Page 92 of For Crosby

I laughed. “I’m hoping that happens after you untie me.”

“Is that right?”

“Uh, huh.”

She stepped around the tree until she stood in front of me, our toes nearly touching. She pressed her hands to my chest and dropped her forehead to mine, her familiar scent seeping into my pores for the first time in weeks. The warmth of her body and the gentleness of her touch felt like home. “This is the most messed up thing a guy has ever done for me.”

“Protecting you from a sex tape or tying himself to a tree?”

She laughed, and I relished in the sound of it.

“I missed you so damn much,” I said.

She lifted her warm hands to my cheeks. Had my arms not been bound to my sides, I would’ve wrapped them around her and never let her go again. She leaned forward and kissed me. Her lips were a self-propelled force to be reckoned with and I didn’t mind one damn bit she was in charge. She kissed me like she meant it. Like she missed the taste of me. Like she’d forgiven me.

She eventually pulled away and enlisted the help of some people passing by to untie me. The second I could touch her, I lifted her off her feet and carried her over my shoulder toward her room. She didn’t fight it. She just laughed. We passed plenty of people on our way upstairs. They all smiled or laughed, but none of them understood how right it felt to have her forgiveness or to have her back in my arms.

And for the first time in a long time, I knew everything was gonna be okay.

Sabrina

Inside my room, Crosby slammed the door shut and placed me up against it. His lips crashed down on mine, his tongue diving inside my mouth, holding me prisoner. This wasn’t a kiss of forgiveness, this was him wanting to own every part of me, and me allowing him to do it right there and then.

His hands burrowed into my hair and he pulled back to look at me, all breathless and turned on. “You will never avoid me again.”

I nodded, locked in on the intensity in his eyes.

He leaned forward and buried his lips in my neck, nipping at my skin with his teeth, harder than ever before. “You will never again see me put up with anyone’s shit.”

My head dropped back against the door and I closed my eyes, loving his commanding tone of voice and the assurance of his words.

He trailed open-mouthed kisses over my collarbone. “You will know that whatever I’m doing has a reason and I’m nobody’s bitch.” His deep voice rumbled against my chest, spreading everywhere. “And you will never, ever, let another guy fuck you the way I’m about to.”

Tremors charged through my body, and the anticipation of what he’d do to me sent a wave of lightheadedness over me.

He pulled back so we saw nothing but each other. “Now I’ve got one question for you.”

“What?” I breathed.

“Will you let me love you?”

I froze, my wide eyes still locked on his.

“Are you gonna let me do that?” he asked, the sudden vulnerability in his eyes all encompassing.

With my body on the verge of imploding if he didn’t bring me to my bed, I nodded.

His smile would’ve brought me to my knees had he not been holding onto me. He leaned in and kissed me, stealing my breath away. Then, he carried me to my bed and tossed me down like I weighed nothing at all.

I scooted back, yanking off my T-shirt and leaning back on my elbows. He pulled off his Henley and crawled on top of me, lowering me onto my back. He dropped his head and placed open-mouthed kisses over my chest. My desperation for his touch intensified with every breath. But Crosby was taking his time. Taunting me. Driving me mad.

“I appreciate the fact that you’re taking your time with me,” I said. “But right now is not the time.”

He lifted his head with a smirk on his face. “Is that so?”

I nodded.

He reached behind my back and unsnapped my bra, tugging it off my arms and tossing it behind him. He dipped his head and sucked my nipple into his mouth. I gasped and my head dropped back against the pillow and my hands grasped onto his arms, desperately missing the feel of them around me.

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