From what I’d observed, there was no way I could take him from her. Ever. However, that didn’t mean I intended to give him up. It meant I wanted to find a way to share him.
“We should get some sleep,” I murmured. “It’s been a long day for us both, and Jamie will be up in a few hours.”
Her fingers dug into my side, as if she worried I would pull away from her. “I…” She swallowed, her arm stiffening across my abdomen. “Can you, um, stay a little longer? Just until I fall asleep?”
Was she afraid I might sneak off with Jamie in the night? Or was it my comfort she coveted? The questions refused to voice themselves, likely because I didn’t want to know the answer. I feared the former and craved the latter. She had every reason not to trust me, but I wanted her to anyway, and I also wanted her to desire my touch.
This woman had me all tied up in knots.
And oddly, I didn’t feel the urge to free myself. Neither from her arms nor the figurative bindings weaving us together.
I like her.
A fact I already knew but truly understood now. The way she’d fallen apart in my arms had connected us on an intimate level, securing our fate.
“I’ll stay,” I promised, kissing her forehead once again and tightening my hold around her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you…” The soft words were a puff of air against my skin, her towel-clothed body already curling into mine. Where it seemed to fit perfectly.
“Good night, Avery,” I whispered.
She didn’t reply, already asleep.
I smiled. Sweet dreams.
18
Avery
Light streamed through my window, bathing me in an addictive warmth that had my toes curling as I stretched my legs.
It caused me to slide against something hot and hard.
And decidedly male.
Wyatt.
My calves were tangled with his, my breasts against his side, and one of my thighs was… Oh… Yeah, that was definitely his groin.
His very aroused groin.
My lips parted, realization heating my skin. The towel had disappeared, leaving me naked against him. When had I fallen asleep? What time is it?
A glance at the clock said I had at least thirty minutes before Jamie would be up. I always seemed to rouse before him. In this case, it was likely because of the hot body pillow pressed up against me. And the very excited response that stirred between my legs.
Wyatt shifted, his hip brushing my sensitive center and eliciting a groan from my throat that I couldn’t swallow fast enough. Because damn, that felt good. Too good.
Oh, I wanted more.
It’d been so long since I’d last awoken with a man beside me. Five… no, six years ago.
I whimpered as Wyatt moved again, the fabric of his sweatpants taunting against my weeping core. God, this was embarrassing. As if last night’s sob fest hadn’t been enough, now he had to see me needy and turned on. Great. Just fucking great.
Him being awake meant I couldn’t just slip out of bed undetected. I had to say something. To lift my head, meet his gaze, and excuse myself. Heat crept along my spine as he drew his fingers upward to wrap his palm around the back of my neck. I quivered against him, fighting the desire to arch into his hip one last time.
This can’t happen. Not after he witnessed me fall apart.
I was supposed to hate him.
Yet, I couldn’t, especially after hearing his explanation. It wasn’t that I overreacted. No, he’d definitely fucked up. However, he owned up to it and apologized. Several times.
Confusion mingled with heat, causing my insides to twist and turn as his grip tightened.
“Look at me, Avery.” His low voice had my thighs clenching around him, the demand very much not a standard morning greeting. And yet, I tilted my head back as requested, my body bowing to his will on instinct alone.
Dark, intense irises stared down at me, a knowing gleam glimmering in their depths. He searched my features as I snagged my bottom lip between my teeth. I didn’t trust myself to speak. It’d probably come out as a needy groan, which was the last sound I needed to make in this state.
This is so wrong.
I tried to remind myself of how I felt last night, how lost and broken I’d been, but this strength seemed to surround me, holding me in the present. Forcing me to acknowledge the very beautiful, hard body pressed up against mine.
Why did he have to be so damn good-looking?
My heart skipped a beat as he pushed me to my back, his palm hot against my side while he went to his elbow beside me. “Wyatt…”
“Shh,” he whispered, his gaze stroking over every inch of my exposed skin. “I’m admiring.”
I swallowed, my throat dry. I’d never been shy about my body, but his perusal was far more intense and thorough than that of anyone of my past. It felt like a brand against my skin, searing me as his. He might as well have been carving his name across my breasts, because I was pretty sure no one would be allowed to look at me after today. Not without knowing he had claimed me first.
And wow, that was arousing as hell.
It had my legs clenching, my body pleading for him to do something other than stare, and my nipples beading into harsh points.
This man undid me in a way no one else ever had.
He destroyed my ability to think, to consider the consequences of what this might do. Because I had desired him for days—weeks, even—and now that he was lying in my bed, I never wanted him to leave.
“You’re even more gorgeous than I imagined.” The husky quality to his voice sent a shiver across my skin, eliciting goose bumps in its wake. He traced the column of my neck with the pad of his finger, then traveled all the way down the center of my body to the tip of my pelvis. “So soft and perfect.”
My lips parted, words failing me, but they weren’t needed. Because he was there, his mouth taking mine before I could even breathe. I grabbed his shoulders, not to push him away but to pull him closer.
His palm returned to my throat, wrapping around it as he possessed me with his tongue. No one had ever kissed me like this—so demanding, so skilled, so overwhelming.
