"you are exactly, precisely, and perfectly what I've waited for"

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

The freezing air hits my skin as I follow Sterling outside, and goosebumps raise across my arms.

He stops in place, turning around to face me. "I've given you your time, but enough is enough. We need to talk, now."

My heart immediately drops to my stomach and I suck in a deep breath of air.

"Sterling, it's cold, and I don't have my jacket." I try to get out of this.

He shakes his head and takes his own suit jacket off, hanging it off my shoulders. "Now you do."

"Sterling," I protest in a murmur.

"No, no more waiting. I can't do this anymore. It's too hard." He looks exasperated as he runs a hand through his soft brown hair. "Laney, I was yours the moment I laid my eyes on you. You own me. You consume me. Every one of my thoughts is about you. Everything I do is for you. No other girl existed the moment I knew you did."

I'm speechless. His words leave me literally unable to talk.

"Tell me it didn't mean anything," he fills my silence.

"What?"

"The kiss, tell me it didn't mean anything."

"I– I can't," I admit in a stutter.

He looks pleased with my answer. "And why not?"

"Because it did. It did mean something. It meant a lot, okay? There, I said it." I raise my voice out of desperation and urgency.

He grabs my face with both his hands tilting my head up. "Delaney, look at me."

The use of my full name gets him what he wants, and I do as he says.

He scans my face thoroughly. "What are you so scared of?"

I break free from his hold, backing up a few steps.

"Losing you! Don't you get it? I want this, as much as you do, but it's scary! What if the risk isn't worth it? What if something happens and I lose not only you but everyone else I've met because of you? Daisy, Mason, Theo, Owen, Luke, Charlotte, " I yell.

"Laney." His voice is calm, somehow, clearly trying to get me to calm down with him.

"What?" My defeated eyes meet his piercing green ones.

"Do you want to know how I know this is worth it?"

"How?"

"Because I love you!"

I laugh humorously. "No, you don't, Sterling. We're not even together!"

"We both know that isn't true."

"How can you love me if we're not even dating?" I don't know how to accept it. Accept that he loves me. It makes all of this so real.

"The same way you love me." He looks so confident in his words, not in a cocky way, but like he seems so sure of it, as if I've told him I love him a million times before. "Don't you?"

"Yes! Of course I do. Of course I love you. How could I not?"

He seemingly skips over everything I just said, still stuck on something I told him moments ago. His face grows confused, frustrated, almost. "And what did you mean by 'No you don't'"

"What?" My mind is so scattered I have no clue what he's talking about right now.

"You said 'no you don't' after I told you that I loved you." He quotes me. "Don't tell me how to feel, Laney."

"Don't tell me what to do, Sterling," I counter in a sort of warning.

"Oh shut up."

So I do, and he doesn't say anything more. No. He just stares at me. He stares at me with a look in his eyes that make butterflies swarm in my stomach and my knees weak. And then, he kisses me. He kisses me with passion and need, he kisses me with love.

And so I kiss him back. With the same level of passion, need, and love.

He uses one hand to pull my waist into his body and the other tangles itself within my hair. Mine go straight to his tie, tugging down on it, limiting any distance between us. He slips his tongue into my mouth and I moan into the kiss.

As if the sound I made was a trigger, he immediately pulls his lips away from mine. "Fuck, we're going to our cabin."

Still in a bit of a daze, I don't move, I just stay put, trying to register his words.

"Delaney, I need you to come with me before I rip your dress off right here."

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

I follow him into our small cabin and the second the door closes, I kiss him once more. My lips latch onto his and I throw his jacket off my shoulders. My attention moves to him, more specifically, what he's still wearing.

He looked fucking amazing tonight. With a white dress shirt perfectly hugging his chiselled torso and strong arms. His black suit jacket, now on the floor, made him look lavish. The tie I helped him with earlier today is now loosely wrapped around his neck, coming undone from me tugging on it. His pants are the same shade of black as his jacket, fitting him to a T and showing off his now visible bulge. Sterling's once flawlessly styled hair is now messy at the handy work of me.

