Wilder (The Renegades)

by Rebecca Yarros

  He met my eyes as he slid the shorts down my legs, and I was more than happy to help. Then his hands stroked back up, his thumbs lightly tracing my scars, but he still didn’t look away. Even when his thumbs stroked along the V of my panties, he held my gaze, that look hotter than any caress could have been.

  Until he ran his thumb over my core, nothing but a scrap of lace between us. “Damn, you’re soaking wet,” he said, his eyes momentarily closing as he took a deep breath. I wasn’t embarrassed—I was desperate, and if he didn’t put his hands on me soon, I was going to combust. “Do you want me to touch you?”

  “Yes,” I said instantly.

  “Tell me why you like to test me,” he prodded, using his thumb to press on my clit through the material.

  My hips bucked. “Paxton, please,” I begged.

  He pressed again, dragging the material across the sensitive nerves. “Tell me.”

  I hated how much control he had over me in bed as much as I loved his ability to turn me molten with a simple movement. “Why?”

  He licked a path between my breasts until he ended at my mouth, kissing me deeply. My hips rocked against his hand, but he moved with me, unwilling to give me the friction I needed. “Because I don’t like whatever thought crept into your eyes a minute ago. Because I want this—want you—too badly to let anything else into this bed besides the two of us.”

  My fingers flexed on the muscles of his shoulders. “Because I want you to remember this—remember me.” Because I want to be the one you don’t forget when this is over.

  His hands found my ass, and he jerked me against him, his dick rubbing right where I wanted him, and I whimpered. “I will always remember this.” His thumbs tucked into the straps of my panties, and he dragged them down my legs, leaving me utterly bare in front of him. His breath was ragged as his eyes followed the reverse path back up. “You are so fucking exquisite.” He stroked my hips, then dipped to my waist before reaching my breasts and cupping them. “You’re curved everywhere that drives me crazy, and that little gasp you make”—he thrust against me while rolling my nipples and I drew a quick breath—“yeah, that one—makes me desperate to bury myself inside you so I can hear it again and again.”

  His words were enough to have me writhing beneath him. “Pax, I want you,” I said, knowing he loved the words.

  “And I want you,” he promised, kissing me gently while rocking against my core, sending another shock of electricity through me, winding that spiral in my belly tighter. “But you need to know that I don’t need to remember you, Leah. Not when I have zero intention of ever letting you go.”

  His mouth conquered mine, wiping away my doubt, my insecurities. He was mine now, and that was enough. He broke the kiss only to slide down my body, bending my knees to spread my legs wider. “Now turn off that beautiful brain of yours, Firecracker, and just feel.”

  He gave me a wicked smile, then held me apart with his fingers and licked through my core.

  My back came off the bed and my fingers flew to his head to push him away…to pull him closer. “Holy shit.”

  His tongue swirled around my clit as one of his fingers slipped inside me, and I was a whirlwind of pleasure. “You taste even better than I imagined,” he said against my flesh. “How do you want it?”

  My chest heaved, the tension in me so tight that I was afraid I’d snap. “I…I don’t know,” I answered.

  “Tell me,” he ordered with another long stroke of his tongue.

  Sparks flew behind my eyes. “I don’t know! God, that’s amazing.”

  He lifted his head, his gorgeous eyes slightly wide. “You’ve never had someone go down on you.”

  My teeth sank into my lower lip, and I shook my head.

  A fierce look of possessiveness washed over his face. “Even better. Hold on to the sheets, Firecracker.”

  My hands gripped the sheets, twisting them between my fingers as he set his mouth back on me, licking, sucking, exploring me with his fingers, lips, and tongue. He pressed where I gasped, lingered where I moaned, thrust his tongue inside me when my hips bucked against him.

  My legs shook, the tension within me so tight it was a blissful torture. Then he whispered, “Let go, baby,” and with one more stroke of my clit, I was flying, waves of euphoria washing over me, through me, as I came, his name on my lips.

