by J. Lynn
“No,” he said. “I hadn’t. I’ve seen the pic a couple of times.”
Surprise flickered through me. “You have?”
Kyler nodded. “Mom loves to pull it out whenever family comes over. Funny that she gave us this now, all things considering.” He looked at me. “Almost like she knew we’d finally figure this out, huh?”
“Yeah.” I smiled, smoothing my fingers along the edges of the frame. “I love it. Seriously. I really do.”
“Same here.” He slipped the picture into his backpack. “I don’t want to forget it.”
I couldn’t figure out if he really did like the picture or not, but I stopped myself from overanalyzing it like a freak. I gathered up the wrapping paper and carried it into the kitchen, disposing of it in the trash. When I returned to the living room, he was standing in front of the Christmas tree. The present I’d gotten him a few weeks ago was still nestled under the tree.
“You’re not getting your present right now,” I told him.
He turned to me, a mysterious grin etched across his lips and his dark brown eyes intense. “There’s something I want right now, and it’s not what’s under the tree.”
Warmth stole through my veins and liquid heat pooled low in my belly. “And what would that be?”
“I can give you one hint.”
I was already breathless. “Okay.”
Kyler prowled up to me, placing his hands on my hips once more. He tugged me against him, fitting his hips against mine. I could feel him through our clothes. “That’s your hint.”
Shivers coursed through me, and the tips of my breasts tightened under my sweater and bra. “I think I know what you want.”
“You do?” His lips brushed across my forehead and over my temple. My body relaxed and tensed all at once. “What do I want?”
I gripped his arms, and his muscles flexed under my touch. “Me?”
“Bingo,” he growled, and who knew someone could make that word sound sexy? “I want you.”
And those last three words were the sexiest words thrown together in the human language. Then Kyler kissed me, and I stopped thinking about words and languages, because there was nothing beyond how smooth and firm his lips felt against mine. My senses snapped alive, shooting hot fire through my veins as his tongue expertly slipped past my lips.
Good Lord, Kyler knew how to kiss.
A sexual charge thrummed through me as his hold on my hips tightened. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his narrow hips.
“Good girl,” he murmured against my lips. And then he started walking. When he hit the stairs, I knew where he was heading and I so approved.
My bedroom door was ajar, and Kyler turned sideways, nudging it all the way open. He put me down on my feet beside the bed, and then closed the door.
“Lock it,” I said. No one else was home right now, but why take the chance?
He grinned, flipping the lock, and then turned to me. Our eyes met, and excitement hummed through me. I reached down, wrapping my fingers under the hem of my sweater and pulling it over my head. I let it fall to the floor.
Kyler’s eyes flared. “God. Damn.”
I flushed as I bit down on my lower lip, flicking the button on my jeans. He took a step forward and gripped the waistband.
“I’m impatient,” he grumbled, and he was. In one quick motion, he swept the jeans and socks right off me. Standing before him in my bra and panties was suddenly easier than I had imagined it ever could be. “You’re beautiful.”
That helped.
His clothes came off rather quickly and I got caught up staring at the hard dips and planes of his stomach. I touched him, slipping my hand under the band of his boxers. “You’re not too bad—”
My words were cut off by the sheer intensity of the way he kissed me. His hands went to unhook my bra, and then to my panties. He stripped me bare, and then we were a tangled mess of flesh on my bed.
I moaned against his mouth as his hand slipped between my thighs, his fingers brushing over the wet cleft. His kisses were intoxicating and addictive. Timing the thrusts of his tongue with the plunge of his finger, I was quickly on the verge of coming apart, and when his thumb pressed against the bundle of nerves, I tumbled right over the edge.
In the midst of the shattering release, he slid into me, skin against skin. Sensation roared through me, a feeling I’d never get used to as long as I lived. The powerful cords of the muscles along his back bulged under my hands. He rocked into me, a deep invasion that curled my toes and had my back arching.
“I love you,” he said, and he kissed me again. Feral. Possessive.
I gasped out, “I love you too.”
And then I was incapable of talking. A sharp swirl of tingles spread over me as his hips moved fiercely, bring me closer and closer to the edge once more. He moved fast and hard, his face beautifully strained. His mouth press to mine as my ankles locked around his back and then it hit us both at the same time. Our bodies shuddered together, our names on each other’s lips. It was a stunning moment that threw me up so high, I wasn’t sure I would ever come back down.
Afterward—long, long afterward—we snuggled together under the covers. He was tracing idle circles along the curve of my spine and I was content listening to his heart. It was quiet and peaceful, making me think of that one Christmas rhyme.
I laughed, because that was wholly inappropriate.
“What?” Kyler’s hand stilled.
Giggling, I pressed a kiss to his chest. “I was just thinking of the Christmas poem ‘Night Before Christmas’ and it made me laugh.”
“You’re weird.”
“I know.” I lifted my head so my chin rested on his chest. “But you love me?”
His lips tipped up at the corners. “I love you as much as a kid loves Santa.”
I laughed. “That’s serious.”
“Hardcore,” he murmured, tucking my hair back from my face. “Though, I have to say, what we just did was the best Christmas present ever.”
I flushed with pleasure. “Well, if you’re nice, you’ll get another present.”