I groaned. This has to be a dream. No one could be this good. It was physically impossible. But of course, that meant I could take advantage of it, right? If this wasn’t real, then I could play.
Oh, yes…
I liked the sound of that.
My fingers roamed over his bare back, stroking the lean muscle all the way down to his firm ass. He bit my lower lip as I squeezed him, loving the way he felt. Hot, sexy, hard. Mmm…
His mouth trailed kisses down my neck, nipping, licking, suckling, until he reached my breast. He took my nipple between his teeth, his tongue teasing the tip, causing my back to bow off the bed.
“Wyatt,” I breathed, threading my fingers through his hair to keep him there, my other hand returning to his shoulder.
He murmured his approval before switching to nibble my other stiff point, his palm sliding down my side slowly, purposefully. “When was the last time you let go, Avery?” he asked softly, his dark eyes glimmering up at me from my chest. “When was the last time you came?”
“On my own or with someone else?” Because they were very different answers.
“Both.”
I shuddered as his stubble tickled my hard peak. Such a tease. “On my own…” I paused to swallow a moan, my legs tensing as he slid his thigh between mine. Yes, friction. Please. Yes… He applied the perfect amount of pressure, his muscles flexing beneath the fabric of his sweats. “More…”
“Answer my question first.”
Question? “What question?”
“I want to know the last time you orgasmed, sweetheart.” He laved the tip of my breast. “By yourself.”
I had to clear my throat to speak, my breathing coming in pants. “Thursday,” I admitted.
“Did you think of me?” The vibration of his voice against my overheated skin practically
lit my blood on fire.
“Wyatt…” I needed more. “Please.”
“Tell me if you thought of me and I’ll give you what you want.”
“You know I did.” I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him for weeks. “Every time since we met.”
I felt him smile against my nipple. “Good.” He began licking a path downward, pausing to dip inside my belly button on his way to the apex of my thighs.
Oh, yes, definitely a dream. Because I hadn’t experienced a man’s intimate kiss in years, but I certainly had imagined Wyatt tasting me in this manner several times.
“I’ve thought of you every time as well,” he murmured, his mouth hovering right above my slick folds. “And I’ve been dying to taste you.”
My fingers—still in his hair—tightened as he lowered to lick me long and deep. His rumble of approval vibrated between my legs, heightening the sensations and tightening the heat inflaming in my lower abdomen.
Part of me registered that this was really happening, some flare in my brain throwing up signals. But the rest of me refused to listen, too caught up in Wyatt’s expert tongue to care about anything else.
His name left my lips on a wave of worship, my limbs spasming in delight.
It’d been so long.
I missed this.
I dreamt of it.
I fantasized about it.
But the real deal blew my mind. Maybe because I forgot how it felt, or, more likely, because it was Wyatt’s skilled kiss against my center. He knew exactly how to stroke, how to suck, how to nibble. And when he added his fingers, sliding them inside me and finding that place I craved on one upward sweep, I was done for. Lights flashed behind my eyes, the world unraveling around me, as a tight bundle of nerves expanded and grew inside.
And exploded.
Shattering me without warning.
I pressed my hand to my mouth to keep from screaming, the orgasm so powerful I had to bite my palm. Which earned me a growl from Wyatt.
Another sweep of tremors rocked me to my core, causing me to groan deep in my chest and arch my back off the bed. Too much…
But oh, I accepted it. I had no other choice, my body convulsing with the onslaught of what felt like a second orgasm. Or was perhaps the first one just expanding. I didn’t know. I just dove headfirst into the experience of it.
Adoring every second.
Groaning.
Whispering “Wyatt” into my hand.
This is oblivion. This is what it feels like to completely let go.
I could become addicted to this sensation. It melted my resolve, leaving me pliable beneath Wyatt as he rose above me, my wrist captured in his hand. He pushed it above my head, holding it to the pillow as he lowered his mouth to mine.
My arousal coated his tongue, providing me with one of the most intimate of kisses that I would remember for years to come. The act itself felt like a domination, his lips commanding mine, memorizing, claiming, adoring. He grabbed my opposite wrist and added it to the one already held in his other palm, effectively holding both of my hands captive over my head.
“We’re going to try that again. This time, your hands stay here.” He nipped my jaw, his lips sliding to my ear. “I earned that scream, sweetheart. Never keep it from me again.”
He didn’t understand. I had to stay quiet or we’d wake up…
“Wyatt, but Jamie might…” I whimpered as Wyatt started downward again, ignoring my protest. “I’m not… Ohhhh…”
He wasted no time in resuming his task, his tongue almost harsh against my sensitive flesh. I squirmed, but his palm against my lower abdomen held me in place, his eyes two pools of liquid need simmering up at me.
Just that look sent me cascading downward, the ripples of energy already rebuilding. This shouldn’t be possible. I’d never orgasmed twice. Not even with a man. But fuck, this one might do the trick. Especially if he kept… Oh, yes… that.
His fingers slid into me again, hooking upward and scissoring in a hypnotic motion that stole my breath.
He’s a god.
He’s a fucking god.
