Page 39 of Replay
She groans when my dick slips free and rolls onto her stomach. Her stunning body is covered in only my sheet and the early morning light in the room makes her skin glow. Fuck I’m happy she’s mine again. Standing from the bed, I can feel her eyes follow me around the room while I grab my shorts, some sweatpants and a shirt before hitting the shower. I stop dead when she sits up suddenly, her hand covering her mouth with a gasp.
“Hawke.”
I move toward her, reaching for her outstretched hand. “What is it, sweetheart?”
She reaches past me, her fingers touching the inked skin on my side. “I saw the shape last night, but I didn't get to really see it. Hawke, those?—”
“Marigolds.”
“My birth month,” she breathes out, her fingers trailing lightly over the queen’s crown and the vines twined around it. “Oh my god.”
I know what else she’s seeing. A mural of our past. Pirate and Saint’s flags, the month we started dating in large, cursive letters mixed in and right at the center, a pink bow. For my girl who loves hockey and still loves pink. Her gaze lands lastly on the date going down my right rib cage.
“What does this mean?”
My throat bobs as I swallow, ready to give her another truth I’m not sure she's ready for, and knowing I need her to finally see how sure about her I have always been.
“The day I first saw you.”
Her face scrunches. “That was in September though.”
I shake my head slowly. “No, that was the first time I talked to you. I saw you long before that, Emmarys.”
Her brow rises. “Over a year before that. Why didn’t you talk to me before that?”
“You made me nervous. I don’t get nervous, Em, but with you…I wanted you the moment I saw you. Something clicked that you were mine.”
“Hawke.” Her lips are parted in awe and I hold completely still as she takes in the rest of the artwork. Little scattered snowflakes, for the night it snowed when I first told her I loved her. Her eyes finally lift to mine and there's a sheen of tears in hers.
My thumbs run under her eyes, wiping the tears that slip down, and my heart squeezes inside my chest. “Don’t cry, Emma.”
“But this is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done. A little obsessive?—”
“I call it dedicated,” I interrupt her, tugging her hand so her body falls into mine. My arms wrapping around her waist.
“It's the sweetest. I know it's probably a little crazy to admit but I love them. I love that we’re etched into your skin and that you wear me proudly. Even when we weren’t together.” Her bottom lip quivers and I have to lean in and kiss her. Her tears are killing me.
“I needed them when I couldn’t be with you. It was how I stayed sane and kept my focus, so I could come back to you. Every drag of the needle in my skin was my penance for having to leave you, for hurting you,” I confide in her, and her body shudders in my grasp.
She pulls back, her hands gripping my neck. “Never again, right? We’re together.”
“Oh, we’re together, sugar. Forever. But I’ll probably still tattoo that on me too. I hope you write your wedding vows in that nice, cursive handwriting, so I can get them over my heart.” I smirk at her and finally she gives me a small laugh with a smile.
“Wedding vows?”
I nod, ducking down to be eye level with her while she kneels on my bed. “I meant what I said last night. This is the start of forever. You gave me your heart and your body and I won’t lose you ever again. For me that means graduation, the draft, careers, marriage and babies.”
A blush spreads across her cheeks. “Babies huh? Easy there, QB. I’m with you, but let's take one day at a time.”
It takes all I have in me not to press her back onto the mattress and show her how serious I am right now. It can’t be that hard to take out a birth control implant. If she's sleeping? I bet fucking Google would know how to do it.Slow down,I have to remind myself, so I don’t scare her away just yet. I need her in love with me again, and preferably for us to be on the way out of college, the draft under my belt, before I really show Emmarys just howdedicatedI am. For now…
“Yeah, Em. One day at a time.” I drop my lips to her forehead, hating the small lie, but in the long run, it won’t really matter.
She sighs in my hold, her arms tightening around my neck. The motion causes the sheet between us to fall and suddenly her very warm, very naked skin is pressed against mine. Her tight, little nipples rub against my chest and I groan at the contact.
“Hawke,” she gasps my name and the sound is low, dripping with need.
My self-control snaps and I let her slide down my body, back onto the bed, before throwing myself down as well. Taking her hand in mine, I guide her over my body, the other hand stroking my impatient dick.
