tracing circles on her skin. Getting higher, higher, higher…so close.’”
Trent was now totally focused on Cora, watching the way her lips wrapped around each word and the way her voice grew softer and breathier. His pupils were wide and dark, and when his eyes flicked back up to her, she had to bite back a groan.
“‘Jenna’s eyes fluttered shut, and she was lost imagining his big body covering hers, knees pushing her legs apart and mouth seeking hers. The fantasy played out in vivid color in her mind, and a tremor rippled through her. Everything was wound tight like a coil as she touched herself.’”
Dear Lord.
Cora knew exactly what she was doing to him, and it made her feel like a goddess. More powerful and in control than she ever had before. It was like she was a new person. Reborn. Better. Stronger. More capable.
It would be way too easy to become addicted to how he made her feel. But she had to remind herself that their time would come to its inevitable close.
“You don’t play fair,” he said, his voice gravelly.
Life wasn’t fair. The people who thrived were the ones who didn’t let fear of rejection stand in their way. But that had always been Cora’s driving force—trying desperately to win approval, trying desperately to make her parents proud, trying desperately to be the perfect girlfriend or fiancé.
And what did she have to show for it? A job that didn’t fulfill her, a lonely apartment filled with memories of failed relationships. A relationship with her mother that was beyond repair.
It’s not too late. You can take risks. You can change.
If she could be with Trent now and enjoy herself—no expectations, no deeper emotions, no strings—then that would prove she’d changed. She didn’t have to seek his approval or his love; she could simply indulge in his body and the way he made her feel, take the gift he offered her, temporary as it was.
If she could put every worry out of her mind—about the photo, about her novel, about what was waiting for her back home—and just be, then maybe Cora could finally grow some wings.
…
Cora slid her bookmark between the pages and let the book drop to the floor.
“So,” she said with a shy smile. “You seemed to enjoy that scene about the guy watching.”
“Hell yeah, I did.”
“Is that something…?” Her eyes lowered. Trent could tell Cora was pushing out of her comfort zone, and it made his heart sing.
Not your heart, your body. Big difference.
“Maybe we could…” Her eyes flicked up to his. They were beautiful eyes, ice-blue and framed by thick golden-brown lashes, and they told him a story. Unlike so many people, she didn’t hide her feelings away.
“Only if we head straight to the shower.”
“Are you dirty?”
“Always.”
He pushed up from the couch and held a hand out to her. She took it willingly, her eyes never leaving his.
“Maybe I should get into the shower first?” She sucked on the inside of her cheek. “We could replicate the scene before you wash the day off.”
What good karmic deed had he done that had brought him this incredible, sexy, blossoming woman?
Cora had looked so broken that first day, and yet every day since, she’d shined harder and brighter and more brilliantly. There was a toughness inside her. A resilience. And it was like the sun and sea air and his kisses had helped bring that part of her back to the forefront. For some damn reason that made Trent feel like the king of the world.
“You’d better be careful,” he said. “I might start making you read to me every night.”
“I’ll make you a romance reader yet,” she said, walking ahead of him to the bathroom, wriggling her butt so sexily that he almost tripped over his own feet.
Yeah, this woman was going to unravel him.
“Finish working on your story,” he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “That’s a book I want to read.”
“You would?” The hope in her voice was like the soundtrack in a movie, a note of danger ringing through the air to warn that things could turn bad. Why was he making promises he might not be able to keep? Cora wasn’t going to stick around, and he didn’t necessarily want her to.
This was nothing but a distraction—a very sexy distraction.
“Yeah, of course I’ll read it.” The promise stuck in the back of his throat, but as Cora stepped into the bathroom and out of his grip,