Tell Me You Love Me

by Julie Prestsater

  She places her hands on my bare skin, setting off an instant fire inside me, and a jolt straight to my dick. Trailing a path up my chest, her hand curls around my neck. Fuck, I love the feeling of her hands on me. “You’re crazy, you know that?” she says through a smile and a subtle shake of her head.

  “Crazy for you,” I respond before claiming her mouth with a kiss.

  The kiss is intense from the beginning, our lips smacking together again and again as our hands explore each other’s bodies. I catch Lizzy’s bottom lip between my teeth and tug, sucking on it, drawing it into my mouth and then tangling my tongue with hers. I swallow her moans and she swallows mine as we kiss with the passion that has been simmering between us since the day we met.

  She feels so good against my body. We’re like two pieces of a puzzle that fit snugly and perfectly together. Taking hold of her firm thigh, I draw it over my hip, allowing my hand to trace a path from her ass to the back of her knee. As I push against her, pulling her closer to me, I nearly explode with the tiny whimpers and panted breaths that escape from Lizzy’s sweet mouth.

  My body responds to her every move, her every sound, and the taste of her tongue on mine. I’m erect for her and she knows it. There is no doubt she wants this just as much as I do. And if I had any doubts, her wondering hand, trailing down the back of my pants and grasping my ass is just one small hint she is ready.

  Peeling my mouth off hers, I back away just enough to look into her eyes. “I want you, Lizzy,” I tell her, my breath labored and my heart racing.

  She smiles at me - that wicked grin I love so much.

  “Oh, God. I want you, too. I want you so much I can barely see straight.” She crushes her lips to mine and then pulls away. “But I gotta tell you something first.”

  Not wanting to waste anymore time, I urge her on without question. “Tell me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Lizzy

  Just like a girl, I can feel my eyes get glassy with tears. “Ryan...I’m in love with you.” A single tear slides down my cheek. “I know girls aren’t supposed to say it first, and I don’t want to scare the shit—”

  Ryan cuts off my sentence with a kiss that has my toes curling and my belly swirling with butterflies. After several minutes of dizzying kisses and the touch of his panty-melting hands, he slows it down to a soft peck on my nose.

  “I’m in love with you too, Lizzy. More than any words can say. It doesn’t matter who said it first, what matters is that we’re in love and we’re finally right where we’re supposed to be.”

  “How did I get to be so lucky?” Slowly and softly, I trace the pads of my fingertips up and down his sweat-dampened back. The feel of his flexed muscles under my palms is enough to undo me at this moment. His chest. Holy shit, his chest. When I awoke to a bare-chested Ryan sleeping right next to me, I almost stopped breathing. Golden brown hair dusts his pecs. A happy trail leads down to the promise land. It is just sinful for him to look this good. Absolutely delicious.

  The man is a god. Like one of the models on the covers of the books we read. Although, Ryan is real, so real, and he’s right here in front of me. I can touch him. Feel him. Breathe him in. God, he’s hot. So fucking hot, I can barely stand it.

  “I’ve been asking myself that since the day I met you.” Again, he kisses the tip of my nose. “Now,” he kisses my eyelids, “let me,” he kisses his way from my cheek down behind my ear, “make love,” he sucks my earlobe into his mouth and I nearly orgasm right there and then, “to you.” At that final comment, he grabs my ass again, aligning me perfectly, grinding his erection against me. Goosebumps sprinkle my body, and I swear if he doesn’t get the rest of his clothes off soon I am going to combust.

  I don’t say a thing. Instead, I curve my hand around his neck and draw his face closer to mine for another kiss. I’m hungry for the same intensity he showed me earlier, but Ryan is taking his time, kissing me softly. Gently. His tongue sweeping across my lips ever so lightly that the faint touch leaves me feeling tortured and teased. And damn, it feels so good.

  Just like his tongue, his fingertips drag across my body, barely grazing the material of my clothing until his skin meets mine at the waistline of my yoga pants. He trails his fingers lightly from my hip to my belly and back to my hip again, all the while still teasing my mouth with his warm tongue.