We walk a few steps backwards and to the edge of the bed. Not once breaking away from our kiss, Sterling lowers me onto it so I'm lying down across the clean white sheets. He moves on top of me, caging me in as his hands move to either side of my head. His kisses move from my swollen lips, to my cheek, and then, to my neck. I roll my head to the side, giving him more access, and a small gasp escapes me when he reaches my sweet spot just below my ear.

In an instinctive need to see him uncovered, I start unbuttoning his shirt. I don't even realize I'm nervous until I feel my hands shake as I fumble with the small buttons. I guess he notices this because he stops the assault on my neck and looks into my eyes. He covers my shaky hands with his own and asks, "Are you okay? We can stop. At any point. Just tell me if you feel uncomfortable, and it's over. I don't want you to do anything you're not comforta—"

I interrupt his concerned ramble. "Sterling, stop talking. I want this."

A small smile breaks out on his face. God, those dimples.

Thankfully, he takes my words as an invitation to help me with removing his shirt and it's off his body in about three seconds.

I run my cold hands up and down his godly torso, and he closes his eyes at the contact, groaning into the touch.

Oh my god, that sound. I want to hear that constantly, for the rest of my life.

In desperate need of having him repeat it, I pull his hips into mine, grinding my own against his, and providing me with some much needed friction between my legs.

He grips my inner thigh, his fingers digging into my skin, and I spread my legs for him. The slit in my dress is a godsend, letting me separate my legs more than I would be able to in a normal dress.

"Take it off," I almost whine, needing to feel his skin on mine.

"Are you sure?" he asks, his face full of genuineness and care.

The intense feeling of his touch and the heat radiating off his body leaves me unable able to speak, so I just nod my head.

"Baby, I'm going to need to hear you say it if you want it off."

"Yes, please." I'm begging now, and a smirk finds its way onto Sterling's lips.

It doesn't take long for him to discard my dress, leaving me in only a bra and underwear. It's not the hottest set, but it's not bad either. They're both a matching shade of black with a subtle amount of lace decorating them.

He tosses the fabric off the bed and onto the floor, and his eyes go straight back to my now bare body lying on the bed. He rakes over my figure with a gaze full of lust and desire. I expect him to say something, to do something, but he doesn't. He just continues looking at me, unmoving and seemingly in a trance.

"Darling? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" I start to grow nervous and insecure.

Did I do something?

Does he not like what he sees?

"God, you're fucking art. I could look at you for hours." He finally speaks, and I blush under him.

Wanting to have him equally as exposed, I reach for his belt, clumsily undoing the buckle and taking it off of him. He helps me with the rest, pulling down his pants and leaving himself in only his boxers.

I bit my lip as my vision goes straight to the huge bulge still covered by the piece of fabric. He smirks when he notices my gawking, and I roll my eyes jokingly.

"Can I?" he asks, playing with the strap of my bra, clearly asking for permission to take it off.

"Yes," I go straight to words, knowing he won't proceed until I do.

I arch my back off the bed as he slips a hand under me and unclasps my bra. He does it with so much ease and I'm reminded of just how much experience he's had.

All of a sudden I feel almost embarrassed at my lack of experience and my body stiffens with insecurities.

"What's wrong, love?" He senses my change in mood immediately, stopping himself before he takes the bra fully off of me.

I feel ashamed even admitting it but I tell him, not wanting him to think I'm regretting this. "It's just I've never done this before, and I know you have. What if I'm not good at it?"

He just smiles down at me and gives me a quick peck on the lips. "That's what you're worried about?"

I nod.

"Laney, and hear me when I say this, anything you do will be perfect. Just kissing you feels better than I ever have in my life. Whatever happens, whatever you are comfortable with doing, I promise, I will have felt nothing better."

God, the way this man makes me feel. He knows exactly what to say.

He picks my hand off the bed and places it onto his boxers, making me feel him. "Do you feel how hard you make me? This is what you do to me." His voice is so deep and filled with desire, it knocks the wind out of me.

Feeling a little more confident in the power I have over him, I get the urge to do something bold. I take the bra off myself, leaving my chest bare. "Touch me, Sterling," I plead.

"Shit, you're perfect."

He places both hands on my now exposed breasts and cups them. He lets out a deep groan, telling me exactly what I wanted to hear. He squeezes one of my hardened nipples between his fingers and I moan out in pleasure.

