Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,84

in his throat as he lifted his mouth from hers, bringing a hand up to stroke her face.

His eyes were locked on hers, and she knew she must have been dreaming when he whispered against her mouth.

“How can you not see how perfect this is?”

Shelly closed her eyes, hanging on to the moment like a perfect memory, and then her lips parted as the dream took an erotic turn. A delicious pressure pushed between her thighs, and then suddenly she felt full—fuller than ever before.

Clinging on to shards of reality, she arched her hips and sighed as he thrust home, her whole body thrumming with sensation.

Her eyes slowly opened, and there he still was, deep chocolate eyes looking down at her with so much desire and such raw emotion that Shelly thought her heart would burst out of her chest.

Then, her dream opened his mouth and spoke to her, telling her everything she wanted to hear.

“You feel so good, Shel. You’re so tight. So warm.”

She felt kisses along her neck and a hardness pulsating deep between her thighs.

“How can you not see how good we’d be together and how much I would love you?”

His final words hurled her over the blissful edge of pleasure, and then lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter Nineteen

May

Shelly had been on her feet for the past eight hours, and she saw no end in sight. She was currently bedside in the ICU, preparing to perform a bronchoscopy procedure.

She was tired—exhausted actually.

Over the past couple of months, she had been working extra shifts and doing everything she could to avoid having to examine her recent life choices.

Her mother had been calling her every weekend to see how she was doing and when she would be coming back to talk.

Honestly, all Shelly wanted to do was forget that they had ever talked in the first place. However, she knew the time would come when she would have to see them both, and she felt it would be better if she did it sooner rather than later.

Then, there was him—the man that had somehow imprinted himself on her mind and body after such a short amount of time.

How is it that Josh is still always on her mind?

It had been over a month now since she had last seen him, and that had been so emotionally gut-wrenching that Shelly didn’t think she would ever recover.

So, what do I do?

She had worked herself into the ground to avoid dinners at Exquisite, skip late nights out with Mason and Lena, and evade working out with her friend. She had essentially disappeared. After all, that is what Josh had accused her of wanting to do. So why not live up to it?

***

Shelly woke up to the sun streaming through her window and across her pillow. It was hitting her right in the eyes. As she blinked them open, she raised her hand to her face, trying to block the intruding rays. She groaned, “Oh god.”

“Head hurts, huh?” a voice asked from the corner of her room.

Squinting over at the comfy reading chair that she had placed under her window, she saw Josh sitting in his—wait, T-shirt and boxer shorts?

Looking down at herself, she noticed she was in the bed with the sheet over her. Turning away from him, she slowly lifted the sheet and peeked under.

Naked except for panties.

She knew she must be a total mess, which didn’t help her disposition—not to mention, her throbbing head. Just as she was about to speak, Josh beat her to it.

“Before you even start, you wanted it too.”

Shelly bit her lip and reached up to run a hand over her, apparently, bird nest of hair. She frowned and cleared her throat.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Because, honestly, she couldn’t remember.

Images kept flickering through her mind of him above her, inside of her, but she was too embarrassed to clarify if it had been real—or worse, if it had been a fantasy.

Josh quietly accused, “Now, that seems more like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shelly snapped as dignified as she could while hung over.

Josh stood then and walked to the end of the bed. He looked around at the outlandish décor, and then back to her. He placed his palms on the comforter on each side of her covered legs, and then made his way up and over her.

“It means you never say what you actually mean,” he told her as he hovered above her.

Shelly clamped her mouth shut, not wanting him anywhere near