  I’ve imagined this moment before, wondering how I’d feel when his hands touched my soft stomach. Would I feel self-conscious? Uncomfortable? Would it rip me from the mood and ruin everything? Those fears are long gone as his tender touch trails along my body until he rids me of my tank top.

  So lost in the moment, I don’t even notice when or how my bottoms get removed and tossed on the floor. Lying on my back, in just a flimsy pair of pink lace panties and matching bra, I tremble in his bed. It’s been so long that I react to his every touch, needing to feel everything he has to give and loving each minute of the special attention he pays to every single part of my body.

  My breasts. His breath traces a path down my neck to my chest while his hands unclasp my bra from the back. The moist touch of his lips on each mound has me arching my back, thrusting myself farther into his mouth and his hands.

  My belly...

  Instinctively, unconsciously, my hands shoot to my midsection to cover my less-than-hard abs, if you want to call them that. But Ryan won’t have it. Slowly, he peels my hands away and laces my fingers with his before he lowers his head and his lips land just above my navel. He lifts his head and his bedroom eyes meet mine. “Lizzy, you’re gorgeous,” he says. The sensual feeling of his teeth nipping and dragging across my skin from hip to hip lights me on fire.

  The man has me squirming with want beneath him as he travels farther south along my body.

  My pussy. Loosening himself from my grip, Ryan slowly peels my panties down, trailing his tongue along the same path as his hands. My legs fall open as his lips fall to my center, my expertly landscaped center. “So sexy,” he says, the breath of his words sending an electric current from my head to my toes. With each sweep of his tongue, each suck of his mouth, each dip of his fingers inside me, my body shakes and trembles until I can’t think anymore. I see stars, rainbows, and fucking unicorns as my eyes roll back in my head and Ryan teases me into an orgasm I’ll never forget. My God, this man is incredible.

  He leaves a path of soft, lingering kisses all the way up my body. When he’s face to face with me, he says, “You. Are. Beautiful.” And for the first time, I truly start to believe it.

  I want to live in this moment forever, totally entranced by this wonderful man who treats me with such kindness and tenderness. But, hot damn, my quivering body won’t listen.

  “Holy shit, Ryan. I can’t breathe. That. Was. Amazing,” I say, pounding my hands into the mattress.

  I can feel him smile against my neck. With a chuckle, he says, “Baby, we’re just getting started.”

  * * *

  “Remind me to hydrate before I come by for a sleepover again,” I say, jokingly. When he said we were just getting started, I had no idea. He exceeded every fantasy I have ever had about him. And then some. Yep, hydration. That’s what I need. The man is sinfully hot in more ways than I thought possible. And he’s all mine.

  Ryan pulls me tighter against him, spooning me like he never wants to let go. It’s amazing to feel so cherished and loved. And comfortable in my own skin. He gave me my confidence back, and for that, I will forever be grateful to have him in my life. I’m trying to see myself as he sees me. It may take a while, but his love has led me to actually consider myself attractive and sexy.

  “You know, I have plenty of water here. You don’t have to leave.” His breath on my neck tickles, sending the butterflies zipping up and down my body again, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

  “Well, some of us have to work more than two days a week, so I better get going or I’m going to be late.”

  He holds me tighter. “Are you going to b
e reading any firemen stories? I can always drop by for a visit.”

  “Not today, but don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll need you again soon. You were a hit the last time, and now I know the person in charge.” I must say, I’m so loving his person in charge. The man is hung. Amen.

  He laughs softly into my ear. “I still can’t believe Old Lady Grady found a man and up and took off to the Bahamas with him. What a way to retire.”

  I love the feel of his body shaking with laughter behind me. “Thank God for miracles. If it hadn’t been for that lovely old man, I wouldn’t have a job. Who knew old people shopped online dating sites.”

  “Love is love, baby.” He plants a kiss on my neck. “You find it when you least expect it.”