Holy fuck, that feels good.

As if he can read my mind, he continues doing it, leaving me a squirming mess. He switches from his hands to his mouth, closing it over the peak of my nipple and taking it in-between his teeth, tugging at it gently. My eyes close tightly and I throw my head back.

"Sterling," I breathe out heavily "I want– more. Please."

"What do you want me to do to you?" he asks, letting me choose, yet he's still in full control.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I want. All I know is I'm desperate for something. For a release of some kind. From the building and excruciating tension I'm feeling. "Anything," I beg. "Just do it. Now."

Sterling seems to know exactly what I'm asking for and in dire need of. He trails slow, wet kisses down my neck, chest, and stomach, until he reaches where I want him most. He strokes my centre and I press myself into his hand, grinding on it. "Fuck, baby, you're so wet for me."

"I'm going to take these off now, okay?" He hooks his fingers onto the sides of my underwear.

"Yes, do it." My words are laced together with one long moan.

He rips them off of me and pulls apart my legs, licking up the inside of my thighs.

Just when I can't take the teasing any longer, he puts me out of my misery. He places a kiss directly on my clit. "Oh my god!"

My reaction encourages him as his tongue circles my clit, spreading my wetness. "You taste so fucking good," he says as he continues to drink me in. Sterling licks between my slick folds and my hand goes to grip his hair, pushing him into me.

He makes his way to my opening and pushes his tongue inside, fucking me with his mouth. I writhe against him, not able to control myself, and he pushes down on my hips, keeping me in place.

"Baby, I'm going to use a finger now, tell me if it hurts too much." His voice is serious, clearly not messing around with the idea of me being in pain at all.

"Mhm," is all I can respond with, and he does as he said he would. While his mouth is still latched onto my clit, providing me with a feeling of pure euphoria, he eases one finger into my opening.

I feel a stretching sensation, it's almost painful, but not quite. He pulls his finger out and seconds later, thrusts it back in. This time, it's much less uncomfortable and it starts to feel pleasurable. Really pleasurable. I involuntarily clench around his finger and start moving my hips, riding his finger as he continues to push in and out of me. "You're doing so good, Laney."

Soon, it gets too much for me to handle and I feel my stomach twist into a knot.

"Let go, come for me, baby," he whispers. And with that, a wave crashes over me. I moan out a combination of profanity and his name as I feel my first orgasm ripple through my entire body. I throw my head back, arching my back, and I shudder with pleasure.

I come down from my insane high as he continues to stroke my now overly sensitive clit until I ride it out completely. My eyes open from their previous state of being tightly shut, and I remove my grasp from Sterling's hair.

He presses one less tender kiss to my core and comes back up to meet me. I watch in awe as he licks my juices off his fingers. "So sweet."

I blush at his words, feeling a little embarrassed once my brain clears from my previous high. He just smiles at me, looking at me with so much affection in his eyes I almost melt under his gaze.

"I love you," I remind him, feeling so grateful I can finally admit that to him.

"I love you."

The rest of the night is a blur. We spend it cuddled together, under warm blankets and talking until we can't hold our eyes open. Then, we drift off, wrapped in each other, and feeling at home.

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

Um, I can't believe I just wrote that... This is the first time I've ever written anything like that so I hope it was okay. I'm all for constructive criticism, I'm obviously super new at this, so please go for it if you have anything to say. If you do though, I just ask you guys to say it nicely lol.

Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed and scared to post this chapter so I really really hope you guys enjoyed it and let me know if you did.

I know most of my readers chose to have no warning on chapters with smut, but I did have a few people ask for one. Out of respect for those people, I will have a warning at the beginning of the chapter. I just really don't want anyone uncomfortable, I hope you guys understand that. I promise not to give specific spoilers in any of the warnings, just a quick message to say there will be mature scenes. This is also more for my peace of mind, I know it wouldn't be a huge deal if there weren't warnings, but the thought of making even one of my readers uncomfortable, is the worst feeling.

Also, a love confession, smut, and a long chapter, That's how much I love you all.

Question of the chapter: Do you guys like mint chocolate chip ice cream? (Jail if you don't)

Please vote and comment!

Stay safe and healthy <3