“I have three rules.” Eddie’s voice brought my head up off his shoulder. His bedroom was at the back of the little house, a room I hadn’t yet seen. I barely gazed around because I didn’t really care what was in this room. I was more concerned with who was.
So much of life was unclear, especially for me. But there was something so sharp I knew it would always be in sight. Eddie. He was the first person I thought of when I lifted my head off the shower floor. The person I wanted to talk to first, despite having Maggie nearly plead with me to stay. It didn’t matter we’d had a fight. It didn’t matter my head told me not to trust him and that he was lying.
I trusted Eddie anyway. My heart didn’t care what my head said. My heart wanted him, and so did my body.
“Let’s hear them,” I said, tilting my head to seriously consider these rules. Eddie began to speak, but I held up my finger, silencing him. “I’d just like to say that while I know I am very new to this, I have a feeling most men don’t care much about rules when they’re about to get some.”
He arched a very dark brow. “Get some?”
I shrugged. “I’ve been watching TV.”
Eddie chuckled. “Well, you aren’t most women, and that makes this a unique situation.”
A dark, twisty feeling wormed in my belly. “Have there been many women for you?”
Eddie shook his head. “Not many. I’ve been waiting for you.”
At first the words warmed me, but then my dumb brain got in the way. Did he mean Sadie or me as I am now? I shoved back that thought because I didn’t like it.
“Okay, hit me with them,” I announced.
“You need to stop watching TV, Am,” Eddie muttered fondly as he moved farther into the room and sat me on the edge of what looked like a giant bed.
I glanced around, momentarily distracted by it. The mattress took up half the room.
“One,” Eddie said and held up his finger, gliding back just a little so he could pace in front of me. His bare chest was distracting. He was lean and firm, his skin supple.
“If you want to stop, just say so. I’ll stop. Two…” He went on. “If anything we do triggers some kind of memory, you’ll tell me immediately.” His eyes met mine. I nodded so he would continue. “And three…” He finished. “We go slow.”
I held out my hand. My heart suddenly felt bruised. Not bruised in a hurtful way, but in a squishy fruit kind of way. Like his words caused it to over ripen, and now I was just a puddle of mush waiting for him to scoop me up.
Eddie came forward, took my hand, and tugged it so I would rise up onto my knees. The mattress dipped slightly beneath me, and I still didn’t meet his eye level.
“Can you live with all that, Am?” he murmured.
I nodded, then pulled back from him to peel my T-shirt over my head, tossing it aside.
Eddie’s blue eyes widened and darkened all at the same time. The storm that raged outside seemed to match the one he held in. Even though I was pretty much inexperienced (meaning I didn’t have any working knowledge in my head of doing this), I still knew how much he wanted me. I could feel it wave off him and wrap around me. It was heady, almost addictive.
“My head keeps telling me we shouldn’t do this,” Eddie murmured, his palms hovering over my bare shoulders. “But, my God, Amnesia, my heart literally beats for this. For you.”
“I want you just as much,” I confided.
With a shaky exhale, Eddie’s palms settled over my shoulders and dragged down over my arms, his fingers circling around my wrists. My eyes slid closed. I tilted my head to the side and gave myself over to him.
I trusted him. I hadn’t even tried to. Hell, most days I didn’t want to. But I did. Even after today, after his confessions, after the lies and the truths. Even with all the still unknowns. I cast aside all those thoughts and let the trust I felt surround me. The weight of his hands and the warmth of his skin was all I wanted and needed in this moment.
His hands began to wander, careful and slow. Electricity crackled in his fingertips as they caressed my arms, the inner part of my elbow, and stroked over my collarbone. Gradually, he skimmed the sides of my waist, settling his palms above my hips where my body naturally curved in.
I was trembling beneath him, but not because I was scared. I’d never felt this kind of closeness with someone. The intimacy in this dark room was unmatched.
Thunder rolled overhead, rain pattered against the window, and his lips lowered, drifting over the exposed part of my neck. With a soft moan, I grabbed his waist, tilting my head farther, granting him better access. His tongue seared a path over my skin, so hot when the air brushed over it, I shivered.
Drawing back, Eddie gazed down at me. Slowly, I opened my eyes. He was so incredibly handsome. His eyes, the strength in his jaw, his loopy, dark curls that never knew order.
I reached for him, unable to stay away. After brushing my fingers through his hair, I gripped the back of his head to pull it down. Our mouths fused together and a spark ignited in my chest.
I shoved my body against his bare torso, clutching at his shoulders as our mouths met again and again. Eddie’s hands slipped up the small of my back, stroked over my spine, and reached for the clasp on my bra. Slowly, he unhooked it, letting the back fall open.
I didn’t pull back right away. We kept kissing, and his fingertips explored my bare skin, teasing and stroking until I started to squirm against him for more.
In a surge of desire, I shoved back, our eyes met, and I stripped the bra off my body and tossed it aside. I felt slightly self-conscious, baring myself this way, exposing the scars that told of a past I couldn’t recall. But the insecure feeling was banished the second his eyes grazed over my body and then met my stare.
“You really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
I threw my arms around him, hugging him close. My skin against his skin, my bare chest rubbed against his. He didn’t do anything but hug me, his lips brushing the top of my shoulder. On impulse, I nipped at his shoulder, sinking my teeth into his skin just lightly.
His indrawn breath made me do it again, and his palms slipped down to cup my ass. Against his chest, my breasts began to ache. My nipples grew hard, and I rubbed against him. The pressure felt good; they ached for more.
Instantly, he picked me up, laid me out in the center of the bed, then joined me on the mattress. His body settled along mine. His mouth dipped to my chest.
The second my hardened pebble was surrounded by his lips, I moaned. Tingles of excitement shot through me as he lightly sucked. I reached for his curls, buried my hands in the softness, and held him to me, silently asking for more.