The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  Her eyes fell to his perfectly chiseled chest, and she couldn’t look away. When he tried to pull away, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and brought his body back toward her. He responded with as much enthusiasm by pushing his muscled body further against her and deepening the kiss. She could taste the peppermint flavor on him and her body reacted instantly to the now familiar taste of him. Her mouth watered at the smell. “Are you sure we have to go out?” she asked hungrily between kisses.

  He pushed his hands up into her long chocolate locks and began to gently massage her head. “Yes, we said we would meet everyone.”

  “I know, but…” she trailed off, a moan escaping her lips as he gently tugged the strands backward.

  “Oh God, that’s sexy,” he groaned pushing his lower half against her.

  She could feel his erection through his soft khaki shorts. Her hand, which had previously been supporting herself against the railing, moved forward to rest on his hipbones. Her thumbs slowly traced circle eights against the exposed skin. Then she lightly trailed her fingertips against the inside seem of his pants. He shuddered against her from even the lightest of touches and ducked his head down to her throat once more.

  “Ramsey,” she moaned. She let her hand drop from his hot skin down the length of his shorts. The palm of her hand rested against the bulge in his pants.

  “Maybe we can be a little late,” he groaned pressing himself into her hand.

  “Maybe we can,” she agreed, her body coming alive as his lips worked on her neck. “We’re all alone. You could take me right here,” she muttered unabashedly into his ear.

  “What’s with us and balconies?” he asked playfully, looking up into her big brown eyes.

  Lexi couldn’t keep from blushing at the comment. Their first kiss had been on a balcony at his apartment in Atlanta. They had kissed again on a balcony overlooking Turner Field. His dramatic apology had consisted of a romantic balcony kiss. She hadn’t ever really thought about it before, but it was kind of their thing.

  “I don’t know, but I like it,” she told him capturing his lips. “Maybe you could…take me out here tonight since you like balconies so much.” Her voice was throaty and she couldn’t keep the desire from the words.

  “I’d like that,” he said leaning into her. “But it might be dangerous,” he warned. “I wouldn’t want you to fall.”

  Lexi shook her head, loose curls flying around her face. “Nah. You’ve got me.”

  Ramsey breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you finally realize that,” he said holding her tight.

  Her heart beat rapidly at the meaning in his words. At that moment, she couldn’t think of a reason for her having ever been mad at him. He had other things to occupy his time in Atlanta, but that didn’t mean he felt anything less for her. Long distance relationships did work for some people after all. And why couldn’t it work for her?

  He clearly wasn’t hanging on to any lingering doubts about her or what had gone on with her. She couldn’t figure out why she had to hold back so much from him. He was an incredible, successful, gorgeous man who wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him. All she had to do was let go and allow herself to experience what he was willing to offer.

  She wanted to. She wanted to make him happy. She never wanted his easy smile to leave his face, or his bright green eyes to stray from hers. She couldn’t think of another place she would rather be in the world than wrapped in his arms. She was completely lost in him.

  “Me too,” she said meaning every word. He really did have her.

  The joy that filled his eyes at her admission was nearly overwhelming. He dropped his arms from her waist and hiked up one leg up around his waist. Surprised, her hand tightened around the bulge in his pants, and he groaned at the feel of her touching him. His hand worked miracles through her thigh as he massaged slowly upwards.

  When as he reached her soft cotton underwear, he dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her leg up on his shoulder. She stared dreamily down at him. He hitched a finger into her underwear and pulled it sideways before bringing his mouth forward to her most sensitive area. She gasped and threw her head back as his tongue expertly traveled the length of her. Her hands laced through his golden hair as he sucked and swirled his tongue around her, willing her to reach a climax. “Oh, God,” she moaned feeling herself tighten in anticipation. “Ramsey, I’m so close.”

  “Not yet,” he murmured, licking her clit once more.

  “Oh, please, so close.”

