Ever Ever After

Chapter 80: I Mean What I Say

Ailea panted. It took several minutes for her to catch her breath.

Clint is a sweet man but was no doubt a beautiful liar. It was eerily dark and Clint should have had trouble seeing, but… he had touched every single inch of her.

“Im-impossible…” she said.

“What’s impossible?” he asked.

She was beginning to think that they should not proceed all the way. This was becoming too much. She was about to ask him to turn the lights on, but he had devoured her lips, both hands against her cheeks. His thumb brushed it lightly, and it sent shivers through her nerves, shivers that made her tremble.

“Did you say something?” he asked, whispering.

When she said nothing, Clint smiled and brushed his lips against her temple, moving down to trace the lines of her cheekbones.

She felt dazed like she would melt. He called his name but it came out coquettishly. “Clint…”

Ashamed, she blushed red, eyes becoming moist. She could pass out at any moment.  She felt like a firecracker exploding wherever he touched.

“You’ll be okay.” Clint touched her mouth with his finger. “Your first night will hurt if you’re this nervous.”

First night.

Ailea replayed his words in her mind. She pressed down on his shoulder, looking at the glow of his face. She had grown used to the darkness and she could see the outlines of his features.

“Beautiful,” Clint murmured.

“…Lies.”

“Pretty.”

Ailea felt her heart warm as droplets of tear fell from her sky blue eyes. She was not sure why. Was it his words? It was nice to hear.

And then all of a sudden, she sniffled a cry.

Clint thought her afraid. “Are you scared?” he asked.

“I am. I’m so scared…”

He looked distressed; his heart thrummed in his chest. The primal pleasure he felt waned for he did not want to ruin this woman. He could not continue when she did not want it.

He had been worried earlier whether her small frame would be able to take his length. He was afraid she would hurt, but he had failed to take notice of her fragile heart.

Clint laid beside her and soothed her shoulder with a rub. Ailea turned, back facing his. His soothing hand felt comfort.

“Ailea?”

She did not answer.

“Ailea.”

“A flirtatious man.”  Ailea recalled the words someone had told her. Clint was very sweet and tender and caring that it frightened her.

“You… you don’t hate it, right?” she asked, back still facing him.

Clint’s countenance hardened. “What do you mean?”

“Me. You don’t… you don’t hate holding me… spending the night with me like this?”

He had told her many times, and each time she believed it yet she doubted herself. She did not believe that this would last. It would seem that she had yet to resolve her trauma. It deeply coiled around her heart.

Clint planted a kiss on her back, grazing his thumb around it in semicircle. “I don’t hate it. I’m going crazy because I just want to hold you, kiss you, do things to you all the time. You make me crazy, Ailea. It’s like my heart wants to burst out.”

“Clint…”

“I mean what I say.”

Ailea nodded at his words. She turned around with determination. “I’m… I’m struggling, but thank you.” She smiled. “I will be okay. Even if it hurts, I’ll endure it. So… hold me.”

“Ailea…”

She cupped his face. “Really, I’ll be okay.”

And just like that, the burnt out flame was lit once more. This woman… since meeting her he had no desire to sleep with another. His lust had piled up.

Clint tangled his fingers in her hair and wrapped his other hand around her nape. “You can’t go back on your words.”