Dear Ava(37)

“And by like this, what do you mean?” My hand reaches out and brushes the hair from his face, and he grabs it, pressing a hot kiss to my palm.

I like that feral gleam in his eye. Jealousy.

“Badass. Mouthy. Sexy as fuck.” His hands cup my cheeks and he leans in, hovering over my lips. He changes direction, his nose running up my neck. He nips me on my throat then sucks hard, and I gasp.

“Chance doesn’t know this side of me,” I say breathlessly. “Only you.”

He tugs on my hair. “Thank God. He never could have handled you, Tulip.”

“You haven’t completed your dare.”

Our eyes cling for a long moment, and then he murmurs. “Technically, it was my turn. Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” I whisper.

“You take my clothes off.” He swallows thickly and stands up from the bed, his chest rising rapidly.

Standing up, I lift his shirt, grazing my hand over his upper chest then dropping the jersey to the floor. He toes his shoes and socks off, kicking them aside while I work on his slick pants, pushing them down until he’s in his tight black underwear.

My heart clutches. He’s beautiful, all hard muscles and broad shoulders and tanned skin, his legs thick and powerful.

He bites his lip. “Tulip, please…please…I’m dying to…”

“What?”

His lashes flutter. “Fucking devour you like I’ve imagined a million times.”

“Please do.”

He pounces then, like the tiger he is, his arms closing around me and pulling me in for a hard kiss, holding nothing back, his tongue dueling with mine, sucking and nipping. He’s ferocious with his mouth, his hands clutching my shoulders so tight, as if he’s hanging on to me.

“Get…this off,” I mumble, and my camisole is pulled up, by him and me together. His fingers unsnap my bra until my skin is bare, and he groans as my flesh presses against his.

“Tulip…so sweet,” he whispers, his mouth closing around a nipple, and I clutch his head as blazing flame burns over my body, my legs scissoring with need. His teeth graze over one peak then the other, and I shiver. It’s never been like this, never this intense, never this hot feeling on my body, the way I burn.

He pushes at my tights, grunting when he sees the booty shorts underneath, his fingers stalling out. “Are you sure, Tulip? Are you? Because I want you, but I don’t want to scare you or make you feel like you have to be physical with me. We can cuddle. We can crawl up in your bed and watch those goofy Star Wars movies while I play with your hair.”

“I am,” I rush out, helping him slip the shorts off. I want something good. I want to not worry about a dark night in the woods, I want to replace it with beautiful things. With him.

And I know he’s a Shark and I’m not, but he’s kind, and I trust him, I do. He’s proven himself to me in so many ways.

He looks at me, his irises dark with desire as they rove over my body. “So beautiful.”

He sweeps me up in his arms, making me laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he muses.

“You’re just so…strong. I like it.”

“Good.” He lies down next to me on the bed, his lips on mine. We take up the whole mattress, but I don’t even notice. I melt into him, basking in this need and want he’s kept on a leash.

My back arches up when he kisses down my body, hands tracing over my face, my breasts, his mouth moving from one nipple to another, teasing me and sucking. He dips his tongue in my belly button, tasting my hip bones with a soft bite.

My core tightens, and my eyes roll back in my head at the friction, at the feel of his powerful body against my soft one.

“Tulip, I want to…” He presses little kisses to my stomach, his tongue flicking at my waistline as he toys with my panties.

Something makes him stop and I rise up. He’s staring at my underwear, and all at once I’m embarrassed. They aren’t special: white cotton, standard issue from the group home with my initials on the inside. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just…nervous. May I?”

The big bad Shark is nervous? It only makes me want him more.

I nod and he slides them off, easing them down my legs.

His fingers skim over my wet folds and I throw a pillow over my face. In the auditorium, we were so rushed, but this is slower and he’s right there…

“Don’t be shy now, Tulip. You’re so brave. Unless…unless you want me to stop?”

I whip the pillow off my face and throw it on the floor. “If you stop, I will kill you with a lightsaber. I have one in the closet. You wanna talk about a dark side? I’ve got one.”