  Turning around to face him, I’m just about to stake a full-blown assault of kisses on his plump lips when his cell rings. He reaches back to his nightstand and grabs his phone. “Hold on a sec,” he says to me. He taps on the phone, and holds it in front of him. “Yeah.”

  I realize he hit the speaker phone when another voice fills the room. “Ryan?”

  “Yes, sir.” It’s the chief he mouths to me, pointing to the screen.

  “Good morning. I just got a call from Avery. One of their older guys decided to retire and they’re looking to rebuild their team for next season. They want you back.”

  Instantly, my throat tightens as I get choked up at the suggestion. Ryan’s eyes go wide, but he doesn’t react otherwise.

  “I have to offer you the chance to go back if you want to. It’s your call.”

  When he left the first time, I didn’t say a word. I just watched him walk away and it was too late before I had the courage to call him. I’m not going to do it this time.

  Our song rings in my head, “Stay.” The single word comes out as a murmur, but I know my eyes plead with him more than anything I can say aloud.

  “Sir?” Ryan says.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying this time.”

  “I was hoping you would say that,” the chief says. “See you next shift.”

  Ryan says goodbye, taps on his phone, and tosses the phone on the edge of the bed.

  “Now that that is taken care of,” he says, lying down again and pulling me flush against his hard body so we’re facing each other. “Since you’re the boss, is there anything I can do to convince you to stay home with me today?”

  “You can tell me you love me.”

  He smiles. “I love you, Lizzy. More than ever.” He winks. “So are you staying?”

  With my steamy boyfriend telling me he loves me and asking me to stay, how can I refuse? Who would want to? I quickly send a text off to my boss to let her know I won’t be in today. I’m still in bed, sick. Yeah, so sick. I’d take this kind of sickness any day.

  Let the lovemaking with my man begin. He chose me. He chose to stay. He chose to love me. He made a choice, and I’m so very thankful. Now, about more sex... I kiss that hot, tempting grin off his sweet lips before saying, “Absolutely.”

  EPILOGUE

  Molly

  God, I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this man, but I’d do it again. Over and over. Well, I have done it over and over actually.

  What started out as casual texts has turned into all-nighters full of naughty foreplay, hot-as-sin sex, and long, awkward goodbyes.

  Like now.

  I’m lying in my bed, trying to catch my breath from the toe-curling, howling-at-the-moon, tear-jerking orgasm that just steamrolled through my body, and he wants to cuddle.

  For the love of all that is holy, I thought I was supposed to be the one who wants to cuddle. I’m the chick. He’s the dude. He’s supposed to be all about the wam, bam, thank you ma’ams. But he’s not.

  He’s so much more than that.

  He’s the gift that keeps on giving.

  “I miss you already,” he says, sprinkling my bare shoulder with wet kisses. He nibbles all the way up my neck, and I can almost hear the sizzle from the heat he is creating again.

  “I’m right here,” I tell him, running my fingers up and down his strong forearms. The man is built like no other. Just feeling his body against mine has me thinking about everything we just did and wanting more. I swear I can’t think when he’s around. It takes everything I have to keep my shit straight when we’re around other people.

  “Let me stay, Molly.” He sweeps his tongue around my earlobe before tugging on it with his teeth. “Let me fall asleep with you in my arms.”

  “Is that all you want to do? Sleep?”

  He chuckles, a low growl that has me shivering all over. “You know me better than that.” His hands go to work, tracing the length of my body from my hips to my breasts. “So I can stay?”

  “Someone will see you leave.”

  “Then I won’t...leave. I’ll stay another night,” he says. A moan escapes from me as his hand finds its way between my legs. He doesn’t touch me yet. He’s waiting for an answer.

  “God, you know how to make me feel good.” I squirm in his arms, wanting more of what he has to offer. “Stop teasing me.”

  “Tell me I can stay,” he demands, the sweet lover from before now gone. I’m not sure who I like better. The good cop or bad cop. He plays both so well.