There was no other explanation. This reminded me of a fantasy, the type of scene one read about but never experienced. The thought that this might be a dream came back to me, but no, there was no way. I had to be feeling this in reality. Not even my mind was creative enough to fabricate these vibrations, and shit!
He sucked my clit sharply into his mouth, causing my hips to undulate beneath him, ripping a cry from my throat. My fingers bit into my palms, threatening to lower, but I held them in place. Because he told me to, and I rather liked the thought of pleasing him. At least, in this.
His name slipped from my mouth, my thighs squeezing around him. “Oh, fuck.” This was more intense than the first one. I could feel it building, tightening, threatening to take me into a black hole of no return. “Wyatt…”
“Come for me, sweetheart,” he murmured against my arousal. “Let me hear you.” His fingers penetrated me deep, his tongue pressing into the spot I desired him most, and the earth shifted beneath me.
I exploded.
So much more powerful than before.
Mind-shattering.
Life-altering.
Ruining me for anyone and everyone else. Fuck, I’d never be able to enjoy my own vibrator again after this. Or another man.
Only Wyatt.
Always Wyatt.
Those admissions left my lips, loud to my ears, followed by foreign moans I didn’t even know I could make.
And then Wyatt was kissing me again. His hands cupped my cheeks and angled my head to receive him fully, his adoration palpable. I quivered beneath him, my body slack and useless, my arms limp above my head. I barely even knew how to move my tongue, but he trained me appropriately, deepening our embrace and unleashing a passion I felt down to my very toes.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said against my mouth. “Fuck, Avery. I already want to do it again.”
I squeezed my legs together, a groan of protest sliding from my lips to his.
He smiled, his nose brushing mine. “Mmm, I adore that sound. If it wasn’t nearing seven thirty, I’d be tempted to force more of them out of you.”
He kissed me again, this time slower, more sensuous. Any and all resolve about this being a dream disappeared, but I didn’t feel an ounce of regret. It was the perfect way to wake up. And after the horrible weekend I’d endured, I needed this.
Even if it was delivered by the same man who nearly destroyed me.
I hadn’t forgiven him, not entirely, but I at least understood now. That was the first step.
Holding grudges only caused torment to those involved, and I preferred to move forward.
His tongue slid over mine, mesmerizing me once again by his seductive prowess, when a little voice from the doorway announced, “It’s gift time!”
I froze beneath Wyatt.
“Ugh, are you kissing? Grossssss!” Jamie huffed and disappeared, leaving Wyatt chuckling above me.
“Oh, I can’t wait to use that against him in ten years,” he said softly. “Make sure you remind me.”
He winked and slid off me, his sweatpants a lot tighter than before and revealing his very impressive, uh, girth.
“You shower and put on some clothes—something I never thought I’d demand.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Anyway, I’ll take care of Jamie’s breakfast. Then he can give you his gift while I get ready for the day. Afterward, we’ll drop him off together and go on that field trip I told you about. Sound good?”
I could only stare at him and nod, too flabbergasted by the last sixty seconds of my life.
Jamie finding us in bed together.
His only reaction to say it was gross.
And then Wyatt telling me to remind him of this in ten years, as if he expected me to be there.
“Stop thinking,” Wyatt said, leaning over to kiss me once more. “Let’s get through today and talk more tonigh
t.” The words were a demand against my mouth and were followed with the press of his lips to my forehead. “You taste amazing, by the way. And I very much look forward to you returning the favor later.”
He smirked at my dumbfounded expression and left.
“What the heck am I supposed to say to that?” I asked the closed door. Then I groaned at realizing I’d only slept maybe three hours last night, yet I apparently had an entire day ahead of me.
Definitely time for another shower.
This one hopefully far less emotional.
Then, well, I had no idea. Evidently, a field trip. Awesome.
19
Wyatt
Avery toyed with her new necklace—courtesy of Jamie via my bank account—while I drove, her lips pinched to the side. She clearly had questions, but every time she glanced my way, her cheeks flushed a gorgeous shade of pink. Similar to the color I’d evoked from her in bed.
Fuck, she’d come beautifully beneath my tongue. If this errand weren’t so important, I’d suggest we go right back to her room and pick up where we left off.
Alas, Garrett had messaged me thirty minutes ago to say the meeting was set up and ready to go. I needed Avery with me, not as a test but to provide proof. There was no way she’d believe what I found out about her sister. She needed to see it to believe it.
And so did I.
She licked her lips and tugged the bottom one between her teeth. I nearly growled in response. “You’re distracting me from the road, Avery.” And considering the midday traffic surrounding us, that was a dangerous ploy.
“What?” She glanced at me. “I’m not even doing anything.”
“You’re fidgeting.” I placed my palm on her thigh, causing her to jump. “Are you thinking about how I made you come earlier, Avery? Is that what has you all hot and bothered over there?” Her muscles tensed beneath my hand, enticing me to smile. “Ah, I see. You’re desiring a repeat performance. Well, sweetheart, I can guarantee you it’s on the agenda.”
“Wyatt…” My name was a breathy whisper, one that had me wanting to turn the car around and take her home to fuck her properly.
The Rebel’s Redemption: Mershano Empire Series Page 13