Page 39 of Training the Heart

Fuck me.She looks way too enticing right now to ask me that.

“How about a little tussle? Blow some steam off, Captain Grumpus?” she queries, right before she tosses a pillow and it smacks me square in the shoulder.

I blink, shocked, then register what she’s doing.

“Oh, you’re done for, Trouble,” I growl, leaping on top of her and gripping her tight around her waist as she squeals with delight. Before I know it, I’m pulling her down below me so her small frame is completely caged beneath mine.

Her laugh is contagious as I tickle her into a whimpering pool,

“Mercy … mercy … Wade!” She giggles.

“So you’re a tough little thing but the fucking moment I find those ticklish spots you’re begging for mercy? I gotta say, I’m a bit disappointed you caved so easily.”

She’s pushing her blanket against me to fight me, my own laughter filling the space around us bringing hers on, and fuck, it feels good to laugh, especially with her. Even with her still slightly injured ankle, Ivy is strong, catching me off guard. She sends me to my side, and I flop down onto my back as she falls between my legs.

“I’d never really say mercy, Wade. It was all just my war tactic, throwing you off guard so I can get the better of you, and it worked,” she taunts, her breathing heavy and jagged as her hair brushes my chest through my t-shirt.

There’s no denying for either of us how hard my cock is right now.

“Maybe so, but you’re not gonna win, Trouble. I grew up wrangling my brothers.”

“I grew up wrangling horses,” she retorts as she struggles to pin me down.

I roll my eyes and pretend to yawn in mock boredom.

“Okay, you’re going to force me to actually make an effort here?” I ask.

She scoffs at my taunting words but I wrap one arm around her waist and effortlessly flip her over, pinning her below me again, my one hand holding both her wrists easily above her head.

Our laughter putters out at the same time and the room is silent. The fire crackles. Ivy looks up at me, her cheeks flushed, pupils blown out, her pink lips parted and begging.

The only other sound in the room is our breath rising and falling together and my thunderous heartbeat in my ears as I become torturously aware of the warm space I’m settled against between her thighs. A low growl rumbles in my chest as I fight my conscience.

The angel on my shoulder is telling me to stop, sit up, move, go to bed, anything, before I make a mistake I can’t take back.But the devil on the other tells me that this moment? Her body pressed against mine, her sweet breath so close to the tip of my tongue, isn’t something I have the strength to walk away from.

Ivy’s glassy blue eyes drop to my lips at the same time she shifts her hips, her legs parting slightly, welcoming me in, and I know as sure as fuck that the devil’s taking this round.

“The way you’re looking at me right now, is thisyourwar tactic?” Ivy asks, her voice shaky. I adjust my hips slightly and the tiniest moan escapes her lips.

“And just what way would that be?” I ask, as my pulse hammers in my throat. “Like I want to find out if you taste as good as I think you do? Like it’s theonlything I’m fucking thinking about day in and day out?”

“Yeah …” she whispers. “That.”

I dip my head even closer, my lips just over hers as my next words come tumbling out, hoarse and deep, before I can stop them. “Find out, Ivy … Saymercy.”

I let my gaze trade between her eyes and her juicy fucking lips that are right there, so close. Ivy’s breathing shallows, her lips pop open slightly, her pink tongue wetting them, and I see it, the second she gives in, her voice so quiet I barely hear it, but I do.

“Mercy …” she whispers at the same time I drop my face to meet hers.

My lips devour hers without one ounce of uncertainty, licking, tasting, claiming. Fuck, do I want to claim her. She tastes so sweet, her sugar scent melts on my tongue as her eager lips match mine effortlessly. My heartbeat pulses harder the more I search her mouth with mine. I pull back slightly to run my tongue along her plump bottom lip as she whimpers.

“I was right. You taste fucking delicious,” I groan.

I want her permission to explore and she gives it to me, enticing me as she wraps her legs around my waist, coaxing mecloser with the slow, languid sweep of her tongue into my mouth and another moan. My hands leave her wrists and find every inch of her body they can. I grip the side of her neck, sliding my thumb down from her jaw, pressing it lightly to the center, feeling her throat work as she swallows the deep groan that leaves my chest.

Her fists grip my t-shirt, tugging at it as she runs her hands under it, over my sides, leaving a blazing trail as she goes. I press my cock into her shamelessly and the sound she makes into my mouth in response almost does me in entirely.

Thunderous knocking startles us both. And we just lie there for three or four seconds frozen, looking into each other’s eyes.

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