  He breathed hot against her, causing her to squirm. “You taste so good.”

  “Then don’t stop,” she told him, willing him to continue to touch her. Her body was achingly close.

  “Not yet,” he repeated, dropping her leg and righting himself.

  She was breathing heavy when he straightened and kissed her breathlessly. “See. Don’t you taste good?”

  “God, I need you…now,” she said, as her hand came up and undid the button and zipper of his shorts. Only his tight ass held the shorts up, and she slid her hands to grasp the firm muscles, allowing the shorts to slide effortlessly to the floor.

  He pushed her back against the railing, hard. Without the restriction of his shorts, he was clearly visible to her, throbbing, and ready. She groaned at the sight of him, picking up her own leg, wrapping it around him, and wrenching him closer to her. He slid against the length of her cotton underwear slowly, teasingly. Her climax, which had been so close only seconds earlier, was building again with every passing moment of anticipation. “You’re mine?” she murmured to him, half a question and half a statement.

  His hands dug into her back as he tried to get closer and closer to her. “Yes.”

  “All mine?” she groaned, her hand sinking into his hair and forcing his eyes to meet hers again.

  He took advantage of her weight shift and pulled both of her legs around his waist. “All yours,” he said walking her through the sliding glass doors and into the bedroom. He lay her down on the king-sized bed and crawled over her. “I am all yours, Alexa Walsh. No one else holds my heart.”

  Lexi sighed at his declaration. She helped him strip her of her remaining clothing and pulled off his boxers. He moved forward and rested himself right over her opening. If she hadn’t been ready from him going down on her, she was more than ready now at the sight of him on top of her. His muscles were taut, and his skin bronzed from days in the sun. His breathing was irregular and he was physically holding himself back, waiting for her confirmation.

  She stared longingly up into his emerald green eyes and nodded her head. She wanted him. She needed him—all of him. She needed to feel him inside of her and the completeness that resulted from knowing he was hers.

  He breathed heavily and then buried himself inside of her. She thought she was going to release instantly as soon as he filled her. With such a build up, she felt like she could barely breathe. This wasn’t the first time they had been together, but somehow this was different. The way he laid against her, the loving look in his eyes, and the easy, gentle thrusts inside of her. She desperately wanted to orgasm, and she knew that she probably could have multiple times, but she was holding off. She wanted them to be together. She wanted to feel him give her everything he had, feel him cum inside of her, feel her pussy tighten and release around him.

  She could feel the strain from waiting taking over both of them. Sweat beaded down his face, fell to his collarbone, and then down his muscled chest. She watched its descent as he continued to thrust inside her. Her body was caving. She couldn’t hold back any longer. Her nails dug into his back as she restrained herself.

  His movements were speeding up, and she thought she might explode at any second. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she gasped several times as he pushed deeper. “Ramsey,” she moaned louder. “Oh God, Ramsey,” she said even louder. “I need you. Make me…make me cum. I can’t hold back anymore.”

  “Don’t hold back,” he gru
nted the physical strain of release close to washing over his body.

  “I want you with me. I need…need you with me,” she cried out. “Now.”

  At her command, his whole body convulsed as he released. She cried out even louder than before as the orgasm took over her body. Her head fell back against the pillow as waves of pleasure rocked through her body. She could feel herself shaking as she clenched onto him harder and harder, riding out the intense feeling of gratification that pored through her body.

  When her body finally stilled, she lay there for a minute with just the sound of Ramsey’s hammering heart and the ocean as music to her ears. She couldn’t do more than trail her fingers down his back and lightly up into his blonde hair. The weight of him was a comforting feeling; he didn’t move from inside of her. Her lower half was still pulsing slightly from their interaction.

  He lifted his head ever so gently to stare back into her bedroom eyes. “Lexi,” he murmured.

  “Yes.”

  “I love you.” Lexi released a small gasp. His smile was radiant. “I just wanted you to know,” he said, dropping his head back down to her chest.

