last of my control snapping. I unleash the need and desperation I’ve repressed for way too long.
My hand tangles in her hair on the pillow, and I tear my mouth from hers to trace her jaw, the sweet arched curve of her neck. The skin that would’ve been revealed by that sexy fucking dress in the closet, the one she bought to wear for me.
“Forgive me,” I bite out. It’s not a request, it’s a demand. My teeth drag along her collarbone, and she arches against my lips.
“No.”
But she pulls me closer.
I shift over her, straddling her while I bring my mouth back to hers as if I can persuade her with my lips, if not my words.
She’s fully awake now, meeting each slide of my lips and stroke of skin with one of her own.
And I sure as fuck respond.
I drag the covers down and roll her so she’s on top, my greedy hands yanking her hips against mine. The softness between her thighs is torture. I want to taste her, to take her, to bury myself in her and shut out the world until I’m good and satisfied.
“That feels so good. Don’t stop.” Her sleep-filled voice is colored with arousal.
My greedy mouth trails down the front of her tank top, the subtle valley between her breasts. She arches against me like she can’t get enough.
This? I want to say.
This is nothing.
The things I’ll do to this girl.
“I’ll keep going if you forgive me.”
Her sigh makes my cock twitch. “Someday.”
“Now.” My teeth scrape along her skin, and she gasps.
“When you never leave me again.”
My heart aches, but I laugh through it as I slide a hand under her tank top, my breath hitching as I graze the curve of her breast.
It’s strange how her strength makes me give but her softness makes me rough. Fierce. Damned devout.
“You realize unless I stay with you until the day we die, it’s impossible to fulfill that promise.”
She pulls back long enough to look down into my face, her hair hanging in a curtain around us. “Perfect.”
My heart hammers against my back as I soak in the sight of her, flushed and beautiful and wanting.
I shift up on one elbow and cup her in my hand. The softness of her is unreal, even before I rub a thumb across her nipple. She moans, loud, and I drag her mouth back to mine to swallow the sound.
If it carries down the hall, it’ll ruin all of this. All of us.
“I could make you forgive me right now,” I murmur against her lips once she’s quiet again. “I could touch you until you’re only mine, always mine. You’d never come again without seeing my face, fucking hearing my words.”
My voice is urgent, and she blinks down at me, her lips swollen and cheeks flushed.
“Yeah. You could.”
The truth of that hangs between us.
It takes every ounce of control in me to shift out from under her and cross to the door.
“You said you wouldn’t leave.”
Her whisper has me turning to see her propped up on her elbows, hair wild, eyes bright.
I open the door and stare down the hall.
Jax and Haley’s room is at the other end of the hall, and Sophie’s in between.
Nothing. Darkness. Silence.
All of that could change in a heartbeat.
I shut the door.
Then strip off my shirt, my pants.
The wariness on her face is replaced with hunger as her gaze drops to the obvious tent in my boxer briefs.
I laugh through my clenched jaw. “Yeah, that’s not what tonight’s for.”
Most promises are made to be broken, but I push that from my mind because I can’t entertain any more dark thoughts.
I lay down beside her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before I nudge her to face the other way.
Then I wrap my arms around her so her back warms my chest and her ass nestles against my aching cock.
I drag the covers over us, a flimsy wall of protection against the harsh world.
The world can go fuck itself.
Tonight, the sheets are our shield.
And this girl is my heart.
18
Birds outside my window wake me. I glance at the clock and realize it’s almost eleven in the morning. But something feels off, and I roll over and realize why.
Tyler is in my bed.
Last night comes rushing back.
My emotions are in tatters from him leaving and coming back. From everything I’ve made it mean.
But he’s here now. He came back. He stayed.
I was enough for Tyler. I am enough for this boy I