Water pounded down on my head and back while I pounded my fist against my dick.
Trying to keep silent when all I wanted was to moan, teeth digging into my bottom lip as I pictured the girl spread out for me.
My breaths were coming short.
Panted and hard.
I gave into imagining the sounds she would make when I finally got to bury myself in her body.
A soft, soft gasp.
I slowed, trying to convince myself that throaty sound was all in my mind.
Just another part of this fantasy.
Until I heard the small thump against the wall.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I mashed my eyes closed, like it might hide me.
Conceal the depravity of my actions after I’d just been comforting her hours before.
Heart thrashing, I turned and moved far enough to peek out the small section where the fabric shower curtain hadn’t been drawn fully closed.
It was just a little sliver that left me exposed.
But it was enough. When I peered out, I was looking right at my girl pressed up against the wall.
She stared right back at me.
And I wanted to be horrified, my mind scrambling to conjure every weak apology I could summon. Ready to fucking grovel to keep her from turning and running once again.
Because that’s exactly what I expected her to do.
But her expression…her expression clutched me in the center of the chest and sent what little brain function I had left stampeding south.
Red, lush lips were parted, her hand pressed to the hollow of her throat, pupils dilated so big that her hooded, cerulean eyes appeared black. Needy breaths were coming at me from that sweet mouth like a goddamned freight train.
Desire swelled in the confines of the too-tight room.
Alive.
She pressed deeper into the wall as if it might support her weakened knees. Head rocked back. Thighs squeezing together.
Motherfuck.
My hand shot to the shower wall to steady myself. “Warning you, Edie, you need to get out of here. Right now.”
“I…I…” The words caught, and a tremor rode on her exhale. “I heard you.”
“Edie.” Another warning from between gritted teeth.
“Austin…I…” It was a plea.
If I were a wise man, I would jerk the curtain shut tight. Shout at her to go before we both did something so stupid we’d end up driving a wedge so deep between us we’d never be able to cross it.
But no.
Like a fool, I pushed it aside. Metal rings screeched against the rod. The part of me that’d wanted this girl for what seemed like forever convinced me it was okay to return to pumping my cock.
Body soaked, water streaking from my shoulders and chest in thin rivulets.
Words raw. Rough. “This what you heard?”
She gave me no answer.
Instead those eyes roamed.
Hungry.
Desperate.
Tracing the parts of me she’d never before seen.
“Edie,” I groaned, not looking away when I reached over to kill the faucet, turning back to face her in the emerging light.
“You’re so beautiful.” She whispered it like it caused her pain.
“No…Edie…it’s you. You who did this to me. You’ve always done this to me.”
A needy gasp and she was pressing harder against the wall.
Begging.
I stepped out of the shower.
Closing in.
I felt it the second she saw it, when the design etched into my skin became clear in the faint rays of morning light.
A tremble rolled through her like thunder and everything went from intense to severe.
Escalating.
The power that bound us surged.
Magnified.
I took another step closer, completely exposed until I was standing right in front of her.
Standing in the storm.
Firelight.
With a trembling hand, she reached out and traced her fingertips across what had been marked over my heart. Reverent and awed, she touched the spot that was always going to belong to her.
It was the first tattoo I ever got.
My chest was covered in ink. Like the demons inside me had been captured on my skin.
Hidden in the middle of it all was a dream catcher.
It blew in the wind, bright feathers ripping and wild as they were pummeled, in flight where they lashed down across my abdomen. The entire thing was threatened to be ripped apart by the raging storm that ruled our lives, the leather strands clung to the webbed foundation that held it all together.
That endless ring stamped right over my heart.
A diamond sat right in the middle.
My forever.
My hand cupped the side of her neck, thumb brushing along her jaw. “You get it now, baby? What you mean to me?”
The words grated as they were expelled, me standing there naked in front of her.
Physically.
Emotionally.
“I was never supposed to mean anything.”
I pressed her hand flat over the web. “Doesn’t matter. You were right here, all along.”
Her chin trembled as she lifted it, gaze catching mine. “You make me want things I can’t have.”
I wanted to tell her I could give it all.
That all her boundaries were safe with me. That I’d protect them. Wouldn’t cross them until she was ready.
Until she was sure.
Instead I leaned in and barely brushed my lips at the corner of hers.
The softest promise.
I’ve got you.
She rocked with a full-body quake.
This time I uttered it aloud, voice soft. “I’ve got you. I won’t ever hurt you.”
That storm raged and warred. “Austin.”
We were held back by all those reservations, pushed forward by need and want.
“I know you,” I told her so quietly, placing feather-light kisses along the curve of her jaw. Eliciting chills.
And I knew she got my meaning.
She recognized I still clearly saw the limitations.
I wasn’t going to push. I wouldn’t chase her until she was trapped.