  Lexi took a big breath. “I love you too,” she whispered against his hair.

  He wrapped his arms all the way around her waist and hugged her close. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard,” he breathed into her.

  He placed a faint kiss on her cheek before pulling back and striding into the bathroom. Lexi’s heart was beating wildly, and not from the sex this time. Her mind was all over the place. With three small words he had forced her body and mind to kick into overdrive.

  How had she gotten here…to this moment? For years she had left herself guarded and out of reach to everyone around her. Saying it out loud, that she loved Ramsey, broke down all of those barriers.

  He wasn’t replacing Jack. To think that he was just a replacement would somehow diminish what she was feeling at this moment. He was so much more than that to her. He had opened up a new part of her that she didn’t even know existed.

  She sighed contentedly knowing that she had made the right decision in telling him her true feelings. She didn’t want to hide from him, because she knew from experience that only made things worse.

  “You look like you’re thinking real hard,” he muttered leaning against the bathroom doorframe.

  “Just thinking about you,” she said rolling over to look at his gorgeous body. “And what you did to me.”

  “What did I do to you?” he asked striding back over to the bed.

  She shivered all over as he came closer. “Made my whole body shake.”

  “Look what you’re doing to me,” he groaned hungrily as he pushed himself back against her.

  “Again?” she asked her eyes bulging slightly.

  He chuckled softly to himself. “I’d love to, but,” he said cutting off her response, “I think we have places to be.” His voice was wistful as if the last thing he wanted to do was meet up with his friends.

  “Oh, right,” she said running her hands against the contours of his body. She didn’t want to have to cover this up.

  “You sound as thrilled as I do,” he commented forlornly.

  She smiled languidly at him. “I think it’ll be good for me to spend some time with your friends. You know…get to know the people you spend all your time with.”

  “Not all of time,” he said, shrugging it off.

  “Well, you’ve known them a long time.”

  “Now that is a true statement,” he said leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

  “So, where exactly are we going?” she asked hoping to use the weight of his affection as leverage.

  “Don’t think I’m going to ruin the surprise,” he said leaning forward and planting a kiss on her lips. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed again.”

  Lexi stuck her lip out. “Not something I like to hear from you.”

  Ramsey leaned back into her burying his face in her wild hair. “Only so I can tear them off of you later,” he replied huskily.

  Her body trembled all over at the thought of him stripping her clothes off piece by piece and reenacting their earlier escapades. “I…I’d like that.”

  Ramsey chuckled heartily before striding out to the balcony to pick up the rest of his discarded clothing. Lexi and Ramsey dressed as quickly as they could. Deciding they looked as put together as they could muster after what had just happened, they headed out the door.

  Lexi laced her hand in Ramsey’s as they strode down the sidewalk to their unknown destination. Expensive cars zoomed past them as they took their time to reach their locale. Lexi was glad that they had decided not to drive. After the events of the evening, she really needed some time with the cool breeze blowing in off of the ocean to calm her down. The smell of salt filled her mind and relaxed her body. She had always loved the beach, nearly to a fault. She was sure she had missed out on a lot of alternative vacations by always opting for a beach trip. However, she couldn’t care about that now since the beach felt so much like coming home.

  “Did you want to walk along the beach?” Ramsey asked. “You’re kind of staring at it like you do me.”

  Lexi giggled. “Sorry. I just love it here,” she murmured.

  “No need to apologize. I love it too. It’s even better here with you.”

  Lexi’s smile lit up the night as she stared up at him. “How much farther?”

  “Well, there’s the pier,” he said gesturing out to the beach ahead of them. “So not much longer.”

  “Are we going to the pier?” she asked her mouth drying out and her stomach dropping. Going to the pier would not be a good idea. She didn’t care how much distance was between her and that pier, it still brought back memories.

  “Did you want to?” Ramsey asked playfully.

