Book 4 - Page 105 (1/2)

“Niall . . .”

He spoke into my skin, “Darling, say it again. I’m not sure I can believe this is real.”

Through a sob, I managed, “I love you.”

In a pulse of panic, I didn’t know if this was actually happening, either, or I had fallen asleep on his stairs and was having the world’s best dream. But then his lips were moving again: on my jaw, my cheek, and then pressing to mine—the best kind of soft, the best kind of hard—and I choked out another cry as I felt his tongue slide inside and his sounds vibrated against me as he groaned into his kisses.

With a desperate sort of babble, he gave me his broken thoughts built of my name, and that he missed me so b.l.o.o.d.y much, that things had been h.e.l.l, that he thought he’d never see me again. He cupped my face and his kisses alternated between tiny and hard, soft and sucking, and then his thumbs were sweeping at my face and I knew I was a sobbing mess, but I honestly couldn’t find it in me to care.

“You’re coming inside,” he growled, moving his mouth from mine and over to my ear. “You’re staying with me.”

“Yes.”

“Tonight. And every night after.”

I nodded, smiling as I pressed my face to his neck. “Well. Until I move to Oxford.”

Pulling back, he let his eyes move over my face. “Yeah? You got your letter from Maggie, then?”

“I got it last week. I wanted to call you.”

He smiled a little, seeming to be unable to stop looking at me, even to blink. “You should have.”

“I figured I wanted to see you more, so I did that instead.”

With a little nod, he looked down, intertwining our fingers. “It’s late. You’ve been sitting here for a long time. Are you hungry?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “I just want to . . .”

“Get into my bed?” His voice was a gentle growl.

I whispered, “Yeah. Unless you need to eat.”

“No. No chance I’m stopping to eat first.”

It was really that simple, and there wasn’t even a trace of hesitation. I knew I needed to feel him. I needed to be covered in him.