Free Ian's Way by Reese Gabriel

the bed. “You could have just said yes when I asked you for a date earlier. It would have been a lot simpler.”
    “Since when have you and I ever been simple? Oh god, Ian, I do love you. I think I always have,” she sighed, watching, mesmerized as he pulled the T-shirt over his head baring his sculpted, bronzed chest.
    He arched a brow as he undid the snap of his jeans. “So you love me, huh? And how exactly would you define that?”
    She blinked as though the admission had been as much of a surprise to her as to him. “I don’t know. What about you?”
    “What about me?” He had his sneakers off and his jeans were down at his ankles. His erect cock tented his boxers, tantalizing her with its hidden dimensions. Once he was naked, she noticed some scars and realized that he still owed her answers about his past.
    “What do you think, goofball? We’re talking about love, remember?”
    “Oh yeah, I tend to get forgetful around divine perfection.”
    “If anyone’s divine it’s you,” she insisted, opening her arms to receive him as he crawled onto the bed, his lips seeking hers.
    He kissed her softly, teasingly. “The truth is, I love you too, but I’m not sure what it means either. And believe me, that’s a lot for me to admit.”
    “Tell me about it. You used to know everything.”
    “Hah. When it came to the one thing that really mattered, I was clueless.”
    Nikky reached up and touched his cheek. “Dear, sweet Ian. What am I to you, really? By your own admission, I can’t even make decent life decisions. That hardly qualifies me for goddess material.”
    “It does if I say so. Trust me. You are totally immortal in my imagination.”
    “You know,” she conceded, running her fingers over his chest. “You weren’t the only one fantasizing.”
    “Oh?”
    “I had a dream about you once. It freaked me out a little, to be honest. I had forgotten about it until this morning.”
    “Was I that repulsive?” he teased.
    “No, it was just so intense. It was our junior year. We were up all night, doing our final English projects.”
    “You mean we were up all night doing your English project. I had mine done two months in advance.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Do you want to hear this or not?”
    “Depends,” he rasped, sliding his hands along her thighs, up under the hem of her skirt. “Are you going to get me all worked up and then leave me high and dry afterward?”
    “Yeah, because that’s really something I would do. Not .”
    Ian turned her over slightly and gave her bottom a playful smack. “Talk woman, now.”
    Her breathing quickened from the sudden heat of his palm. “I was on the beach, wearing my yellow bathing suit—you remember the one?”
    “Are you kidding? I had every article of clothing of yours memorized, right down to that sparkly belt you used to wear with your white jeans. God I loved that belt.”
    She laughed. Her cheeks flushed. “If I had known you were so fond of it, I would have given it to you.”
    “You’re all heart.”
    “Anyhow, it was really hot,” she continued her recollection. “I was on my back, letting the rays bake me. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have someone rub in some lotion. I expected one of the usual crowd of jocks but all of a sudden you came along. I remember it so clearly. ‘Why are you surprised,’ you said, ‘when I am the one who knows you?’ Isn’t that strange? And then you started rubbing in the lotion.
    “Oh god, it turned me on. You just laughed and told me to relax. Next thing I knew I had my legs apart. You took off my top and my bottom, pulling on the little strings and then…and then you got on top of me. I have never told that dream to anyone Ian. Not even Kaity .”
    “I’m glad you waited,” he said, lifting her arms and maneuvering her out of the pretty pink tank top. “I would have freaked out if you had told me back in high school.”
    She put her arms around his neck and drew him close. Their