Before He Lied

Tessa Chapter 55

I wake up on top of Hardin, our bodies are touching and I can hear his steady heartbeat.

I slowly sit up, I look at the aftermath from last night and smile at the memories. I gently run my hand over the marks on my neck and I can't help when I bite my lip.

I feel him sit up behind me, he brushes my hair off my neck. His lips make contact with my skin and I immediately get butterflies. I love when he kisses my neck, out of everything he does that is by far my favorite. It's just so gentle.

He lightly moves his kisses up shoulder to my neck.

"You're rather smiley this morning." He says in his morning voice.

I turn around to face him, I climb into his lap.

"I'm just thinking about last night."

"Oh really."

He leans in and kisses my chest which makes me giggle.

"You're so giggly, what have I done to you." He teases.

"I'm just so happy...............I haven't been this happy in such a long time."

"Me either." He says.

I lean into him and we fall over on top of each other.

We both start dying of laughter and he leans in to kiss me.

I sit up and I start playing with his hair, it's gotten really long. I brush it all forward so it covers his eyes.

He laughs and chuckles before he slicks it back with his fingers, he keeps one hand on my waist and tucks the other behind his head.

"It's so long." I say.

"I know, I need to get it cut." He says.

"No, keep it long. I like it long."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, more to pull." I say.

"Who are you? Where has my sweet innocent Theresa gone?"

I blush.

"Their she is, I knew she was still in there."

I look down and trace the tattoo of a quote on his stomach.

"And here you are,despite it all." I repeat as I trace the words.

"That's beautiful." I say.

"I got it to remind me of how far I've come...................I still have a long way to go."He says honestly.

I look up at him.

"You're really strong Hardin, after everything you went through you came out better on the other side. I'm so proud, you could have turned out awful but you didn't. You need to give yourself more credit."

He sits up and pulls me close.

"I love you so much." He whispers.

"And I love you..............all of you."

He rests his head on my chest and I lightly scratch his scalp.

...

It's Saturday thankfully so we can be together the whole day.

After just laying in bed and talking about random things Hardin suggested that we take a bath and of course I didn't refuse.

He led me to the bathroom and he relit the candles in the bathroom and turned off the lights, he filled the tub with bubbles and hot water.