  “God, you can stay,” I whimper. “Stay with me.” The panted pleas come as his fingers tease me some more.

  “You know I don’t like it when you call me God. Say my name, Molly.” Fuck, this man is nothing short of a sex god with the deep tone of his commands and expert hands. I’ll say anything he wants so long as his fingers don’t stop. “Say my name. Tell me what you want.”

  “I want you, Justin.” I yell out his name as he pushes his long fingers inside me. My body melts around him. “I want you.”

  He removes his hand from my center and pushes me onto my back. His knees separate my legs and he lowers himself onto me. He presses a hard kiss to my mouth before he pushes inside me, making me moan and groan and everything else you could imagine. And then he pauses, the feel of his dick still pulsing inside me. He gazes into my eyes, a stare like no other, and says, “Don’t you ever forget it.”

  The End

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  FIRE ME UP BOOK CLUB

  Tell Me You Love Me

  FAB List

  The Blackstone Affair by Raine Miller

  Love in All The Wrong Places by Audrey Harte

  You Belong With Me by M.R. Joseph

  Let It Be Me by Toni Aleo

  Love Notes by Heather Gunter

  The Philadelphia series by Taryn Plendl

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Tell Me You Love Me is more than a book about romance; it’s a book about friendship and family. I’m so lucky to have been gifted quite well in those departments. I’m extremely grateful for the amazing people in my life who I can count on for just about anything.

  Special thanks to my hubby. I swear he should get the Father of the Year award for going to band booster club meetings while I was busy writing this book. And thank you to my children for being patient, being amazing, pimping me out to your friends and teachers, wearing my shirts, eating microwave dinners, and for pointing out that we don’t have milk in the fridge, but we have plenty of Fireball. I love you!

  A kabillion thank yous to my Dirty Birdies: Mom, Sister, Lyndsi, Debbie, Kim, Tiffany, Rachelle, and Amy. You proofread. You pack my shit. You lug my shit. You make my swag. You travel with me. You pick up my receipts. You make sure I’m fed. You make sure I’m hydrated with both water and beer. You pretty much do everything but wipe my ass, although I’m fairly certain a few of you would do that, too, if I needed it. I don’t know what I would do without you. Thank you so much! I love you, man!

  To my fellow Shelfers: I just love you. So much. When I think of you, I think of tube socks, tighty whities, Fruit Loops, and Slapping the P. T
hank you for all the support and all the laughs. You are the beacon of light... This part of my life would be incomplete without you.

  To my Woody Girls: when are we going to party again? I love you, ladies. Signings are never the same without you all there. To cider beer, Fireball, and Kevin Decker... Cheers!

  To my editor, Marion Archer: You. Complete. Me.

  To my amazing graphic designer, Sommer Stein: U da bomb diggity. No doubt. My sista from anotha mista! I love you! Thank you for not blocking me on FB when I bug you endlessly with all my cray cray ideas.

  Finally, to the people who make it all happen: Readers and Bloggers! I love you with all my heart. Thank you for always being there...to read my books, review them, share them, and love them. Your undying support is not lost on me. You are appreciated! Thank you so much!

  OTHER TITLES BY JULIE PRESTSATER

  Julie has written two series: The Double Threat Series for teens and the Against The Wall Series for adults. Against The Wall is actually a spinoff from her YA series and is recommended for mature readers who are 17 years or older.

  If you were to read both series, here’s the order:

  So I’m A Double Threat

  Double Threat My Bleep

  Against The Wall

  Double Time

  Between The Sheets

  Double Threats Forever

  Straddling The Edge

  Playing Chase

  Alex’s Story (coming soon)

  Other Titles:

  Tell Me You Love Me (Fire Me Up Series #1)

  Without You

  More Than A Friend Request

  In A Relationship (More Than A Friend Request #2 coming soon)

  You Act So White (YA)

  Find all of Julie’s titles available for most book sellers here.

  Other links:

  Julie’s Website

  Julie on Facebook

  Double Threat Series on Facebook