don’t you just beat me over the head with a club?” I called out.
“Don’t tempt me,” he replied and tossed me down on the bed. “Time to get naked, Lilith. I’m about to plow your love grotto,” he said, peeling off his shirt and tossing it on a chair. As much as I hated to admit it, I was really turned on, but I wasn’t going to make it too easy for him. After all, what fun would that be?
“Look Conan, you want to thrust your angry dagger into my honeyed chalice, that’s fine by me, but this is how it’s going to go down. I’ll tell you what I want you to do and you’ll do it. Then you can tell me and I’ll do it. But it’s equal. You understand me?”
“Fine,” he said kicking off his shoes and pulling off his socks. “Your wish is my command, oh demon queen.” He stood up straight again and gave me a hot look.
“Take off your pants, smartass,” I demanded. He gave me a wicked smile, opened his belt, and undid his trousers, letting them drop to the floor. Then he stepped out of them and kicked them aside. I could see clearly, that he found this little back and forth as arousing as I did. I felt my skin starting to become flushed with desire.
“My turn,” he said in a low, thick voice. “Unbutton your blouse. Slowly. But first, I want to hear you say it again.” Not to get all flowery, but he gave me a smoldering look and his eyes really did look like burning coals. I swear!
“I love you, you schmuck,” I said, getting up and holding his gaze, as I slowly opened my blouse one button at a time. His eyes dropped to my br**sts and I saw his breathing quicken. I slid it down over my shoulders and let it drop to the floor and he swallowed hard and licked his lips. I felt that one right between the legs. “Looks like you’ve only got one thing left to take off, cowboy, but I want to hear you say it again too.”
“I love you, you mouthy wench,” he said and slid his briefs off. My eyes dropped to his gloriously attentive naughty bits. That’s a romance novelist’s way saying he had one hell of a hard-on. That was one nice purple-headed warrior. I looked back up to find him smirking at me. “Now, take off the rest of it, but don’t forget to tell me what I want to hear.”
“I love you, you arrogant bastard,” I said and then unhooked my bra and tossed it aside. I kicked off my shoes, pulled off my trouser socks, opened up my pants and let them hit the floor. Then I bit my lower lip seductively and pushed my panties down over my hips with a wiggle. When they joined my pants, I kicked it all to the side. “Tell me again,” I said, breathing hard.
“I love you, you nasty shrew,” he said, his eyes traveling up and down my body. When he met my gaze again, I saw that they were fogged with desire and filled with emotion. “Now, come here, and tell me.”
I walked slowly over to stand in front of him. Even without touching him, I could feel his heat like a furnace. I reached up to brush my fingers along his jaw while staring deeply into his eyes. A lot of women don’t like it when their men aren’t clean shaven, but I loved the burning feeling of his beard abrading my skin.
“I love you, Adam,” I said quietly. Before I could say anything else, he gently placed his fingers on my lips to silence me.
“I love you too, Lily.” Then he kissed me and it was nothing short of transcendent. His tongue swept into my mouth and I surrendered myself to a wave of sensation that made my skin tingle and my ni**les harden. He pressed harder, probing deeply, and then pulling back and spreading light feathery kisses around my lips, and mumbling, “I love you” over and over.
My heart was so filled with emotion that my chest ached. When he reached down, picked me up and carried me to bed this time, it was much more romantic. He put me down gently and laid down next to me, leaning over to blanket me with his heat, nuzzling and kissing my neck in the way that he knew drove me wild.
“Adam.” I clutched onto him almost desperately. “Please, don’t leave.” It was my deepest fear, that I would let myself love someone, and they would reject me if I displeased them, that I would always be alone.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lily. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that you wanted to be with me.”
His mouth found mine again and we never broke our kiss, even as he positioned himself over me and slowly filled me up inside. Adam had always been the only one who could really do that. Apart from a couple of good friendships, every other relationship had left me empty. He was the only one who broke through my defenses and made me feel. When he was fully seated, he moved to kiss my neck, giving me chills as a moan escaped my throat. We just laid there together, still for a moment, enjoying the feeling of him buried deeply inside me.
Then his hips moved against me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt so many things, the physical pleasure and relief as my inner muscles accepted and hugged him, the overwhelming emotion of finally, after so long, being able to tell him what I was feeling and not be afraid anymore. At last, I was able to really open up and let him in, and I think maybe for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone. Now that I felt able, I couldn’t stop telling him, and I mumbled, “I love you” over and over like he had moments ago. He pulled back to look into my eyes as he adjusted his angle to push into me even deeper.