She’d always maintain control until she was ready to surrender it to me.
She lifted her chin and whimpered, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” It oozed on a growl.
“Don’t hurt me. Don’t leave me.”
Don’t.
Don’t.
Don’t.
This time it was surrender.
The word sent tension bounding through the room.
Winding us up higher.
Tighter.
Until neither of us had a choice but to snap.
She threw her arms around my neck and my mouth came crashing down.
Taking that mouth I’d been dying to take. So fucking soft and sweet. And I was pretty sure I still had to be lost somewhere in that fantasy when I sucked at the plush softness of her bottom lip, rolling it between mine.
I turned and did the same to the top.
Savoring.
Tasting.
Taking.
She tilted her head back and her tongue peeked out.
Tentative.
That was until the second mine brushed hers.
Fire.
We were gone.
Absent but to us.
Hot hands pressed against my chest and she pushed up on her toes, the girl shocking me by being the one to deepen the kiss.
Demanding more.
A low growl rumbled deep in my throat, and I drove my hands into the long locks of her hair.
So damned soft.
I yanked a little to grant me better access.
And I kissed her and kissed her.
Dancing tongues and nipping teeth and soaring spirits.
My bare cock pressed into her belly.
&nb
sp; She whimpered, the girl sagging into my hold when her knees went weak.
I pinned her to the wall, keeping her from falling. Her body felt so fragile beneath mine.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured as I lifted her into my arms and carried her back into the sanctuary of my room.
The barest light slipped in and washed the white walls in warmth.
It bathed the bed in shimmery light.
I laid her in the center of it. Looked down at the one who’d changed everything. My heart and my focus and all the fucked-up thoughts that ruled my head.
Standing there with my hands fisted at my sides and her trusting eyes taking in every inch of me, I yearned to be someone better.
I’d walked from my brother’s house hoping to find that man. To find the strength inside of me to be the person I wanted to be.
I’d left knowing with every part of me I had someone out there who needed my strength. A girl who needed someone to stand for her.
The same way as she’d stood for me.
Breathing belief.
Imparting faith.
Could I become him now?
Could I handle something so delicate without again squashing it in my hands?
Edie writhed. “Austin… Please.”
I was damned sure going to try.
My movements were cautious and controlled when I climbed up onto the bed. Her feet were planted on the mattress, and I crawled into the well of her legs.
Hovered and gazed.
So beautiful.
I palmed her cheek.
“You steal my breath.”
“And you make me weak,” she returned.
I dropped to my elbows, and she arched.
Our bodies met in the middle.
That energy pulsed.
She stuttered out an exhale as I settled over her, careful not to crush her.
Never.
I sifted my fingers through her hair. “No…Edie. I’m gonna be your strength. Your courage. Stand behind you when you need the support. Hold you up when you’re failing. And when you’re soaring, I’m going to be the one watching you fly. I will never drag you down or hold you back. Tell me you trust me.”
Tears gathered at the creases of her eyes, and her tongue swept along her lips. Her heated gaze darted to my lips before it flashed back to my eyes. Transparent and clear. “You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
Relief stole my exhale, and that hope was no longer just a glimmer. Now it was blinding light. Blazing and burning and consuming. My chest felt so damned tight, and I leaned down to kiss my girl.
Slowly at first.
Relishing what it felt like to stand in the sun.
She clung to my bare shoulders and wrapped her slender thighs around my hips.
I rocked against her.
All my hard against the softest soft.
She whimpered a sigh.
And I did it again.
And again.
And it was too much.
And not close to being enough.
Edie started panting as I increased the pace. Increased the pressure. Kissed her harder and deeper.
Losing her grip.
She looked up at me as if she was begging me to rescue her.
“I feel you,” fumbled like desperation from her mouth.
My spirit lit in a frenzy.
I shifted my weight to my knees and set a single hand next to her head. The pads of my fingers crawled over the material of my shirt, my heartrate kicking an extra beat when I brushed over the swell of her breasts, nipples tight and straining against the fabric, before I went skimming down.
A shiver racked her when I moved over her belly.
I caressed over the satin of her underwear.
She panted.
I pushed the satin aside, caressing soft. She moaned encouragement, and I pushed two fingers into the deep well of her hot body.
Oh fuck. So warm and tight.
Edie gasped and her back bowed.
“Please.”
God.
She was so fucking sweet.
Hot and wet.
I brushed my thumb across her clit.
So damned light.
Back and forth as I slowly began to fuck her with my fingers.
Still, that’s all it took for her to be crying out, my name on her lips as her walls clamped down, riding the sharp edge of her orgasm.
My chest tightened at her expression, her sweet, sweet face lost to the bliss I was bringing her.
She lifted her hips from the bed as she gasped. Fingertips sank into my shoulders. Clinging as she broke.
Beauty.
