Meet Me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo (novels for beginners txt) 📕

‘It may also surprise you to learn that I do everything a hundred miles an hour.’

‘That I do know.’

She didn’t react, instead she watched her fingers as they unbuttoned his shirt. ‘You’re the first man I’ve stomped on the brakes for.’ She looked up and met his eye, her sincerity making his breath catch. ‘That makes you a very good thing.’

She teased her fingers beneath his open shirt and his muscles flexed under the simple touch, the heat spreading like wildfire as it followed her teasing caress.

‘That makes you special, Todd,’ she whispered, lifting up to press her lips to his, ‘very… special.’

She wasn’t confessing her love for him but boy, did it feel enough. For now, it had to be, it would be. He turned her so that her back faced him, his fingers brushing her hair to the side so that he could trace the delicate arch to her neck with his lips. ‘That makes two of us, Malie.’

She gave a little shiver.

‘Are you cold?’

‘No, Todd, no… I’m never cold with you near.’

His heart pulsed in his chest, his fingers trembling as he took hold of her zipper and eased it down. Hardly daring to believe that this was happening he imprinted every second to memory. Just as he’d said he would.

He reached the curve of her back, unveiling her butterfly tattoo and seeing it with fresh eyes. He eased the dress from her body, brushed his hands over her hips as he encouraged the delicate fabric to fall, his thumbs meeting at the base of her spine, his fingers fanning out as he caressed the loop of one wing.

She wriggled beneath his touch, her whimper a delight.

‘This is beautiful.’

She looked to him over her shoulder, and he could see the question in her eyes.

‘The butterfly,’ he said in answer. ‘It’s beautiful, like you.’

Her lashes lowered, her bottom lip caught in her teeth as she rolled into his continued caress.

‘What does it mean, Malie?’

Her lashes fluttered open and she turned into him.

‘It means I’m free,’ she hooked her arms around his neck, ‘free to enjoy life as I want, without anyone’s judgement or dismissal.’

He could see the meaning in her eyes, knew the answer before he even asked, ‘When did you have it done?’

‘The week before I left the UK for good. The week before…’ She broke off and took a breath.

‘The week before you left your parents behind?’

She lifted her lashes, her pained depths pulling him apart inside. ‘Yes.’

He kissed her, desperate to ease the pain, the worry, the heartache, both hers and his. ‘It’s not too late, Malie, you can still be that free and have them back.’

She nodded, her lips finding his. ‘I know that now… thanks to you, thanks to Tara and her family.’

She stepped out of her heels, her fingers on her bra as she released the fastening and let it drop to the floor. She gazed up at him, bare but for the strip of her thong and he couldn’t speak. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was exquisite. The luscious curve to her breasts, their hardened upturned nubs aroused by him, for him, the proud angle to her neck as she let him drink in his fill. And still he wanted, needed, more, his heart feeling fit to burst.

He kissed her with all the passion, all the need, all the love he felt inside. He cupped her beneath the curve of each breast, his hands continuing to tremble, his heart beating out of control. She leaned into his caress, her whimper soft and teasing in his ear. This was happening. It really was.

‘Oh, Malie.’ He swung her up in his arms, and carried her to the bed, laying her down like she was some fragile possession he didn’t dare break.

He stood back and stripped his shirt, his shoes, his socks, not once taking his eyes off her and the emotion in her gaze. It looked like love, it looked exactly how he felt, and if it was, then surely this wasn’t goodbye, surely this was just the start.

He lay down next to her and she curved her leg around him, pulling him in against her, his hardness nestled between her thighs as she kissed him. Her hands roamed over his back, his chest, his hair, like she too couldn’t get enough and needed to commit every stretch of him to memory. It was impassioned, it was desperate, but when her hands reached into the waistband of his trousers, he pulled back.

He gripped her wrists, forcing her to pause, his eyes searing down into the glazed heat of hers. ‘Are you sure?’

‘I want you, Todd, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life… please?’

He released his grip to stroke the hair back from her face and press a kiss to her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her lips.

‘OK,’ he brushed against her mouth, ‘no more questions.’

He pulled away to strip himself of the last of his clothing and reached for the protection in his bedside drawer. When he came back to her, he did exactly as he’d promised outside, he took his time, intending to travel the length of her, every dip and curve, every taste to sample, coaxing out every sweet sound she could possibly make as she wriggled beneath him, begging him for more.

‘Please, Todd, now.’

He rose up above her, his legs and arms bracketing her body as her own impatience drove her to strip away her thong and then there was nothing, no barrier between them, no holding back.

She took the protection, pushed him to his limits as she stroked and sheathed him and then she lay back, opening herself up to him so that his hips nestled between her thighs.

Never had he felt more at home, more at peace, and as she wrapped her legs around him, her ankles urging him forward, he eased inside her, his eyes locked in the emotional heat of hers. He made love to her. Slow and