  “Uh…”

  “I mean I wasn’t planning on it, but if you’d rather we stop by…”

  “No,” she stated quickly. “The sidewalk is fine. Let’s take a walk on the beach tomorrow night. I don’t want to sidetrack your plans anymore than I already have.”

  Ramsey stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled her into him. “Please feel free to sidetrack my plans anytime you want,” he told her kissing her breathlessly.

  Lexi leaned into him letting the rest of the world fall away from her. She didn’t care that they were in the middle of the sidewalk in open view to whoever passed by. She just wanted his lips on her. When he pulled away, her eyes lightly fluttered open. “Maybe we should go back to the bedroom,” she murmured playfully dragging him back the direction they came.

  Of course, she didn’t budge him one inch. He towered over her tiny frame. He scooped her up in his muscled arms and began carrying her toward their destination. “Ramsey,” she cried kicking her legs out. “Put me down. Oh my God, anyone could see.”

  “I don’t care.”

  She giggled. “Come on. Put me down,” she crowed.

  “All right, all right,” he said placing her gently back down on her feet. “But look, we’d move a lot faster without your tiny steps.”

  “Hey, don’t be mean to my tiny steps,” she pouted.

  “Never,” he said grabbing her hand once more. “But we’re almost there.” He pointed ahead to a beach side bar with a large sign overhead that read Shades.

  “You’re bringing me to a bar?” she asked narrowing her eyes.

  “Not just any bar,” he told her nearly dragging her forward with excitement.

  “All right, all right, slow down. Tiny steps, remember,” she said nearly jogging to catch up with his long strides.

  Just as they drew near the bar, Lexi heard someone call Ramsey’s name from beachside. The voice was quiet and hesitant, and if Lexi hadn’t been walking right past it, she was sure she would have missed it. Ramsey, however, seemed to not have heard it.

  “Ramsey,” Lexi said yanking on his hand. “Someone just called your name.”

  “Ramsey?” Lexi heard the voice again and
turned to face the direction. This time Ramsey heard the voice, and dropped Lexi’s hand reflexively. Lexi’s eyes narrowed in on the person who emerged from the beach.

  Standing in front of her was a girl who, at first glance, was so similar to Lexi in appearance they almost could have been related. Her brown hair was long and wavy, but clearly she put no time into the maintenance of the locks. Big brown eyes stared back at her, but they were slightly tainted by the dark circles under her eyes. Her pouty lips had a light smear of lip-gloss across them; otherwise she was devoid of make-up. The major difference between the two was the contrast in complexion. Where Lexi had a perfectly bronzed tan, this woman had milky white skin with only slight olive undertones. She wore white linen pants and a brown bikini top, and she was absolutely gorgeous.

  Lexi was eye level with the girl as she approached, and she couldn’t keep her mouth from dropping. She had never met anyone so similar to her. As she drew closer, Lexi realized that her face was shaped a bit different—more round than heart-shaped. Her nose was turned up slightly at the end, where Lexi’s was a little button. She had a slender figure, but she was clearly built different than Lexi. She didn’t have the lean muscles cultivated from gymnastics, Pilates, and dance. Rather, she had an athletic build of a swimmer or soccer player. Though her hair was about the same length, it didn’t have the body and volume Lexi was so accustomed to dealing with.

  Despite these differences, the resemblance was uncanny.

  “Ramsey, wow, I couldn’t believe that was you. What are you doing here?” she asked smiling up into his shell-shocked face.

  Lexi hadn’t noticed at first that Ramsey looked so surprised, because in fact she had been just as surprised at the sight of this woman. Now as she tore her eyes from the woman, she noticed how dumbfounded Ramsey appeared. His mouth was hanging slightly open. His eyes were completely focused on the woman in front of him and nothing else. His hands were clenched in fists at his side. She wasn’t sure if he was more in shock or anger at the visage before him.

  “I…um…I’m on vacation,” he said tentatively.