Page 25 of Finally, Our Forever

Reece

Fuck me. The woman went to change so we could talk, and she comes out wearing that? She should have put on more clothes if she wanted me to have an intelligent conversation with her. The closer she gets to me, the more I can smell her vanilla cinnamon scent. When she notices that I’ve set the living room up for dinner, she gives me the sweetest smile. I haven’t gotten one like that since we were kids, when I used to play the knight to her princess. I would have done whatever she wanted then, but now? Now, I’d go to any lengths imaginable to see her happy.

I walk to her, meeting her at the entrance of the living room from the hallway. I pull her into my arms and hold her tight to me. It’s like she’s reached in and pulled out my heart. She doesn’t even know what she does to me, that she holds me so completely.

I rub my nose in her hair and inhale her sweet aroma. I can’t get enough of this girl. After going so long without her, I’m struggling to believe that we’re finally at a point where we can be together.

“Reece, what are you doing?”

“I have missed you so much, Maci Kate. I never thought we would get this chance. I could kick my own ass for keeping us apart back then. I was already falling in love with you, but you were too young for me at the time.” I hold her to me tighter, my fingertips rubbing the skin right above her ass.

“I was eighteen, Reece. I was an adult, about to go off to college.”

I laugh darkly. “You were starting high school, and all I wanted to do was tell you to wait for me. I had to hold myself back from begging you to save that sweet cherry for me. I wanted to wait until you were older, and it was okay for us to be together.”

“I did. I waited for you. There was never anyone for me. No one interested me like you did. The further you pulled away, the more I craved any detail your parents would share when they were around. You starred in all my fantasies growing up, Reece. You were everything to me,” she rasps into my chest.

“Fuck, baby, I’m so sorry for pushing you away and into someone else’s arms.” I pick her up, needing to be closer. I sit on the couch and hold her in my lap, her legs straddling me.

I lift her chin to see her big, beautiful brown eyes are full of tears. I wipe them away as they fall. She needs to get it all out. All the pain. She needs to get rid of the poison between us, and I’ll gladly take it all.

“I saved myself for you, Reece. I wanted you to be my first, my only, my last. I couldn’t see giving myself to anyone else. When I was in high school, I always pictured us ending up together. When you shattered my fantasy, I convinced myself that my feelings were those of an unrequited crush.”

She traces my jaw with her pointer finger, staring as it follows the edge of my unshaved jaw to my ear, and then down my neck.

“It got worse in college, though. I compared every man to you. No one ever measured up, and that pissed me off. All I wanted was to get over you. I wanted to prove to myself that I mattered to someone. That I could be loved like I wanted you to love me.”

I grab her finger, pulling her hand to my chest, covering my heart. “You mattered, Maci. You were in the forefront of my mind through boot camp and every tour I enlisted in.” I move a piece of hair from her eyes and tuck it behind her ear. “I remember the day of the barbeque so clearly. You looked so beautiful in that blue summer dress. I couldn’t even bear to look at you when I left, because I knew I would turn back around and tell you how much I wanted you.

She looks me in the eyes now. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? Why did you make me believe that I meant nothing?”

“I was such a stupid asshole. I’m stubborn, baby. I stayed away at first because I didn’t know what was going to happen over there. I couldn’t do that to you. It was bad enough I was doing it to Mom and Dad. After a few years, all I could think about was getting back to you and making things right with us. When I got home and asked about you, Mom told me you were married and had a son.”

She snorts. “If you’d like to call it that. We were only together for six months when I got pregnant. Bennett was an accident. A beautiful, wonderful, wouldn’t change it for the world accident. David and I got married because he asked, and I was scared. I thought that was what you were supposed to do when you got pregnant. A year after Bennett was born, I found out he was cheating on me with a mutual friend.”

“What a fucking prick. I would never do that to you, sweetheart. No man worth anything would do that to their woman.”

She smiles, like my words mean something to her. “Shh, Reece.” She puts both of her hands on my neck and scratches the back of my scalp lightly. I wonder if she realizes how hard she’s making me. Through my anger and her pain, her touch still gets to me.

“It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would have. Sure, I felt betrayed and humiliated. I was pissed that he would do that to our family, but I was surviving because my heart wasn’t in it—not like it should have been. He asked me to take him back, to forgive him. I couldn’t. He gave me the excuse I needed to move on, and I took it. I should have never married him in the first place. I would have been fine as a single mother. I know that now. God, I mean, even when we were married, he was never there. I did everything for Bennett. I still do.”

I pull her closer and kiss her forehead. “I’m pissed that he betrayed and hurt you, baby. Selfishly, I’m happy, because now we are at a place where our forever can finally begin.”

Maci rubs her nose against mine. “You want to begin with me, Reece?” She kisses my cheek, making her way slowly down to my lips.

“You were mine since you were born, Maci. I regret every day I didn’t give into loving you. I’m not making that mistake again. I’m never letting you go. Never giving another man a chance to have what has always been mine.”

I give in and give her my mouth. I pour all my sorrow and regret over losing her into this kiss. I apologize in the only other way I can. I’ve given her the words. I’m ready to move forward, but is she? Can she get over what I did to us?

Pulling away from her lips, she makes the most adorable whimpering noises. “I know, baby, but I need the words. I need to know that you’re in this and are ready to move forward. I don’t want to look at the past anymore.”

She searches my face and, after long moments, nods, only slightly. Pushing my hands into her hair, I pull it tightly, so her eyes are on mine. “Give me the words, Maci girl. Tell me what I need to hear.”

“You say forever, and that I’m yours. What does that mean? You give me the words, Reece. I’m not jumping blindly anymore, hoping for the best. My eyes are wide open. As much as I want you to be my forever, I have Bennett to think about now as well. What do you want from me, Reece?”

“When I say you are mine, that’s exactly what I mean. I am the only man, the only one, that will ever take any pleasure from you, starting now. Your full lips, your hot pussy, your perfect ass, and huge tits are all mine. You will never allow anyone to take pleasure from them again. I’m a greedy bastard, Maci Kate. I want all of you, and I’m done waiting. You will have no other man, because I will be your only one until our days are over.”

With wide eyes, I think I’ve shocked her. I’m not finished yet. She wants to know what I want from her, then she’ll hear it all.

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