Page 1 of No First Kisses

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POPPY

I gave up on trying to keep him out after he broke the fourth lock on my door and it wouldn’t shut right until he fixed it after his next visit in the middle of the night.

It’s useless, and Logan Pierce knows it.

Hell, he knows every inch of my body better than I do. And every time I try to get rid of him, there he is. Reminding me of why I can’t keep any of my walls up around him. Why I’ve never been able to.

“Are you awake?”

I knew he was there before he said anything. He almost always is, waiting for his chance to break me just a little bit more. Sitting in the dark until he’s sure I won’t fight him or kick him out like I’ve tried to do so many times before when he breaks into my house in the middle of the night. But we both know what the end is. I always give in. I always will.

Right this minute, he can’t see that I opened my eyes when he asked his question. I’m on my stomach, practically clinging to a pillow, the way I always sleep.

I’m too busy trying to keep my breathing normal, because I don’t have the strength to do this tonight. I want him. But I want him to leave.

I want peace, and all he brings is chaos.

The best kind of chaos, but still… chaos.

“I know you’re awake, Poppy.”

He’s closer now, his breath coursing down the exposed skin of my back.

When his fingers dance along my spine, I can’t control my body’s reaction. I meant it. He knows every inch of my body and how to force the response we both know I want to give him.

“I need you.”

Just like so many nights before, when there is no light left to hide behind, he gives me the truth.

If I were a stronger woman, I’d turn on the light next to my bed and demand he give me more. That he tell me everything. That he explain why he continues to rip out my heart every single chance he gets.

It would be so easy to reach over and flip the switch.

To erase the shadows around us.

But I don’t move.

In the dark, I don’t have to pretend to be strong.

When the bed next to me shifts and his warm body slides naked next to mine, I know that just like every other night he comes to me, I won’t turn him away.

“I always need you, Poppy.”

His lips press against the back of my neck and I melt in his arms. Even with my face turned away from him. He’ll take me. Take all the pleasure that I’ll give him, and I won’t have to say a word for him to know what to do. Then, before I wake up in the morning, he’ll be gone again.

We’ll bicker and fight, argue and avoid each other, until the next time he breaks into my house.

“Poppy, please.”

That is new.

Still, I don’t move. I don’t look at him over my shoulder like my heart is begging me to.

The light flashes on. For the first time. And I feel like I’ve hallucinated the act. Except there he is—all six foot four, blond hair, and green eyes. He is staring at me with a world of hurt on his face that I don’t understand.

“Poppy, I need you.”

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