Fucking beauty, watching her come undone, my spirit going wild with the need to get closer to her.
The girl whimpered and writhed as aftershocks sent tremors through her body.
My hand that had been exploring her body was back on my cock. I gripped tightly in hesitation, wondering just how much this girl could take before she spooked, then I gave in because she was looking at me like I could possibly be the light in her darkness, too.
I jacked myself with brutal, savage strokes. Our faces were so close, my nose was brushing hers.
Staring down at eternity.
Into those bottomless depths that led directly into her soul.
My mouth dropped open and every muscle coiled, this girl my complete ruin.
White hot streaks of ecstasy ripped through my body, shudders ripping far and wide, my body going rigid above her as I came.
Her hands flew to my cheeks, holding fast to my jaw, her emotions laid bare when she mouthed again and again, I feel you, I feel you, I feel you.
Pleasure gripped me everywhere, and I slumped forward as I struggled for air, my arm wrapped tightly around her head as I pressed her face into my neck.
Because Edie Evans was my first.
The first girl who’d managed to touch something within me when I’d been completely dead inside.
A strike of light in the darkness.
The one to evoke. The one to inspire. The one to instill this burning hope that flickered and flamed at my insides.
Spurring me to stand.
Since the dark day I killed him, she was the first to make me feel.
Age Seventeen
She kissed me. Her mouth timid. Her tongue slow.
I let her lead.
Let her fingertips explore tentatively across my face.
Let her breath become one with my spirit.
Let her release a soft shudder.
Let her sigh.
Let her moan.
Let her slowly but surely sink into me.
“Good morning.” The deep, gravelly voice roused me from sleep.
My eyes blinked open.
My heart rate kicked.
My gorgeous boy hovered two inches above me. When I met his intense gaze, his sensual lips twisted into a smirk that somehow verged on adoring.
Like sleight of hand. Impossible. Yet completely, totally captivating.
Rods of golden light streaked into his room. The morning’s warmth stretched out to touch everything in its path. Kissing his face and lighting up the boundless darkness that welcomed me.
I wanted to drown in it.
Poetic eyes traced my face, the fierce grey somehow softened and swimming with songs and mystery. Steeped in intrigue.
My insides quivered and my overloaded heart fumbled on an erratic beat.
“Morning,” I whispered back.
Oh, how we fall.
But I should have known the harder I fought him, the faster that fall would come.
Just like quicksand.
The more I struggled, the deeper I sank.
And I didn’t ever want to climb out.
I let loose what had to be the sappiest smile when one fluttered at the edge of his full, red lips.
God.
He made me happy.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.
Giddiness escaped in a giggle
I couldn’t contain.
Better than I had in years. Did he need to know that?
“Did Edie Evans just giggle?” He leaned in closer, washing me in a surge of that energy that lived around us. His grin was a little on the predatory side. “Now that’s a sound I haven’t heard in a long damned time. Where do I sign up to hear it every single day for the rest of my life?”
My grin was out of control.
Hope.
Joy.
This boy once again awakened it anew.
I quirked a teasing brow. “The rest of your life, huh? You’re getting awfully ahead of yourself there, Stone.”
Sly, he shook his head. He pushed up onto his hands and knees on either side of me.
Caging me in as if he had no intention of ever letting me go.
And God.
I liked it.
Being surrounded by him on every side.
He dipped his head lower. Coming closer. “I’ve been ahead all along. I was just waitin’ on you to finally catch up.”
Redness flushed. A sizzle of heat consumed my skin. Just like flames consuming paper.
I squirmed and my body lit up in remembrance of last night.
Last night.
Shivers rolled and I bit at my bottom lip, trying to contain the reaction.
Austin caught it.
Clearly he knew exactly what direction my thoughts had gone traveling.
The heat increased.
Amplified.
Tenfold.
Maybe a thousand.
God, I burned.
Here I was, pinned beneath this beautiful man. Thirsting for things I wasn’t sure I knew how to give. Itching to cup my hands in the well of those murky waters to take a quenching sip.
That was the thing about Austin. Both my spirit and heart recognized it was always supposed to be him. It was the old traumas that held me back from reaching out and taking what I wanted.
A flicker of unease wound through me, and my thoughts traveled to the text I’d received last night.
What could he possibly want?
What good could it possibly do?
I swallowed down the glimmer of anxiety. The last thing I wanted was to dim this moment. To allow Paul to steal more from me—more from us—than he already had.
More than that? I couldn’t shake the severity of Austin’s reaction when I’d mentioned Paul’s name last night. I wasn’t sure he could handle the unnecessary worry about a man he’d ultimately only wanted to protect me from.
Fingertips tapped softly across my collarbone, slower still as they trailed up the hollow of my neck. My chin lifted with his exploration. Everything trembled beneath his tender touch.
Wait (Bleeding Stars #4) Page 12