His brows rose. “What if I’m naughty?” My mind went straight to the gutter, and Kyler must’ve sensed it, because he chuckled deeply and the sound rumbled through me. “I like where this conversation is going.”
“I bet you do.”
“I could pretend I was Santa. You can sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas.”
I laughed again. “That sounds like it would only benefit you.”
“Hence the sitting-on-my-lap part. Naked.”
Lifting myself up, I kissed his slightly parted lips. That led to more kisses and more touching, which led to me straddling his hips and before too long, we both were beyond talking. We explored each other like it was our first time and we took things slower, making the experience more tender and intimate, but the end results were just as beautifully breathtaking.
Much later, when it was time for us to leave, he stood to find his clothes, and I admired the nice view I was getting of his backside. My gaze finally moved up his spine, and I rose, trailing a finger over the intricate lettering of the mystery tattoo that had always fascinated me. He looked over his shoulder at me, but didn’t move away.
“What does this say?”
He didn’t answer for a long moment. “You really want to know?”
I settled back on my side. “Yes, I do.”
Kyler finished buttoning his jeans and sat beside me. He leaned down and kissed me. “I got the tattoo after high school, right before freshman year of college.”
“I know.” Wasn’t like I’d only recently started checking Kyler out. The day I’d seen the tattoo for the first time was the day I’d committed it to memory.
One side of his lips tipped up. “You’re probably either going to think it’s really stupid or you’re going to be really surprised.”
“Now I’m really curious. Tell me.” I tapped on his bare c
hest. “Please?”
He watched me a moment. “It’s in Sanskrit. It says, ‘This Is Forever.’”
My heart skipped a beat as I stared up at him. “Does it mean what I think it does?”
“Yeah, it means what you think it does.”
I pressed my hand to my chest, blinking back tears. “You did this after we graduated high school? That long ago?”
“Yes. It had just felt like something I needed to commit to, you know? That us, no matter in what way we were together, it was forever.”
I couldn’t speak for a full minute. “Surprise” didn’t even cover how I felt. I wanted to cry again, like a baby, because that was the confirmation of all that he’d said. Of how he’d felt about me this entire time, and I’d never known—that he’d never really known. But deep down, his heart had to have known. My chest filled to the point I felt like I’d burst.
He studied me intensely. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking…I’m thinking it’s perfect.” I sat up, placing my hands on either side of his face. “You’re perfect.”
Kyler pressed his forehead against mine. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Look at you, being modest for once in your life,” I teased, but the lump of emotion was sitting at the top of my throat. “Kyler?”
He pecked me on the lips. “Syd?”
“I love you.” I paused, taking a deep breath and our eyes locked. I saw the world in his gaze. I saw our future. “And that is forever.”
Some Rules Are Made To Be Broken… But Breaking The Ultimate Rule Can Change Everything.
JENNA OLIVER DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO GET INVOLVED WITH ONE BOY, LET ALONE TWO.
All Jenna wants is to escape her evaporating small town and her alcoholic mother. She’s determined she’ll go to college and find a life that is wholly hers—one that isn’t tainted by her family’s past. But when the McAli-ster twins move to town and Jenna gets involved with both of them, she learns the life she planned may not be the one she gets.
IAN MCALISTER DOESN’T WANT TO START OVER; HE WANTS TO REMEMBER.
Ian can’t recall a single thing from the last three months—and he seems to be losing more memories every day. His family knows the truth, but no one will tell him what really happened before he lost his memory. When he meets Jenna, Ian believes that he can be normal again because she makes not remembering something he can handle.
THE SECRET IAN CAN’T REMEMBER IS
THE ONE LUKE MCALISTER CAN’T FORGET.
Luke has always lived in the shadow of his twin brother until Jenna stumbles into his life. She sees past who he’s supposed to be, and her kiss brings back the spark that life stole. Even though Luke feels like his brother deserves her more, Luke can’t resist Jenna—which is the trigger that makes Ian’s memory return.
JENNA, IAN, AND LUKE ARE ABOUT TO LEARN
THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY SECRETS YOU CAN KEEP
BEFORE THE TRUTH COMES TO RECLAIM YOU.
Acknowledgments
I wasn’t planning on writing this book until Patricia Riley asked me to write something for the Spencer Hill Contemporary line. So a huge thank you to you for asking me, therefore having a lot to do with the creation of Kyler and Syd. Thank you to Kate Kaynak and the wonderful team at Spencer Hill for their editorial skills and always supporting me no matter what. Thank you to Stacey Morgan for willingly subjecting herself to my first drafts. No one would can truly understand how painful that is until you’ve seen one of my first drafts.
Thank you to my friends and family for putting up with me. I’m always writing it seems, which is something I love to do, but leaves little time for them. They are owed major props for allowing me to dedicate my time to fictional characters.
And to all the readers out there—I write because it’s what I love to do, but it is because of each and every one of you that enables me to do this. There are not enough ways I could possibly thank you guys.
Photo by Vania Stoyanova
#1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write. She shares her home with her husband, his K-9 partner named Diesel, and her hyper Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent her time writing short stories… therefore explaining her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes Adult and Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Romance.
Come find out more at: www.jenniferarmentrout.com