His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 223: Cheesy

** Eli **

The words felt surreal, the sound of them something that Eli had never expected to hear out of his own voice. But when he saw the smile it brought to Harper’s face, the misty look in her eyes that spoke more than any love songs, he could only wonder why he had never confessed any of this to her sooner.

It was truly the greatest favor from fate that he hadn’t completely and forever missed the chance to do it.

"Oh my God. You’re gonna make me cry." Harper suddenly looked away from him, sniffling, and the abrupt rush of pink blooming over her cheeks was ... insanely adorable. "I’m ridiculous, I know. It’s not like you are proposing or anything! And I’m already about to tear up! This is not how it’s supposed to go."

Hmm, good reminder. Make sure Harper actually cries when he proposes — item added to the top of his checklist.

Eli didn’t boast out loud about his new plan in the making though. Gently turning her face back to him, he pressed her into his shoulder and nuzzled her hair. "Don’t worry, you’ll get so used to me saying cheesy things like this from now on that I’m sure you’ll start rolling your eyes soon, rather than crying."

He was trying to sound playful, because in fact, he was just as flustered himself and could barely keep his heart from leaping out of his throat. Both of them needed a little change of mood to calm down from this emotional moment.

It worked. Harper’s sniffles turned into a laughter, and she touched her palm to his heart again, feeling their pulses racing alongside each other’s. "Then keep saying it," she requested. A soft kiss landed on the side of his cheek. "Keep saying whatever cheesy things you’re holding back from me ... I want to hear them all."

Eli didn’t need any extra incentives to do precisely that. Maybe he was already starting to get addicted to the taste of those syllables on his tongue.

"I love you, Harper. And I think I’m falling more in love with you every day."

A puff of a smile was his reply, and another kiss landed, sliding down his jaw.

"Even if this might sound insincere, I swear it’s true — you are always the first thought on my mind when I wake up, and the last when I go to sleep."

A feathery peck came this time, inching up to the corner of his mouth.

"The story you told me was the kind of fairy tale I never dared to believe ... until now."

A brush of her lips against his, her warm breath tickling his skin.

"And I—" free𝑤ebnovel.com

He paused when she nibbled on his bottom lip, and her tongue teased the seam of his mouth, seeking entrance.

"Um ..." He abruptly remembered something with a guilty realization. "Wait a second. Am I— Do I ... still smell like alcohol?"

Shit. He shouldn’t have been drinking right before she came. He shouldn’t have ruined such an intimate moment ... by smelling like a drunken bastard!

Harper laughed at the nervous edge in his voice. "No, you don’t." She pulled away, temporarily ending that seductive trail of kisses. "But on that end, will you promise me one thing? Let’s keep talking like this whenever something comes between us again in the future. Let’s stop being idiots and shutting each other out, especially not with alcohol involved."

Eli flinched, yet the tender look in her eyes held no judgment, only making his heart race faster and faster.

"I promise," he said softly.

And then ... maybe he should go brush his teeth for this time around ...

Harper saw the thought in his eyes. The girl blinked her pretty eyes at him for a few moments, then — to his absolute shock — reached behind him for the half empty bottle of scotch on the counter.

"Well, if this is really bothering you so much." She tilted her head back, downing a large gulp of the amber liquid down her throat.

"...!!!"

"Ugh!!!" A violent cough ensued.

It took Harper a few seconds of patting her chest and gasping for air to calm the burn she wasn’t expecting. "Geez, that’s some super strong stuff you’ve got!" She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Ahem ... but now you don’t have to worry anymore. I bet I smell and taste exactly the same as you."

With that, she turned around and crushed her lips back onto his.

Oh this beautiful, seductive, angelic demon.

That feeling of lightheadedness was back, overwhelming Eli’s senses along with the scent of whiskey wafting between them. He tasted the liquor on her tongue, the unrelenting smoky tang utterly different from her usual sweet hint, but at the same time, matching her perfectly in its fiery sharpness, its intoxicating and addictive power.

He chased that taste greedily, delving deeper, and she sighed as he savored the lingering notes on the roof of her mouth.

"I think I’m starting to get tipsy ..." she whispered against his lips. "Is it the alcohol, or is it you?"

"I think it’s you," Eli chuckled. "And I sure hope you have absolutely no plans to get back home tonight ... in this tipsy state."

He felt those angelic, demonic lips curve up around the corners. "No, I do not. And I’m all caught up on sleep yesterday too, so I have absolutely no need to get any of that tonight either." Taking one step forward, she pressed herself into him, and he groaned when her soft body settled over the hard heat that had already started pooling in his groin. "Take me to bed," she breathed. "And let’s put something new on the agenda today ... I’ve got a special little surprise prepared just for you."

Oh. He would very much like that.

Eli grinned wide. With a swift scoop that couldn’t feel more natural to him at this point, he picked her up and carried her to his bed. Their bed.