In My Dreams (8 page)

Destiny
snuggled into the fold of James's tattooed arms, her back leaning against his chest, and stared out at the view. The streetlights below lit up. Headlights and brake lights blinked, and streetlights came on, as did some porch lights one house at a time. It was calming to watch all that hustle below from such a quiet spot. They had front row seats to the sunset, and Destiny relaxed against James's body, breathing in the fresh air and feeling at peace. 

“
Thank you for taking me on a tour around L.A.,” she said after a long, comfortable silence. “I really had a lot of fun.”

“
Thanks for letting me show you some of the non-touristy spots. It was more fun with you here. My family really liked you too” His voice was a quiet rumble against her temple, and his lips were soft against her skin when he gave her a quick kiss. 

She smiled, thinking over the events of the day and the impression she had of L
.A. and James’s love for it.

D
estiny let her thoughts sink in while she watched the scenery below. James found himself caught up in watching her face. It still hit him hard how beautiful she was, especially when she smiled as she was doing now. Those dark eyes glittered, her cute nose crinkled and the slight hint of dimples manifested themselves when she smiled. Time stood still when she giggled, and her full lips spread to make way for her wide grin. He got to feel a little peace, a little something he could store within him like his music, and he knew this was yet another moment in time that he would keep with him, a good memory that he could return to when he was having a bad day.

His lips pressed right against her ear, he whispered,
“I could fall in love with you, little girl.”

It took a second for his words to register. It took another second for her heart to stop and her breath to grow short. She was still, leaning against his
body, trying to do something besides blink. Blood rushed in her ears, over her skin, and she felt like she'd never been more painfully aware of the world around her and the feelings flooding her body.

James felt as though he would die
. She still hadn't said anything. She hadn't moved. He'd told himself that he was saying it just for him, just so that she would know. He was looking for the right girl, and by all accounts, she was standing in front of him (figuratively). In that moment, he had to tell her. He wished she would fucking say something. Anything! He would settle for anything in the English language, some sign that she heard him and wasn't freaking out. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat. He was trying to find words himself.

“
What did you say?” Her voice was so quiet, he almost didn't hear her. But he did, and even though his throat felt constricted, and his body felt like it was starting to shake, he pressed on.

“
He said it again. “I could easily fall in love with you, Destiny. I might be falling for you.”

The look on her face when she turned in his arms to stare into his eyes stole his breath. She looked
shocked …or scared. Her eyes were wide and glassy. She seemed to blink in slow motion; those dark lashes fanning up and down were the only thing between him and the power of her gaze. She had one hand on his knee, the other lying limply in her lap. She rested on her knees between his legs while he leaned back against the tree trunk, waiting anxiously for her to say something.

Finally, when he thought he'd die if she were silent one more second, he said,
“You don't have anything to say?

“
Normally it’s the girl that says she is falling for the rock star, but you have just made my whole weekend. I could easily fall in love with you, too. I know your lifestyle is crazy, and I only saw a weekend of it, but you have made me feel so special this weekend. More than I could ever imagine in my wildest dreams, you did not make me feel like a tag along or a charity case. I really don’t have the words,” she muttered. 

The smile she gave him was little more than an upward turn at the corners of her lips, and she looked as if she were still in a daze. Then she said,
“Thank you for your honesty and transparency.”

There were no more words, but what they lacked in sound, they made up for in movement.
Destiny leaned in, resting her hand on his chest, over his heart. James sat up and gently took her face in his hands, bringing his face closer to hers. He realized just before his lips touched hers that he was grinning, really grinning. And when their lips met, he breathed his relief into her waiting mouth.

Destiny
felt his heart beating fast under her palm, and she felt her own beating to match it. Her kiss grew hungrier, meaningful. Her hands slid up his chest, up his neck and her fingers curled in his soft hair. She wanted to halt the kiss, to ask him to say those words again. But she couldn't stop. She never wanted this feeling to end. When he drew back and came up for air she whispered, “No...don’t stop” and pulled him back to her. She kissed him deeper, moaned against his lips when he wrapped his arms around her. Distantly she heard him chuckle and whisper her name between their feverish kisses. 

“
Little girl...”

It was a subtle warning that what she was doing was going to escalate
quickly if she didn't ease up. She was able to do so much to him with just a kiss, and he was riding high on the euphoria of having her accept him. She'd really said it. She really felt the same way. And if he didn't pull back now he wouldn't be able to stop himself from showing her in every way he could just how much he was falling for her, even if it was out in the open like this.

She pulled away and stared into his eyes, trying to memorize this moment and hold onto it for as long as possible. She stroked his face reverently, retracing all her favorite lines, and smiling when she saw him swallow as his eyes stared back into hers. That look, the one he had given her so many times this past weekend, all that warmth in his eyes
: she knew what it meant now. There was no mystery, no doubt. This was what it looked like to be loved by him. His thumb caressed her cheek softly, and she closed her eyes, trying so hard not to cry and failing. 

His thumb was slick as he swiped away the tear that had escaped those beautiful dark eyes of hers. The relief swam through him, and the awe that all it took was those simple words of
truth to make her this happy filled him up. He was captured by the sight of her face, by this new side of her. He'd never seen her cry before. The way he felt looking at her face was so foreign for him, so quiet and powerful, that he realized he'd never really known what it meant to love someone like this. Not until now. Not until he said it and heard her say it back. Not until he found a woman that loved everything about him, loved him just the way he was.

“
Say it again, James,” she whispered and tilted her face to nuzzle her cheek in his palm.

He smiled, again swallowing down the lump in his throat
, “I’m falling for you, Destiny.”

