Chapter 21
Once they arrived at his condo, they’d changed clothes and gone for a walk to a restaurant down the street – a different one this time – to grab some dinner and now they were back, chilling on the sofa. He was on one end and she was on the other with pillows behind her head while Royal fiddled with her toes. They were supposed to be watching Jumping the Broom, but he was too busy tickling her feet and she was too busy laughing.
“Stop it, Royal. Gosh. I should’ve never told you were my ticklish spots were.”
“I would’ve found them, eventually.”
“How?”
“By exploring your body inch by mouthwatering inch. That’s how.”
“My body is off limits.”
Royal raised a brow. “To who? Not to me.”
She smiled. “Yes to you,” she said. “I’m new to this dating stuff, but I would like to know that a man is mine and mine only before giving him my body.”
“So you want to be married first because if that’s the case, that can be arranged,” he said.
She giggled, but he wasn’t laughing. He had a straight face, staring at her like he was ready to say vows today had she gave the word. He let go of her feet then crawled up the length of her legs so that his body blanketed hers. He snuck a kiss from her lips then stared down at her in an adoring, endearing way.
“What?” she whispered, looking up into his eyes while her hands lay flat against his back.
“I love you, Gemma.”
Seemed her heart stopped, eyes glazed over with wetness at hearing these words from him. The crazy thing about it was, this wasn’t the first time he told her that he loved her. But all the other times were casual. There was something distinctively different about this particular time – how intently he was looking at her and how she could feel a part of him firm and pressed against her thigh. But maybe she was getting things twisted. For her own confirmation, she said, “I know you love me, Royal.”
“No. I’m not talking about casual, slap-you-on-the-booty-and-you-think-nothing-of-it love. I’m talking about love—the kind that has me thinking about you every second of my day. The kind that makes me want to leave work early to see you. The kind that makes my heart flutter when I see you smile. The kind that has me so turned on right now, all I want to do is make love to you, but I won’t because you deserve a man who would be willing to marry you before taking your innocence. Before making you his, and that’s what I intend to do. I. Love. You.”
She squeezed out a tear, still in disbelief. “I love you, too, Royal.”
He smiled. “More than the slap-booty way?”
She giggled while a small tear of happiness made an appearance. She wasn’t a crier but some feelings just couldn’t be hidden. “Yes. More than that. I think about you all the time, too. I just never thought you’d be interested in me beyond friends, but these last few days have proven me wrong.”
He kissed her tear away, then parted her lips with his, tasting the saltiness of the tear that had escaped. “Am I too heavy for you?” he whispered in her ear before outlining it with his warm, wet tongue.
Gemma shivered. “Yeah. A little.”
He immediately got up and stood next to the couch. He didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. “Take your meds and meet me in the bedroom.”
“I thought we were going to watch this movie,” she said, sitting up.
“We were. But that was before I knew you were in love with me. Now, all I want to do is feel you in my arms and play with you a lil’ bit.”
Tickled, she asked, “Play with me? What does that mean?”
“You’ll find out when you get your lil’ butt up in here,” he said, walking down the hallway. “I’ll be waiting.”
Gemma walked to the kitchen where she’d unzipped her purse then removed her pill container. She took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and after taking her meds, she pulled in a deep breath and started down the hallway to where she knew she’d find Royal. He was just where he said he’d be—in his bedroom, waiting for her. He’d taken off his shirt and was sitting on the bed in a pair of Polo shorts.
“Come on over here. Don’t be scared now.”
She crossed her arms, slowly walking towards him.
He knew she was nervous. Who crosses their arms when they walk? The position looked awkward and dangerous. She couldn’t see where she was going. What if she tripped over his shoes and injured something? His sweet little thing didn’t need any more hospital stays.
“Uncross your arms,” he told her. “You look defensive like you’re preparing for battle.”
“That’s the thing…I don’t have a clue what I’m walking into right now. Do I need to be prepared for battle?”
Royal moved to the bed’s side, sat there and waited for her to close the distance between them. When she was finally standing immediately in front of him, he said, “Straddle me.”
She suddenly got a twitch in her right shoulder. Her nerves were getting the best of her.
Seeing her nervousness – the slight layer of sweat on her forehead, dilated pupils in a set of beautiful eyes and stiff posture – he took her hands into his and attempted to calm her down. “Look at me.”
