Trust in Me

She wetted her bottom lip and a wild bolt of need shot through me. “I don’t know. I thought about taking off for D.C. one of the days. I want to see the Smithsonian and the National Mall. I’ve never been.”


“Hmm, that could be fun.” My mind was coming up with many different things that could also be fun. “I could be your tour guide.”

The grin kicked up a notch. “That . . . that would be fun.”

“It would be.” Without knowing it, I’d moved close enough that my breath teased her flushed cheek. “Pick a date.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

“January the second,” she said immediately, and for some reason, that blush of hers deepened. “Will you be available then?”

My lips curved up. “I’ll be available whenever you want me to be.” My heart thudded in my chest when her smile spread, becoming dazzling. I knew that I hadn’t come in here for this, but I was going to kiss her. There would be no stopping me. “Guess what, Avery?”

“What?”

“Remember how you just said you were having a good time?” I tilted my head so that my mouth slanted over hers. “It’s about to get better.”

“Is it?” she whispered.

My nose grazed hers. “Oh, yeah.”

“Are you not going to kiss me again?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Long lashes specked with red swept down as my lips brushed over hers. It was such a gentle kiss, but it was like a clap of thunder in my veins. Dropping my weight onto my other arm, I splayed my fingers along her cheek as I pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips and then the other side.

Sliding my hand along the nape of her neck, I tasted the skin of her jaw, the flesh below her ear. A deep chuckle rumbled through me when she shivered. When I pressed my lips under her ear again, flicking my tongue, she made a sound that blew the thoughts out of my head.

“Good night, Avery.”

I kissed her, pressing my lips to hers, working at the seam of her mouth until she opened, allowing me in. The taste of her skin had sparked a fire deep inside me, but the feel of her warm mouth ignited a blazing fire. I couldn’t get enough of her lips, of her kisses or the soft, breathy sounds she was making.

I groaned as I slid my hand out from underneath her, guiding her onto her back. Her body immediately stiffened, and I knew I needed to tone it down. The last thing I wanted was to scare her.

God, that was the last thing.

Cupping her cheek, I softly kissed her until her body relaxed under mine and then, shocking the hell out of me, her small hand ended up under my shirt, pressing against the bare skin of my abs.

It was like being branded.

Heat roared through my veins as my body jerked on reflex. Air punched from my lungs. She wanted to touch me? Holy hell, she could touch me. I pulled back, reached down and yanked my shirt over my head.

Avery’s mouth parted as her gaze moved over my chest, the tattoo, and then down. It was like a touch, but better. My body was burning to feel hers.

I tugged the comforter down and planted my hands on either side of her head, tangling them in her hair. There was a primal part that took over when her hands flattened over the lower part of my stomach. My entire body tightened.

I dropped my forehead to hers. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

She dragged in a deep breath as I lowered my body onto hers. The feel of her softness under me had my pulse pounding like I had run a mile in sand. I clenched my jaw shut as she shifted under me, spreading her thighs and allowing our bodies to meet.

“Fuck,” I growled as a tremor shook me to the core.

Claiming her lips in a kiss that scorched my skin, I slowly rolled my hips against her. Fuck-a-dee-fuck, pleasure rolled down my spine. I wanted to sink into her, completely lose myself in her. Her hands gripped my sides as I rocked against her, trailing a path down her neck, to the swell of her breast and lower with my hand. I hooked her thigh around my hip, settling deeper against her. Our bodies rocked and her sweet, soft moan echoed in my thoughts.

“I like that sound.” I thrust my hips forward, and she moaned again. “Correction. I love that fucking sound.”

I don’t know what it was about her, maybe it was everything, but it had never felt this good before, this strong and intense with anyone else. Not even my first time when it had felt like I’d jumped over a hundred-story building.

My fingers tangled with hers as her tongue flicked over mine, bringing me to an almost painful point where I thought there’d be a good chance I was going to embarrass myself. Even knowing that, I couldn’t stop. I slid my hand up hers, under her sleeve, over delicate skin and—

My hand stilled as my fingers came to a patch of rough, raised skin. Half of my brain was existing at cock level, but the other part took control. I followed the path of skin, dumbly realizing it formed a thin, straight line down the center of her wrist—the wrist she always covered with a bracelet.

No. No fucking way.

My heart literally stopped as I lifted my head, staring down into her unfocused gaze.