She grinned and let out a little laugh of disbelief, tears flowing freely now. Again, her lips found his, her body melted into his, and this time he didn't hold back. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pushing her backwards, and let her sink into the cloth covering the earth beneath them.

She couldn't get enough of his kiss, couldn't get enough of the heat of his body and the glow his words cast over her. His hands were on her face; his hips settled over hers. When he moved his lips to her neck, she opened her eyes, and above her was the sky painted in the colors of the setting sun, the clouds, the soft pinks, oranges, and violets all slowly rolling away to make room for night. It filtered through the leaves above her, and the bright orange light penetrated her closed lids when
the feel of his lips and tongue on her skin became too good to bear. Her body arched into his, her legs lifted and her dress fluttered around the tops of her thighs. Her body was on fire, her breasts pulsing with arousal under his hands, and the fissure between her thighs aching and growing wet with need. He ignited everything primal in her, every response screamed sexual, insatiable. Then he put icing on it all when he whispered in her ear, “I need you, Des. Need you so much . . .”

Goosebumps came to life over her skin. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, crying out in a hushed sob,
“I need you, too . . .” 

It felt so good, all of it. The skin of his back was soft and warm as she lifted his shirt, the muscles corded underneath reminding her
of just how strong he was, how beautiful and solid. She had crushed for years on this man, the man who was falling for her. She couldn't wait to feel him inside of her, couldn't wait to give everything she had to give, repeatedly.
“James,” she hissed when he palmed her breasts and sighed against her throat. “God, don't stop . . . touching me . . .”

He didn't stop. He couldn't stop now even if he'd wanted to.
James gently kissed her neck, her collarbone, her shoulder. His fingers addicted to the feel of her skin. He couldn't take his eyes away from her. She looked up at him with that beautiful smile on her face. She was beaming; her eyes shimmered with unshed tears that almost broke his heart. He shifted over her, lifting her dress up her hips between them. The silky skin of her thighs beckoned to him, and he almost didn't want to part with her body. But he needed to in order to get her panties off so that he could get as close to her as possible. He sat back on his knees, and she lifted her hips to let him strip the white fabric off. She sat up when he was done so that she wouldn't have to sacrifice the feel of his lips any longer and went to work on his belt. He pulled away long enough to peel his shirt off, laughing when she was waiting there hungrily for his lips again before he could even get it all the way off. She undid his jeans and pulled away from his mouth, making his body hotter when she licked her full lips and turned her attention to his body. 

Destiny
's eyes seemed to have forgotten that they'd seen James's body before. She couldn't get enough of looking at him now, and her fingers couldn't get enough of feeling him. Her fingertips danced over the slopes and angles of his powerful chest, brushing lightly over the hard dusky nipples adorning it. Her fingers swirled away from his chest and started to stroke downward, curving and dipping over his, ribs, his abs, tracing over the tattoos on his chest and arms. They traveled over the dip of his belly button and the cut of his hips. She tickled the trail of dark hair leading to the top of his underwear when his fingers curled in her hair and his lips touched her forehead. She smiled at the gentle touch, looked up at him, and caressed the hard length hidden by his boxer brief. Her eyes devoured the look of hunger on his face. It sent a chill through her, spiking her arousal until she couldn't go one more second without feeling him buried inside of her. 

She pulled her hand away from his hardening member and reached for the straps of her dress, never taking her eyes off his as she pulled them down, baring her breasts for him. She shivered when he turned his gaze to her body, reaching out and touching her breasts just as softly as she had touched him. He brought his mouth to hers and devoured her in a kiss that said everything his words had.
 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him as he laid her down. Just the feel of his bare chest against hers set her on fire, and when he leaned down to kiss her breasts and suckle her nipples into the wet heat of his mouth, she became consumed by the flames. She arched into his mouth, sighing at the kisses, licks, and nips he left on her sensitive flesh. Her fingers stroked through his dark hair, ruffling through the silky texture and rubbing over his scalp until he was groaning against her.

He closed his eyes at the feel of her massaging him. She wiggled and writhed under him, every moan and sigh made him almost painfully hard. He released a taut nipple and shuffled his jeans and boxers down his hips, freeing his near-to-bursting cock. He leaned down on one elbow and ran the spongy head over her juicy slit. She moaned and her hands tugged on his hips, silently begging him to fill her. The promise of her heat made him want to impale her quickly, but the urge to relish the welcome into her body made
James take his time. He eased forward, moaned at the way she pulsed around him and clutched him to her. She curved her hips as he filled her with the last inch of his desire, and leaned down finally to settle his weight over her. 

The bliss of penetrating her soon morphed into movement, into friction of his flesh against her walls. He started the steady climb towards another kind of bliss, and she joined him. Her eyes fluttered open and closed but always stayed open in the end to watch him above her. He could relate. He wanted to commit every moment of this to memory, and so, even when a delicious stroke stole his breath and made every part of his body tingle with pleasure, he forced his eyes open, forced himself not to miss even one second of her pleasure.

“So beautiful,” he whispered, brushing his fingers over her lips and drowning in those gorgeous eyes looking up at him. Her smile under his fingers soon faded. She gasped with pleasure, and her eyes glazed over. He relished it all, every nuance of the satisfaction he was bringing her coursed through her body and into his. 

He captured her lips again, rocking into her with increasing speed. His body had a mind of its own and moved with purpose. He would have stayed nestled inside of her forever if he could, holding onto this feeling of
what could be, of being shown with every gasp and every glance that his wish had been granted. She climbed with him, grasping him frantically. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. His fingers prickled with the tension. He leaned his temple against hers and rocked harder and faster into her.