“I am looking at you.”
“Barely. I want you to look into my eyes.”
“Stop trying to seduce me, Royal.”
He chuckled. “Funny how women nearly beg me to seduce them and you’re asking me not to try with you.”
“Well, I’m not other women,” she said connecting her gaze to his.
“And that’s what I love about you. Now, straddle me.”
Gemma moved her knees on either side of his taut thighs, then fully straddled him by stretching out her legs until they folded behind his lower back. She circled her arms around his neck. “I’m here,” she said. “Now what?”
“I can show you better than I can tell you,” he said, darting his head forward to nip at her lips, leaving small kisses around her mouth. Then he looked at her, connected his vision to her darkened honey brown gaze. She smiled, then shied away, nestling her face in the curve of his neck.
“Oh, Royal,” she said in a voice a little higher than a whisper.
“Talk to me, baby.”
“I just find this so hard to believe—” she began with her lips brushing against his neck. Then she adjusted to an upright position so she could look at him. “We were friends, now we’re this and I just never thought…”
“Never thought what?”
“That anyone would love me. That’s why I spent so much time watching romance movies. I never knew love and romance were possible for me, that’s why I enjoyed watching other people finding it—even if it was fictional.”
“Well, you no longer have to wonder, sweetie, because you have me,” he said, cupping her backside. “And I’ve grown to love you more and more every day. And you know what?”
“What?” she asked, staring into his eyes and then her eyes, filled with twinkles, roamed every inch of his face.
“I’m glad we started off as friends first. It gave me a chance to know you and fall in love with the person you are on the inside and not just chasing after you for your exquisite beauty.”
“Exquisite…you act like I’m a princess or something.”
“You are a princess. My beautiful princess.” He kissed her again, joining their mouths in a sweet crash of desire. With each pull of her lips, each stroke of his tongue, he wanted more. That’s why when he felt how she sucked and latched onto his tongue, fire burned all the way down to his abdomen while his hands held her firmly in place. And they kissed for what seemed like an eternity this way – hot and heated – desire building and building until Gemma broke off the kiss to breathe. She closed her arms tight around Royal’s neck and just soaked this all in – him, his love, the fact that he was hers – everything. Her heart pounded with nervousness and anticipation. And she had plenty of reasons for both as she ran them through her mind:
1. Royal had never been in love, so what made him fall for her?
2. She had never been in love, so how did she know it was real?
3. She was still a virgin.
4. Royal definitely wasn’t a virgin.
5. She was twenty with no career, no college, no license.
6. Royal was twenty-five with a career, a Bachelor’s Degree and comfortable life.
7. She was a lung cancer survivor and in many ways still fighting.
8. He was the perfect picture of health. The only pills he took were vitamins.
“Gemma?”
“Yes?”
“Are you intentionally trying to choke me?”
She loosened her grip on him and laughed. “Sorry. I was just thinking about us. I guess I got a little lost in my thoughts.”
“It’s okay, Gemma. I’m just teasing you. You can squeeze me as hard as you want.” He grazed under her blouse and stroked her back. And then those hands traveled in the opposite direction towards the waistband of her jeans. With little effort, he was able to breach the waistband to touch her softness.
“Mmm,” she hummed.
He fell back on the bed so she was lying on top of him. With her legs outstretched now, he had more clearance to cup her cheeks in his hands the way he longed to while she took more control of the kiss – using her tongue to play with his – losing herself and letting go, getting comfortable with him. Exploring.
She pulled her lips away from his and kissed his chin, down to his throat and on down to his Adam’s apple. She savored this part of him, licking and flicking her tongue across it.
“Bae?”
“Yes?” she asked, steadily licking.
“You do know that’s not a real apple, don’t you?”
Gemma dropped her head, cradling it into his neck and giggled. “I’ma bite it anyway if you keep on teasing me.”
“I don’t mind, baby. You can bite whatever you want. I can handle it.”
“I bet you can,” she said, rising up on her elbows to look at him, practically in awe. “I still can’t believe we’ve crossed the line.”
“We have, and there’s no turning back now.”
She planted a light kiss right on top of his nipple and whispered, “Yes…no turning back now.”