  He ran his tongue over his lower lip, and I nearly came again. How the hell was someone that sexy? How am I ever going to look at you again without remembering what you can do with that mouth?

  “That’s the general point,” he said.

  “Shit, I said that out loud.” I grimaced.

  He grinned, but it was strained. “And much appreciated.”

  Every line of his body was strained to the max, his muscles nearly locked, tiny beads of sweat dotting his forehead, telling me that he needed to be inside me as badly as I needed him there.

  “Condom?” I asked.

  He leaned over the bed, grabbing one from his bag.

  I laughed at how prepared he was. “Planned this, did you?”

  He ripped the foil packet open and rolled it over his erection, the sight sending another wave of want through me even though I should be sated. But my body was more than ready for what was next.

  “Hey, a guy’s allowed to dream,” he said, his weight settling on me as I brought my knees up to cradle his hips.

  “You dreamed this?” I asked, kissing the stubble along his jaw.

  “I fantasized this, and I promise the reality is even better. But you…” He cupped my face as his erection nudged my entrance. “You’re the dream.”

  He kissed me, and I melted into him, into what we could be. His thumbs stroked over my nipples, and that fire was kindled in my belly again. I rocked against him, letting him know that I was ready, and he simply tugged on my lower lip with his teeth. “Patience.”

  Fuck patience, I wanted him now.

  Then his hand reached between us, his fingers lightly petting me, stroking the hypersensitive flesh, and I arched up against him, taking his breaths in my gasps as he worked me over, brought me back to the brink while restraining himself.

  “Paxton, please. I want you inside me. I need you.”

  He groaned. “God, you kill me.”

  I reached between us and guided him to me. With one hand he gripped the back of my head, looking deeply into my eyes. “You’re everything,” he promised as he thrust home.

  We both cried out.

  I burned a tiny bit from the stretch, but he held still, kissing every other thought from my head as I adjusted to having him inside me.

  When I moved my hips against his, he groaned and then began to move with sure, steady strokes, lingering inside me before beginning again, like he couldn’t bear to leave but couldn’t wait to come back.

  Each stroke hit exactly where I needed, filled and moved me, fed the fire that was dying to be set free. His hips kept perfect rhythm, never breaking pace as he made love to me, his eyes never leaving mine except during his kisses.

  Even when I thought he’d be spent, his muscles locked, he kept moving, kept stroking me higher and higher until I felt that edge approaching, but I needed more.

  “Pax,” I whimpered, “I need—”

  “Yeah, I know,” he agreed, cradling my ass to rock into me harder, faster. I wrapped my legs around his hips, and his eyes squeezed shut. “You’re so fucking perfect. So tight. Wet. Hot. God, Leah. I want to live here.”

  That mouth of his pushed me higher, and I rocked against him, meeting his thrusts until he was pistoning within me, rubbing over every nerve I had, then using one thumb to press against my clit and kissing me. “Let me feel you come around me.” His eyes begged, and I was powerless against the intensity of that look, the way he saw through to my soul as he worshipped my body. “Leah.”

  He rubbed his thumb in a circle over me as he switched angles, hitting a spot so perfect that I had no choice but to let go, allowing the orgasm to take me to the st
ars while he kept me anchored to the earth. I felt him tense above me, within me, and he growled my name as he came, shuddering with exertion.

  I’d never felt so exhausted or so alive in my life.

  He held me until our breathing calmed, then cleaned us both up before pulling me into the shelter of his body, settling the covers over us.

  Out of everything he’d done to my body, it had been the way he’d looked at me that had sent me spiraling, and I had to laugh.

  “Are you giggling?” he asked, a smile in his voice as he rolled me under him.

  “Maybe.”

  “So sleeping with me is funny? Because I didn’t hear you laughing a few minutes ago. Do you need a refresher?” He bit his lip, and I nearly went limp. I wasn’t sure my body could handle another round.

  “I realized that my first impression of you was dead-on,” I said, stroking my hands over the dampened skin of his back.

  “And what was that?” His eyes were bright but more relaxed than I’d ever seen them.

