She takes a deep breath, stepping back.
I don’t follow her.
Instead, I drop to my knees in front of her.
Her breath catches. Mine does too.
I’ve never felt the need to get on my knees for anyone before, but she’s the first thing that’s ever mattered enough.
“I’m never going to leave you, Tiff, and I’m tired of everyone thinking otherwise. Now that I’ve found you and you’ve let me into Ella’s life, there’s nothing that is going to stop me from being here. But I need you to know that my father is going to keep trying to pull me back. My compliance is too important for him. They both are. My father, your father. They’re going to do everything they can to tear us apart. They think I’m not good enough. Fine. Let me spend every day proving I can be.” I squeeze her hands. “They think I’ll leave? Okay, I’ll show them exactly where I belong. They think I don’t know what I’m doing?” I stand and cup her face, my thumbs brushing away the tears on her cheeks. “Maybe they’re right about that part, but I’m learning, and I’m not giving up.”
“Jamie…” Her voice is shaky and emotional.
“I love you, Tiff. I love Ella, and whatever they throw at us, we’ll face it together.”
She kisses me, and this time there’s no hesitation. It’s desperate and fierce and full of everything we’ve been fighting for.
the hem of my shirt, and she kisses me. Her lips tasting like redemption. A redemption I don’t deserve.
“Tiff,” I whisper against her lips.
She fists my shirt, stopping me from moving away.
“Stay,” she husks out, pulling me in for another kiss.
“Tiff—” I mumble against her lips.
“Stay,” she says again, more certain this time. Her fingers uncurl from my shirt, and her hand smooths over the fabric. “Please, just…stay.”
“Okay.”
She takes my hand, leading me down the hallway to her room.
I follow her, my eyes tracking the sway of her hips with every step she takes. She’s more confident tonight than yesterday.
The second we’re inside her room, she turns back to me and rises onto her toes to kiss me.
I barely have time to register her taking my shirt off or her fingers fumbling at my belt until my jeans slide down my thighs, and I’m kicking them off.
Still kissing me, her hands lock on my hips, and she pulls me toward the bed.
Like always, I go willingly.
She pulls me down with her, and suddenly I’m braced over her, my hands planted on either side of her head. She arches under me, her nails digging down my back in slow, deliberate lines—sharp enough to sting, hot enough to make me groan into her mouth. The sound vibrates between us.
I break the kiss just enough to rasp against her lips, “I don’t deserve you.” It’s the truth. This woman has been through so much…without me there. She had to forge a life, while I fucked up mine. She’s brave, she’s strong. She’s fucking everything, and she doesn’t even realize it.
Her lashes flutter, and she looks away with flushed cheeks. “Don’t say that.”
“I mean it.” I capture her mouth in a quick, fierce kiss, tasting the salt of her skin. “After everything…after all that I missed. I don’t deserve to be here. To have you and our perfect Ella fall into my lap like this.”
I crash my mouth to hers, kissing her as I take her shirt, bra, and jeans off until she’s lying underneath me in just a pair of black panties. My gaze devours every inch of her newly exposed skin.
I’m so fucking unworthy.
I start to kiss every part of her body. Her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, her jawline. Everything, because it’s the only way she’ll let me show her how sorry I am about what happened between us.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper against her collarbone, my hands steady on her hips.