never know what to say…” He touches my chest, tracing the lines of my heart. “Everyone in my life ends up leaving me at some point. You won’t, will you?”
Never let him go. “I won’t.”
His lips land on mine, soft, and I sigh and curl my hands around his neck.
I’m taking this chance. I knew it the moment I walked out of that bathroom at The Purple Iris. I also know I’m flying close to the sun, brushing at the flame he is, but is life worth living if I give up on the most precious thing I’ve ever held in my hands?
26
I blink in the darkness, checking the time on the clock on my nightstand: five in the morning. Charisma is lying next to me. The last time she was here in the fall, we had sex and she left.
Not this time.
We fell asleep after talking and catching up. She told me about going to Nashville and more about her family. Will she let me meet them? Will they like me? Will her mom? Shit. Am I ready to commit to whatever this is?
She turns over to face me, still asleep, her face relaxed, lips parted. I brush a knuckle over them. She’s never kissed another guy here, and I know what that means to her.
She meant it when she wrote I love you. I let those words reverberate in my chest.
She snuggles in closer to me, a sigh coming from her. Last night already feels far away, a fleeting moment, tenuous and fragile, so I kiss her, savoring the feel of her lips against mine.
“Morning,” I say with a smile when her eyes blink open.
“It’s the ass crack of dawn. Why are you awake?” she murmurs.
“My brain is up. I can’t sleep once it’s running.” I push hair out of her face. “It might help if you took your clothes off.”
“Me taking my clothes off will help you sleep?”
“It might. Wanna find out?”
“Well, I must do my part to ensure that Blaze Townsend gets his beauty rest.”
“Smart girl.” I reach for the hem of her shirt, tugging it up, and she moves around with me, sliding her arms through. I toss it on the floor. She’s wearing a purple bra, lacy and low, accentuating her creamy pale skin.
“Charm,” I groan, my fingers teasing the outline of her cleavage. “You wreck me.”
“I know.” She has this bemused expression as she pulls my shirt off and throws it over her shoulder.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her against me, her skin on mine. “This…this…your skin against mine…”
She kisses her way up to my neck until she’s finally on my cheek, my chin. My body tightens, anxious for her lips on my mouth, and I let out a growl when her tongue touches mine then plays, dipping in and then coming back out. I lie back and let her make love to my mouth, kissing the corners, tilting her head and exploring, flicking her tongue against mine.
I take control of us, my mouth straining up and opening, taking her in deep, sucking on her tongue and swirling. I can’t get deep enough. I can’t crawl inside her like I want to, but I think my kiss tells her how long I’ve waited.
“Fire in my hands,” I whisper, breathing out.
“The things you say…”
I reach down and slide my fingers inside her shorts, my fingers grazing over her tiny, lacy underwear. “How many of these kinds of panties do you have?”
“So many. All colors. A few thongs.”
“I want to see them all. Fashion show later at your place?”
She’s laughing as she pushes my jeans to my feet and throws them to the floor. My cock juts up, pointing straight at her, and I laugh. “He knows what he wants.”
“So do I.” She runs her hands from the tops of my bare shoulders to my thighs, where she tangles her hands in the leg hair there. Those big brown eyes lift to mine as she strokes my cock, rubbing her fingers over the head.
Lust licks at me, but I tamp it down. I want to savor her, enjoy her.
“No need to rush,” I say, and I lean up and pull her back to where I want her, flush against me.
I suck her nipple through the lace while my hands unhook the back clasp. Her nipples are rosy and erect, her breasts straining as I massage them, licking and blowing on her skin.
My fingers dip into her panties. “You slay me, hot and