  “That you could make me come with just a look.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”

  It turned out my body was more than capable of another round…

  And another after that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Paxton

  Mykonos

  I slid the last of the eggs onto the plate and then added the toast next to the bacon. Two glasses of orange juice and two forks later, I balanced the tray on my way to the guesthouse, carefully navigating the stone path.

  It had to be about ten o’clock. I should’ve been on the bike already, but John was still sleeping, and Leah was in my bed. If I hadn’t been carrying her breakfast, I would have jumped into the air and heel-clicked.

  Instead, I took extra caution as I opened the door to the guesthouse. She’d need the calories after last night, that was for damn sure. I’d never been with someone like her before, so open, honest in her reactions, so addictive that if I wasn’t worried about wearing her down to exhaustion I’d already be inside her again.

  She was perfection.

  Leah slept in our bed, her hair tangled around her shoulders, her hand tucked under her pillow and the other reaching for the empty place where I’d slept. The white sheets twisted across her body, and her cheeks still wore a flush—or was that whisker burn? I probably needed to shave.

  Shit, I hoped her inner thighs were okay.

  A fierce feeling of protectiveness swept over me as I sat on the edge of the bed, setting the tray on the mattress. She was mine. She’d not only said yes on that beach, she’d literally thrown the red flag and trusted me with everything she was. Talk about humbling.

  She was mine to protect, to care for.

  And I wasn’t going to let that scare me—at least that’s what I told myself as I brushed a strand of hair off her beautiful face. Sure, the last time I did this, officially staked a claim on a woman…well, Leah wasn’t her, and I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again.

  And I still had a month before that whole situation bit me in the ass.

  Tell her, she’ll understand, my conscience screamed at me. Maybe I should. Leah wasn’t the kind of girl to cut and run because of my past. Maybe if I came clean now—

  Her eyes opened slowly, and she blinked a few times before giving me a sleepy, sexy smile. “Is that bacon?”

  I laughed. “That’s exactly what every guy wants to hear the morning after. Forget the ‘how was it for you’ awkwardness and let’s go for the bacon.”

  She sat up, covering her magnificent breasts with the sheet. I’d never seen a woman look so good in the morning, especially after I’d kept her up almost all night. “Pretty sure you already know it was good for me,” she said, plucking a piece of bacon from the plate. “I lost count of the orgasms.” She moaned as she chewed, then swallowed. “So good.”

  My dick hardened. Down, boy. If I’d thought that spending one night with her would kill my obsession with getting her naked, well…it had done the opposite. Now I knew how she tasted, how tight she was surrounding me, knew how it felt to watch her fly apart and surrender myself in return. She’d gone from an obsession to an addiction overnight.

  “I’m sorry, did you need to have the ‘how was it for you’ conversation?” she asked, her head tilted.

  “Not really, I already know both sides. Do you?” Now I was the one stealing bacon, reveling in the comfortable domesticity of breakfast in bed with Leah.

  “No,” she said, her tone adamant as she sipped orange juice.

  “Really?” I’d always been asked, every girl wanting to know where she compared.

  “Really. I’m well aware that your numbers are scary high, and I’d rather you not lie to me. So instead, how are we doing for a morning-after in your ranking?”

  “First place,” I answered truthfully. “And second, and third, and every place, really.”

  Her eyes lit up, and I realized how badly she needed words, needed to be shown that she was wanted. “Really?”

  “Really,” I said, grinning and wondering how many times we could say really before it didn’t sound like a word anymore. “This is definitely first place. Second would be waking up next to you in Istanbul. Third was watching you come out of my bedroom yesterday morning, and the rest are ties for every morning since I’ve met you.”

  “Those don’t count,” she said, fighting her smile and failing.

  “Sure they do. Because every morning since we’ve set sail, I’ve woken up and wondered when I’d get to see you.”

  Her lips parted slightly, and I leaned forward, bracing my hands on either side of her hips, and kissed her sweetly. Then I pulled back so she could see my eyes, hoping she’d see the truth. “Last night was the best night of my life, Leah. Hands down. Being with you is unlike anything I’ve ever known.”

