Lost In Love | ✔️

36

~Clementine's POV~

The rest of the week that we spent on the cruise ship seemed to go by pretty quickly, if I'm honest. A part of me thought that it would be a while before Ryder and I would be able to get back home, but it was actually quite the opposite.

Before I even knew it, Ryder and I were stepping back on land with our bags in hand, his brown eyes glancing down at me as I grinned like an idiot and then looked up at him. "We can go home now!" I exclaimed, practically bouncing in my sandals. He slid his strong arm around my waist, making the fabric of my dress bunch up around my waist ever so slightly from the weight and hold of his arm. "Mine first, or yours?" He murmured, raising a dark brow down at me. A gust of wind blew through, making his dark brown hair bounce and blow through the wind, falling into his eyes a little.

"We can go to mine first, just so I can put all my shit down and stuff." I decided, peering up at him. He nodded his head, leading me down the sidewalk as he attempted to call for a passing taxi. Somehow, he managed to snag one on his first try, which was something I had never been capable of. The taxi pulled up beside the curb, rolling down the window of the passengers seat as the man driving the car waited for the two of us to get in. I set my suitcase on the floor in the front seat, climbing into the backseat with Ryder so we were sitting together.

I gave the taxi driver the address of my apartment, making sure my seatbelt was buckled when I leaned back and glanced up at Ryder, excitedly and absentmindedly bouncing my leg. It was clear that Ry had noticed my fidgeting when he placed his large hand on top of my knee, squeezing my leg in an attempt to calm me slightly. "Do you want to just spend the night at your place and then we can go see your family tomorrow, if you want? Afterwards, we can head to my place, if that sounds okay." Ry suggested, his thumb gently stroking the skin on my knee. I took a moment to think about it, eyeing his handsome face as I bit on my bottom lip.

"You wouldn't mind staying at my apartment? It's not very fancy, or anything..." I trailed off, cocking my head to the side. It wasn't as if my apartment was some kind of trash house or something, either, though. It was nice enough, for what I paid for it, but it was certainly nowhere near as nice as what I'm sure he was used to.

Ryder just raised his brows at me, looking at me as if I were an idiot. "Of course I don't mind." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "We were stuck on an island together for over a month. Why would I mind this?" He teased, watching as my face flushed a light shade of pink. I shrugged my shoulders, leaning into his side a little bit more. "I dunno." I mumbled, biting on the inside of my cheek. "I just feel kind of insecure about my apartment after seeing that you can literally afford your own private island." I admitted, looking down at my lap.

He nudged me with his shoulder, making me lift my head to meet his gaze once again. "There's nothing to be insecure about, Tiny." He said softly, ducking his head down to place a light, sweet kiss on my jawline. Butterflies swarmed about in my stomach from his proximity and the touch of his lips alone.

The drive back to my apartment was only about thirty minutes, which was honestly far less than I'd thought it would be. When we arrived I paid the taxi driver and then we got out, making sure to grab my suitcase from the front seat before I lead him behind me up the steps of my apartment building, heading into the air-conditioned complex. We took the elevator up to the very top floor and walked down the hallway until I stopped in front of my door, feeling Ryder's large body standing patiently behind me as I grabbed my spare key from where I left it on top of my doorframe.

I unlocked the door and let him in before me, taking a step to the side as he slid by and entered my apartment. Quickly following in behind him, I shut the door and locked it, glancing over at him as he made himself comfortable on one of my couches. His body looked very large and out of place on my smaller couch, causing my lips to twitch up as I giggled in amusement.

"What are you giggling about over there?" Ry asked, stretching his long legs out before him. He crossed his muscular arms over his chest, brown eyes piercing into my blue-green ones as I set my bag off to the side and made my way over to him. Standing between his outstretched legs, Ryder tilted his head back to look up at me, the sharp line of his stubbled jaw and the pure masculinity of his large body making me bite my bottom lip. "You make my couch look tiny." I stated.

A sly, playful grin formed on his handsome face. "Well, it is your couch." He hummed. "Maybe it was just made for tiny people like you." He teased, the clear joke making me grin stupidly. I crawled my way into his lap, straddling him with my legs on either side of him whilst my hands slid into his soft hair. His hands, at the same time, grasped my hips as my dress slid up my thighs a little, bunching up around my inner thighs. Not surprisingly, he just pulled it up a little higher, smoothing his palms around to my butt to cup two handfuls.

"You ready to see your parents tomorrow?" He murmured, scanning his eyes over my face as I smiled and nodded my head. "Are you ready to meet them?" I responded, absentmindedly twirling his soft hair between my fingers. His lips gently teased mine and a hum left his throat. "I'm ready to see you all excited." He said, causing me to smile and seal my lips over his gently. The kiss was sweet and passionate, his palms squeezing my backside tightly again, only making my dress hike up a little further, exposing my underwear.

"Love this dress on you, Tiny. You look good in blue." He told me once I broke away from him, my chest heaving slightly. I smiled slightly and let his hands wander over my figure, his touch just tracing over my curves as if we were new lovers and his hands had never touched me before. He touched me as if it were for the first time, yet it felt so familiar.

Smiling softly, I leaned into him and shuddered as his hands crept beneath my dress, resting my forehead on his gently. "I love you." I whispered, feeling him exhale heavily as he teased my lips with his, never connecting them. His eyes met mine, lids hooded and filled with desire and affection. "Take this off, Tiny." He said softly, gently tugging at the fabric of my dress. I knew exactly what he wanted, knew that giving me pleasure was perhaps one of his favorite ways of showing his love for me.

So I took it off, and I relished in his touch for as long as he gave it to me.