Page 70 of The Charm of You

His thickness pulses inside me, and my walls tighten. My throat is dry from the overwhelming pleasure seeping into my core and beyond.

“I’m so close.” I pant each word. I don’t recognize my own voice.

I don’t even recognize myself right now.

I’m no prude, but this… What Austin and I are doing in the back of his truck out in the open is the stuff of dirty fantasies. I’ve never been one to indulge like this, but with Austin, it feels natural. Like he and I should’ve been doing this the second my heels hit the ground in Sapphire Creek.

“I’m so… close,” I repeat as goose bumps prick my skin.

“I’m not one to keep a pretty girl waiting.” Grunting, he tightens his arms around me and jerks me down, then works me sideways, oscillating against his slick body until my second climax of the evening bursts free.

I buck against him and shudder as he pumps upward once, twice, and unravels on the third. Warmth fills me from the inside out as I collapse against him, my temple pressed to the side of his head and buried by his hair.

A slow grin stretches across my cheeks, my skin taut from the chill, which only grows stronger the later into the night we trek.

Austin’s low chuckle against my chest is hoarse and sexy. I don’t get such a sound from him often, but when I do, it pierces me right in the heart like Cupid’s arrow. His sharp edges are why the rarities of his laugh and cute confessions are so surprising and charming. They’re so unlike him, and yet, they look so good on him.

With his hands on my hips, he guides me off him, and together, we scoot down until we fall onto our backs, the stars twinkling down at us as we catch our breath.

A shiver skates down my spine, and I scoot closer into his side for heat. The behemoth exudes warmth.

“When did you know you had a crush on me?” I whisper into his shirt and tangle my leg with his. I need to find our pants, but I need this answer more.

He doesn’t offer one, though.

I rest my head on his chest, and his heart beats quickly, tapping against my temple.

“I knew when you gave me such a hard time over the apple pie,” I admit. It’s hard to believe that was only a few days ago. As we sit with our bodies intertwined like this, it feels like it was ages ago.

A soft hum vibrates from his chest, but it stops abruptly as he raises onto his elbow and peers down at me. “Wait. You have a crush on me?” The teasing note in his baritone voice acts as a rock tossed into a flock of birds, sending them into flight across my stomach.

I place a feathery light kiss to his lips, my fingers grazing the scruff of his jaw. “Without a doubt.”

chapter

twenty-one

AUSTIN

My first task this morning is to replace the starter in Mr. Clemmons’s sedan. He dropped it off a few days ago, but we had to special order the part, which I estimated would take about a week to arrive. The man had frowned, but he didn’t otherwise offer resistance, not that it would’ve helped.

He’ll be glad to know the part is here, and his car will be ready three days early.

I just wish my intentions in exceeding expectations were pure and noble.

I drop a wrench onto the top of my toolbox and wince as the clanging sound echoes across the empty garage. My head throbs with the early hour. I came in two hours before opening just to keep my hands busy.

My fingers vibrate from where they touched Caroline’s velvety skin all night.

I still taste her on my tongue.

She’d been the center of most of my teenage fantasies. Now I’ve experienced the real thing, and it’s better than anything my horny imagination had ever dreamed up.

This morning, I woke up with a stiffy—a fucking painful one, as if I hadn’t gotten enough of her.

But it needs to be enough. Last night should have been plenty to curb this stupid, risky desire I have for her.

As I dive back under the hood of the car, I grind my teeth, knowing good and well there’s no such thing as getting enough of Caroline Summers.

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