  Her eyes were huge, the deep pools reflecting the hope I felt in my own heart. “Even better than winning your X Games?” she challenged with a sparkle.

  I nodded slowly, the truth catching me by surprise. “You put your faith in me, which isn’t something that happens often. I don’t take that lightly.”

  She leaned forward, running her fingers through my hair. “Everyone has faith in you, Paxton. You have an entire entourage that believes in you.”

  I shook my head. “Not everything is as simple as what you see. Sure, the Originals, Landon, Penna…Nick.” I closed my eyes against the pain of saying his name before opening them again. “We’re a family—the four of us—but everyone else is just along for the ride. And those cameras? Don’t be fooled. They want to film spectacular stunts for the money, the views, but the outcome works for them either way. People aren’t around us just to watch the tricks, they’re there to see the one time we don’t make it. I get a hell of a lot more hits on a video where I crash than when I pull something off, because fans love their heroes, but they’re always waiting for them to fall. But you…you want to be with me in spite of what I do, not because of it. You put your faith in me as Paxton, not Wilder, and that means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

  She kissed me, tasting as sweet as her orange juice. Our lips clung, savored, but never pressed for more; that simple caress was enough.

  The door flew open behind us.

  “And the cavalry has arrived— Whoa, there’s a girl in your bed!” Bobby’s voice burst my bubble of happiness.

  I flung the rest of the sheet around Leah, pulling her into my chest to shield her. Thank God my back was to the door. Shit. The crew was here a day early, and I’d lost any chance of talking to Little John about the stunt “accidents” without everyone else overhearing.

  “That’s no girl, that’s Leah,” Landon answered, “and if I know Pax, he’s about to tell you to—”

  “Get the fuck out!” I yelled over my shoulder. “And so help me God, if you have a goddamn camera in here I will crush it, Bobby. Do you understand?”

  Bobby threw up his hands and backed out of the room,
blocking the entrance from the camera that waited outside and leaving just Landon and Penna in the room.

  “Ummm…surprise?” Penna said, her face more grimace than smile. “Sorry, we honestly thought you’d love an extra day to practice with the whole crew, so we bribed the captain and pulled in a day early.”

  “Great,” I growled, then looked directly at Landon, “now get the fuck out.”

  He nodded once, and I felt the scar we’d long since laid to rest rip open. Leah was mine, and I wouldn’t share so much as a glimpse of her bare skin, yet this one precious moment had been trampled on. Landon turned and walked out without another word. Smart man.

  “Well, it’s good to see you, or rather, not see you, Leah!” Penna called out.

  “You, too, Penna.” Leah’s head dug farther in to my chest, muffling her voice, but she raised a naked arm, waving.

  Once I saw the door close behind Penna, I steeled myself for the mess I’d made with Leah. For someone as private as she was, that had to be horrifying. She shook against my chest, and I cringed. Tears were the last thing I wanted to cause her. I tilted her face up to mine and gaped.

  She wasn’t sobbing, she was laughing.

  “Are you okay? I can’t believe that just happened.”

  She wiped away a tear and kept giggling. “Of course nothing with you would be normal. But hey, I guess now we don’t have to worry about having the whole ‘hey guys, we’re together now,’ convo with your crew.”

  Her laughter was contagious, and I found myself chuckling with her. “Shortest honeymoon in history, right?”

  She kissed my cheek and climbed out of bed, our sheet covering her in the sexiest toga I’d ever seen. “Don’t worry, you have another seven or so months to make up for it.” With a wink, she took her bag and slipped into the bathroom.

  Seven months.

  Yesterday the time we had left on the cruise seemed like forever, but with one sentence, it suddenly wasn’t long enough.

  Not by a long shot.

  …

  “Man, I am so fucking sorry,” Landon said as I walked over to him at the end of the ramp. “Little John said you were in the guesthouse. He never mentioned Leah.”