“Avery, I’m not sure this is the best idea.”
“Did the world just turn upside down? Hayden Wexton is refusing sex?”
He gave her a lopsided smile. “Refusing is such a strong word. Mildly apprehensive would be more accurate.”
“Well, I’m mildly sure I want you naked.” Her hands slid down his chest to tug on his belt loops. “And growing increasingly more certain with every passing second.”
He wavered for a moment before caving to her demand. Twirling her back against the wall, he hiked one leg over his hip and held her steady. “Why is it we only ever communicate properly when we’re having sex?”
“We’re complicated.”
“Yes,” he agreed between kisses. “We certainly are.” His mouth trailed down her throat as she arched her head back to give him better access. Closing her eyes, she tried to pretend this wasn’t the end. That she’d feel this all-consuming fire again in her life. Maybe someday she would. But thinking of anyone topping Hayden just seemed…
Impossible.
“You know what’s not complicated?” he asked, tugging his shirt out of his pants.
“What?” Lust and sorrow mixed inside her. She tried to force it back, concentrating only on how he made her feel and not the weeks to come.
“Our future.”
She snorted as she ran her hands under his jacket before pushing it down his arms. “We don’t have one,” she said, trying to rise above the stinging words.
All they had was this moment, and she couldn’t get his damn jacket off of him.
He released her for a minute to shrug out of the clothing, and her body clenched at the loss of his. How was she going to survive watching him walk out the door once they were done?
“Oh, yes we do,” he said, reaching for her again. Claiming her mouth, he ripped her shirt open. The sound of buttons raining down on the hardwood floor reached her ears, but she didn’t care. There were more important matters to think about.
Like how his hands on her breasts sent sparks of fire flaring through her body. She arched off the wall as his fingers flicked over her nipples. She hadn’t bothered with a bra, not expecting visitors, and concluded the decision had been freaking brilliant.
“Oh?” she asked, trying to remember his words when all she wanted to do was memorize how he made her feel. “Care to share?”
He caught one nipple in his fingers and squeezed till she moaned with need. “I’m going to give you a shattering orgasm.”
“Okay,” she agreed, pushing his shirt down his arms to bare his bronzed chest. Reaching down, she unzipped his fly and slid her hand into his pants.
His jagged breath burned her ear as she curled her fingers around his already hard cock.
“And afterward…” he panted.
“After?” she asked, stroking him. His free hand undid the clasp of her shorts before he pushed the material down. She stepped out of them, and he spun her back into her original position, stepping between her legs.
“So wet for me,” he groaned, running a finger over her clit.
“Hurry,” she said.
He withdrew a condom from his pocket and unrolled it onto himself.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Always.”
He pulled her leg back over his hip and thrust deep inside her.
Yes.
Bliss pushed back the last shards of hurt. This was what she’d been dreaming about every night when she’d gone to bed alone. This was what she’d needed.
“You didn’t tell me,” she said, trying to think straight as he thrust into her again.
“Tell you?”
She rose to her tiptoes, trying to find purchase as he surged into her.
“What happens after?”
He drew his lips along her throat, nibbling on the sensitive crook of her neck. “You’re going to pack a bag.”
She groaned, pressure building inside her. “You’re not flying us back to that damn island just to postpone the inevitable.”
“No airfare is required for this trip.”
“Where are we going?” She angled her toes, curling her one leg even tighter around his waist.
“Home.”
Her lips brushed against his. “I am home.”
“Your new home.”
She drew back so fast she hit her head on the wall.
“Avery,” he hissed as she clamped down on him, her shock tightening her inner muscles. “Do that again.”
“What do you mean, new home? Where’s that?”
His gaze caught hers, even as he moved deep inside her. “With me.”
Her arousal skyrocketed. “What?”
“I don’t care where we live,” he said. “Here. My place. Somewhere new. You choose.” He shifted his angle, driving even deeper.