His strokes ease up, and I release his lip from my clenched teeth. I think I can taste blood, but my eyes won’t open to confirm it. It would serve him right.
‘Remember yet?’ he whispers softly against my lips. I sigh, pulling my heavy eyes open to meet his green gaze. I don’t answer him; he knows the answer to that question. But as always, I never forgot. He doesn’t demand an answer. He just leans down, dropping a gentle kiss on my mouth, my tongue sweeping across his bottom lip, licking away the small drop of blood that I’ve drawn.
‘I’ve made you bleed.’
‘Savage.’ he breathes, pulling his fingers slowly out of me and sliding them into my mouth. He watches me closely as I run my tongue over them, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He’s got want he wants again – me, surrendering to him.
I’m lifted onto the worktop. ‘Why do you keep running away from me?’ His eyes search mine as he rests his hands on either side of my thighs, bending his body, leaning in.
I drop my head. I can’t look at him. What can I tell him? That I’ve fallen in love with him? Perhaps I should – he might freak out and leave me alone. I shrug instead.
He places his index finger under my chin and tips my head back up so I’m forced to confront his achingly handsome face.
He raises his eyebrows at me expectantly. ‘Talk to me, baby.’
‘I don’t know.’
He rolls his eyes and slaps my hand away from the piece of hair I’m coiling around my finger. ‘You’re a shit liar, Ava.’
‘I know.’ I huff. I’ve got to sort that bad habit out quickly.
‘Tell me, now.’ he demands softly.
I sigh. ‘You’re distracting me. I don’t want to get hurt.’ There, I’m not lying. That’s true. I just left out the minor, major detail of my feelings for him.
I look at him as he chews his bottom lip, the cogs of his mind going into overdrive. He doesn’t know what to say to that. I’m so glad I didn’t hit him with the love bomb.
‘I see.’ he says flatly. Is that it? I see? ‘I’m a distraction?’ he asks.
‘Yes.’ I scowl. The worst kind!
He pouts. ‘I like distracting you.’
‘I like you distracting me too.’ I mumble sulkily. I notice he ignores the hurt comment, homing straight in on the distraction tactics.
‘What am I distracting you from?’
‘Being sensible,’ I reply quietly. The intoxicating affect he has on my body is setting deeper into my mindset. He said he would make me need him, and he’s keeping true to his word.
He smiles, completely satisfied, his eyes dark and promising again. ‘I’m going to distract you some more now. We need to make friends.’ His low voice is sparking off my desire for him all over again as he grabs me under my bum and slides me off of the worktop to straddle his waist.
‘Didn’t we just make friends?’
‘Not properly. We need to make friends properly. It’s the sensible thing to do. We don’t run anymore, Ava.’
I smile and wrap my arms around his back as he walks us out of the kitchen, into my bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He places me on the end of the bed, pulling my vest up over my head, my bra-free breasts springing free. He smiles, looking down into my eyes and tossing my vest on the floor. He starts pulling at the waist band of my shorts, encouraging me to lift my bum so he can draw them down my legs, taking my knickers with them.
‘Stay there.’ he orders, reaching up and pulling at his tie. Sparks of anticipation ricochet all around my body as I watch him slowly undress in front of me. His jacket follows his tie, then he slowly unbuttons his shirt.
Hurry up! The flex of his ripped chest has me virtually dribbling as he stands before me, taking painfully long to undress. My eyes are automatically drawn to the sight of his scar. I’m desperate to know where it came from.