Page 110 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“You're nervous,” I observed.
“This is different,” he said. “This is... this matters.”
“The other times mattered too.”
“Not like this.” He cupped my face in his hands. “This is me making love to the woman I'm going to marry someday. This is the beginning of our real story.”
My throat went tight. “You want to marry me?”
“Artie, I've wanted to marry you since you tried to fight Xander for me in the library.” He kissed me softly. “But we can talk about that later. Right now, I just want to show you how much I love you.”
And he did. Oh, how he did.
It was different from Vegas, from our practice sessions, from every other time I'd been with anyone. This was worship and claiming and promising all at once. This was Gryff showing me with his hands and mouth and body that I was cherished, that I was precious, that I was exactly right exactly as I was.
“You're perfect,” he whispered against my skin. “Every inch of you is perfect.”
I'd never felt small before, never felt delicate, but in his arms I felt both those things while still feeling powerful. It was magic, the way he looked at me, touched me, loved me.
He kissed his way down my throat, taking his time, mapping every inch like he was memorizing me. His hands skimmed along my sides, tracing the curves there with obvious appreciation.
“God, Artie,” he breathed, pulling back to look at me. “Do you have any idea what you do to me? How gorgeous you are?”
I was ready to deflect. It was so much to have his attention so fully on me. I couldn't imagine doing anything like this with anyone else. He stopped me from spiraling back to a place I no longer belonged with a kiss.
“Don't,” he said softly. “Don't minimize this. Let me appreciate you, every single inch of you.”
His mouth traveled lower, across my collarbones, down to the swell of my breasts, where he licked and sucked one nipple and then the other. His hands continued to explore, down, down, pushing between my legs until his fingers found me already wet and wanting.
“I fucking love how wet you get for me. Next time I'm going to make you ride my fingers while I suck these nipples until you come so hard you can't breathe.”
Just hearing him tell me his fantasies like this was already taking my breath away. “Only if you let me do the same to you.”
I love knowing he was the one person in the world I could truly let go with. But I wanted to be that for him too. “Let me touch you, explore you too.”
He groaned as I pushed my hands into his hair and gripped it tight. Seemed my Gryff liked a little edge to his pleasure. I was going to remember that.
“Mmm. I promise to let you have your way with me, sweetheart.” He withdrew his fingers, bringing his hand between us, and painted my lips with my own arousal. My stomach did flip-flops and a little whimper escaped me.
When he kissed me, he licked my lips and hummed like the taste of me was the best thing in the world. “I fucking love the taste of you.”
He slipped those same fingers into my mouth, giving me another taste of myself. My mind and body were soaring from such an intimate act.
No one else had ever made love to me in a way where we shared the act with each other so much.
He dragged his fingers down my throat, between my breasts and then to my stomach. His kisses followed the path to the soft roundness of my belly, his hands gripping my waist, thumbs stroking the stretch marks that decorated my hips like silver ribbons.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, tracing one with his tongue, making me gasp. “Every mark, every curve, every inch of your body is full of gorgeous strength.”
“Gryff—“ I loved the way his voice was husky and so filled with awe. It had me finding my own body sexy too.
“Do you know how long I've wanted this? How many times I've thought about your thighs?” His hands moved to stroke the muscles there, reverent and hungry at once. “The power in them. The way they felt wrapped around me in Vegas. I've been obsessed, Artie. Completely obsessed.”
He proved it, kissing along the inside of my thigh, appreciating every inch of soft skin and firm muscle. When he nipped gently at the sensitive skin there, I nearly came off the bed.
“That's it,” he encouraged, his voice rough. “Don't hold back. I want all of you.”
“Please, Gryff. Stop teasing me. I need you. I need you inside of me.”