“I’ve watched a few of them because of you,” he murmurs as his fingers dance over me, skimming over my mound, never quite hard enough, not nearly enough until he eases a finger inside me and I moan.

“Uhhhhhh, good.” I can’t breathe.

“Is this okay?” he rasps, and I nod, trying to move so I can touch him too, but he holds me back, so I wait and fall into bliss, my hips rising up against his fingers.

My breaths come in erratic pants and when I look at him, he’s intent on me.

“More?”

“You’re torturing me.” I don’t know why he’s even asking. I am his right now.

“How about more torture?”

“Lightsaber, remember? Don’t stop.”

He laughs and pulls me to the edge of the bed, gets on the floor on his knees, leans down, and holds my legs apart. Part of me feels vulnerable and nervous. I’ve never done this, never, and it’s with him and that means something special—

His head dips and my fingers grip the quilt on my bed, clawing at it when his slick tongue brushes lightly over my center, lingering on my bundle of nerves. He groans. “Tulip, you taste so good, like, like destiny…” He leans closer, his nose trailing up my inner thigh. “I want to consume you, eat you up so fast, but I’m trying to go slow…” Another long, slow lick up my center, and I shudder.

“Knox, Knox, that, that…” My chest heaves. “Ohhhhh…don’t stop!”

Cupping my bottom, he settles in and teases me, never quite enough pressure, his touch light and excruciatingly slow, swirling his tongue, wicked, so wicked as he draws intricate patterns on my clit, stoking the fire inside me hotter until I’m burning…

My body tightens, tension building at my spine.

His finger curls inside me, rubbing and stroking, and I can feel his breath on my skin, his tongue as he sucks—

Lights burst behind my shut lids. The universe becomes just him and me as sensations ripples across my skin.

“Knox!” I writhe underneath him, shameless as I press harder into him.

I’m boneless when he moves up and touches my face.

“You like?” He grins.

“That…that…when can we do it again?”

He throws his head back and laughs, satisfaction evident on the planes of his face.

And nothing matters. To see him laugh, to put joy there…being with him is so easy, and we laugh together, and I just…gah…I’m so close to falling—

“What are you doing to me,” he says when I reach up and kiss him hard and long, sucking on his tongue with a fast rhythm, imagining him fucking me to the same beat.

Without our mouths parting, I use my hands to push down his underwear. He’s thick and hard and long, his crown veiny and wet. I stare at him, getting a good look, nerves kicking in at how big he is even as my core clenches in anticipation. Wrapping my fingers around him, I stroke from his base to the tip, my thumb skating over the silky skin.

He groans, hovering over me. “Tulip, please…”

“Please what?”

“Harder.”

Increasing my pace, I pump him with long, firm strokes while he kisses me.

He gasps for air, his chest shuddering. “Condom. Do you—”

Before he can finish, I jump off the bed and dash to my chest of drawers. They’re two years old, but they’re there, thank you, in the top under my underwear. I grab one and whip around and he’s already up and behind me. With hands that tremble, he takes the package from me and rips it open with his teeth, his gaze never leaving my face. He slides it on and picks me up. My legs lock around his hips. Somehow we’re back on my bed and he’s on top of me.

Slowly, he rises above me and teases my entrance. His face is flushed and small beads of sweat dot his brow.

“So good…” I exhale. “Don’t hold back, Knox, please…”

His hands clench around my waist as he strokes in all the way, stretching me, the fullness tight. He stops and holds me, clutching me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…haven’t been with anyone in a while,” he growls.

I smile, remembering our conversation at Lou’s. He was waiting on me.

“Are you going to come too soon?” I tease.

He huffs, slides back out, and enters me again, swiveling his hips, getting a new angle that makes me shiver. “No. I’m going to fuck you till you see stars, Tulip.”

“Always wanted to see the universe up close.”

He huffs out a laugh.

He owns me then, taking control, moving my hips up, his strokes hard and solid, each slide precise and sure, my wetness coating him, the sounds of us, our bodies slapping together, our heavy breaths are all I can think about.