Page 153 of Between the Lines

Charlotte smiles a little.Yeah. She knows.

But I need her to believe it. “I’ve taken tequila shots off them, and it was because I wanted to. I’mstillobsessed with them. Always will be. They’re the perfect size for me to suck.”

Her lips part. “Oh. Right.”

I kiss across her jaw, neck, and down to find her nipples. They’re perfectly pink, the crowning glory on top of her slight mounds. I slowly release her hands and let my own glide along her sides. Over her waist, her hips, as I continue to suck.

Her breathing speeds up. It catches when I bite down on a nipple, and I smile around the peak.

When her nipples are more ruby than pink from my touch, I drop to my knees in front of her. I kiss her stomach. She tastes like warm skin, and faintly of sea salt.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte.” I slide my hands up her bare thighs, gripping her firmly. “I’m sorry about all of it.”

“Aiden,” she breathes. “What are you doing?”

I kiss her knee. The inside of her left thigh. “I’m so sorry. Let me show you just how sorry I am.”

“You weren’t responsible for the show.” Her fingers tunnel into my hair, and I fucking love it when she grips me like that.

“I profited off your pain, and I’d gladly spend a lifetime trying to make that up to you.” I kiss further up the sweet, soft skin of her thigh, moving my lips toward her bikini bottoms. “Starting with this, sweetheart. At your pace. Let me spend an hour onmy knees and kiss you here. Let me convince you every fucking thing he said was wrong.”

“Aiden,” she whispers.

I use my left hand to stroke her softly through the fabric. My mouth is at her hip. “You can trust me. And you’re in control.”

Her other hand grips my shoulder, and I see her contemplating it, see the thirst for adventure and fear warring within her. “I might not enjoy it,” she says. “Maybe there’s just something?—”

“There is nothing wrong with you. Say the word, and I’ll stop. We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to try. But if it’s because you’re thinking abouthimand his stupid fucking words, I want to banish him.”

Her breaths are coming fast. She wants this. I know she does, and I know it excites her, but scares her, too. And I want to help her overcome this anxiety. The idea that she doesn’t taste good? That doing this to her won’t be the best fucking experience of my life?

Outrageous.

“Okay,” she says. Her eyes are alight. “I want to try it with you. But…”

“You say the word, and I’ll stop,” I repeat. “We can use your vibrator, too. Just let me convince you there is not a single thing wrong with you.”

Her teeth dig into her lower lip. “I want to shower first.”

“Sure. But you don’t have to, not for my sake. And we were just in the ocean.”

“I think I need it. For my own peace of mind.”

“Anything you need, Chaos.” I kiss her hip again and then rise to my full height. Charlotte walks ahead of me in nothing but her red bikini bottoms and that top that’s tied only around her rib cage.

I follow her into the shower.

If she’s surprised, it melts away as soon as I take her into my arms. “If you’re clean, I’m clean,” I tell her.

She’s nervous.

But the nerves dissolve under the hot spray. I stroke her skin. Her arms, her lower back, shoulders, and legs. Let my fingers brush over her clit a few times. I kiss her beneath the cascading water until I’m so hard, it’s inconvenient. My cock trapped between our naked bodies.

She giggles and gives my erection a tug. “Sure you want to go down onme?”

“Yes. I’m damn sure. This is an indication ofjusthow much I want to.”

Neither of us fully dries off. I throw on a pair of sweatpants, just to keep myself at bay.

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