Listen to Your Heart

Chapter Twelve

Mature Content Warning  :)

I'm so en-captured, got me wrapped up in your touch

Feel so enamored, hold me tight within your clutch
How do you do it? You got me losing every breath
What did you give me to make my heart beat out my chest?

I feel we're close enough
Could I lock in your love?
I feel we're close enough
Could I lock in your love?

Now I've got you in my space
I won't let go of you
Got you shackled in my embrace
I'm latching on to you

-Latch, Sam Smith

"Let me see you," Bradley commanded gently and slowly, she obliged, allowing him to lift her shirt over her head, to reach behind her and unclasp her bra. His eyes drank her in before his hands drifted slowly down her bare back.

He touched her as though she were something rare and precious, making maps on her skin everywhere as he explored new territory; over her biceps, the slope of her shoulders, the tendons of her back, sweeping the flat planes of her stomach, traveling back up to her breasts, his fingertips teasing her erect nipples as she gasped.

"So fucking beautiful," he shook his head in disbelief. Hooking his thumbs through her belt loops, he tugged down her jeans and her underwear, watching as they pooled around her ankles.

Her arousal was evident in the dampness of her panties as she stepped out of them, the heady fragrance permeating the air.

Bradley's fingers resumed their journey, caressing her hips and thighs, hands lingering on the raised ink of her unicorn tattoo. As they descended toward her ass, she reached for him, her lips launching an attack on his. She began to pull on his shirt, her hands automatically going to his belt buckle and he stilled them.

"Not yet," he said, his eyes sweeping over her nude form so appreciatively, she nearly blushed. Whispering in her ear, he gifted the softest of bites on the lobe. "I want to kiss every inch of you first."

Somehow, she'd forgotten how to breathe.

As much as she wanted all of him, Stefani told herself to slow down, that, for once, time was a commodity that they had. She wanted to fall apart under his touch, to let him possess her completely. It had been three years in the making and she wasn't going to deny either of them, not anymore.

Making good on his promise, he scooped her up, his arms grasping under her thighs and carried her to the bed, dipping his head to kiss her softly at first, then with building passion. His mouth made its way to her neck, biting and kissing the sensitive skin there and down over her throat and collarbone, leaving a trail of heat in his wake.

His lips enclosed over her right nipple, sucking and kissing the pink peak and she moaned, low and throaty, grabbing a handful of his hair. "Too many clothes," she managed to rasp out as he lavished attention on the other breast. "You---off—now."

Somehow, he deciphered her request and grinning, rose to peel his shirt off of his body. Immediately, she was greeted by smooth, defined muscles and she let her hands roam over his skin. She had been acutely aware of what kind of shape he was in, having filmed love scenes together, but the sight of him, not as Jackson this time, the breathtaking expanse of his toned back and arms was sending her into the stratosphere.