“It’s not that easy.”
“Yes, it is,” she said. She ran her fingers down his cheek. “Both of us got hurt, but we’re still standing. We’re a little broken, but there’s strength in that. Strength in you. You have to see it.”
His hands gripped her wrists. “I spent years trying to make up for my mistake.”
“And built an empire,” she said. “You turned disaster into success. Can’t you see that? What you did is amazing.”
“Don’t absolve me.”
“Someone needs to,” she said. “When I got divorced I shut down. I think in your own way, you did, too.” She rose to her tiptoes, her mouth a breath away from his. “You brought me back to life,” she whispered against his lips. “Won’t you let me try to repay the debt?”
His soft groan was her only reply before she pressed her lips to his.
Chapter Fourteen
Together they stumbled through the porch door into the dark cabin. Avery reached for the light switch, but her fingers didn’t find it before Hayden pulled her deeper into the room. His mouth claimed hers with a new desperation, and she understood the need driving him. With the ghosts of their pasts clinging to them, they needed a fresh start. A new beginning.
Together.
He pulled her closer to the double beds he’d defiantly pushed together before dinner. She’d rolled her eyes when he’d made up the bed, choosing instead to prepare one of the bunk beds for herself. Now she was thankful for his certainty.
His hands swept under her shirt, gliding up her sides. She shivered at the touch despite the warm tropical night air.
“I need to see you,” he said against her mouth. “Please.”
Grabbing the hem of her T-shirt, she pulled it over her head without any hesitation. She’d just bared her soul to this man, what did it matter if she also bared her body?
Even in the dim light she could see the hunger on his face when he leaned back to look at her. Though this morning she would have vowed they wouldn’t end up in bed, it hadn’t stopped her from wearing one of her only matching bra and panty sets. Now she thanked her lucky stars as his gaze dropped to the black lace cupping her breasts.
Her heart beat kicked up a notch at his expression. There was no doubting his desire, and she couldn’t deny the need in his eyes filled her with confidence.
I always want him to look at me like that.
Desperate. Overcome with lust. All for little old her.
Undoing the snap of her shorts, she wiggled out of them and kicked them across the floor.
She stood before him in only her underwear and didn’t feel a drop of regret. No, the blood pounded in her ears, and adrenaline shot through her veins as she waited for him to touch her. Never before had she needed anyone the way she needed him right now.
“This has got to go,” she said, pulling at his shirt.
It took seconds to tear the T-shirt over his head before he reached for her.
Chills raced over her as she stepped into his arms. Her palms flattened against the rock-hard abs and her mouth watered. Giving in to her desire, she leaned down to press her lips to his skin. Her tongue lapped over a nipple as her nails scratched lightly across his abdomen until his muscles contracted under her fingertips.
“Christ, Avery,” he said, tangling his fingers in her hair and pulling her head back up to his questing lips. “I need you.”
She grinned, rubbing a hand against the erection straining against his fly. “I noticed.”
Reaching behind her, he snapped open the clasp of her bra with sure fingers.
“I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you,” he said, his eyes on her exposed breasts. “Not once. How is that possible?”
“If you figure out the answer let me know,” she replied, sliding her hands up his arms to wrap around his shoulders. “Even when I didn’t want to admit how much I wanted you, this pounding need still gripped by body. Do you know how many times I dreamed of the gala? How many times I woke up alone in my bed, aching for you?”
“All I had to do was think about you and I was hard as iron,” he growled. “Damned inconvenient in business meetings.”
She laughed aloud.
“Not funny, love. I once had to walk out of a meeting with a file held in front of my crotch. CEOs are supposed to be more circumspect.”
“So you followed me around the world,” she said, touching her nose to his. “In hindsight, that was pretty sweet.”
“Wyatt called me an idiot. Said you’d hit me with a sexual harassment lawsuit.”
“That’d be hypocritical of me, don’t you think?” she pointed out. “After all, I wanted the exact same thing.”