Page 68 of Must Have Been Love

The corner of his lip quirks. “Strictly speaking, it was a rock or a meteor.”

“Don’t spoil it,” I tell him. “You’re getting me in the mood here. Seduction by stars.”

“Remind me to bring you here when the Perseids are on show,” he says, reaching out to cup my face.

“When are the Perseids here?” I whisper as he traces my jaw with his thumb.

He glances at my lips. “In the height of summer. August is the best time to see them.”

I hate the way my body tightens at the thought of us being together here in August, watching the sky. He’s not supposed to make me fall for him. By August we’ll probably hate each other again.

But that doesn’t stop me from leaning toward him and brushing my lips against his.

This time as we kiss he holds my face softly, his gaze on me as our mouths connect, before he finally releases me to taste me all over. The flames lick against the charred wood as he starts to kiss his way down my neck, his fingers deftly unfastening the buttons on my blouse before he kisses my stomach, my hip, the tattoo that curls across my abdomen.

Then he pulls at my jeans, dragging them down my hips, before he reveals my white thong. Like he’s too impatient to take that off too, he pushes it aside and kisses me right there.

A gasp tumbles from my lips.

“You’re not wasting any time,” I whisper.

He chuckles against me, his tongue trailing a line of fire across my clit. “I don’t want to rebuild the fire. Plus, we’re gonna have horizontal sex. I’ve been dreaming of it.”

“It’s still bedless,” I manage to say before he sucks me between his lips. He doesn’t reply – he can’t when he’s doing that. And he’s so damn good at it that it takes me less than two minutes to convulse against him, my fingers pulling at his hair because this man already knows how to make me feel good.

When my moans have calmed into regular breaths, he lifts his head up, kissing his way back up to my mouth. We’re a blur of fingers as we both pull at his clothes, my feet pushing at his jeans in an attempt to magically get them off his body.

And finally he’s naked and hard against me, his elbows resting on either side of me like he’s caging me in. He kisses me softly, dragging the tip of him against me. I’m still so sensitive that I gasp. As he rolls on a condom I can’t help but look at the way he is so magnificently hard. He’s mouthwatering.

“Fuck me horizontal,” I whisper as he lines up against me. He laughs, but he does exactly that, sliding inside of me, filling me so well that all the air rushes out of my body.

He rolls his hips, staring at me like I’m some kind of mystery. I stare back, my mouth falling open as he drags himself against my achiest part.

I can’t fall in love with this man. It’s just sex. But damn, the sex is so good, I’m already vibrating underneath him.

I tighten around him and he lets out a low oath. “Christ.”

“You’re going to make me come again,” I whisper.

“You’re going to makemecome,” he replies, kissing me.

But there’s no doubt who’s in charge here as he slides in and out of me, causing the pleasure to build deep inside of me as he cups my face with his hand and murmurs my name.

This time when I orgasm I call out his name, scraping my fingers down his back, making him groan. I’m still fluttering around him when he follows me into oblivion, capturing my mouth with his as his back arches with pleasure.

When he finally pulls out of me, the fire is already embers. It feels like a metaphor I can’t quite fit into my mind. All I know is that I’m so happy I made some boundaries between us. Those rules are the only things that are going to shield me from the full onslaught this man creates inside my body.

Sex and love. They’re two separate things.

So why does my heart feel like it’s falling?

twenty-one

HUDSON

“What time are you heading over to the party at the Dog?” Autumn asks, walking into my office wearing a silver form-fitting dress. She’s been spending every free moment she has over at The Salty Dog, which in any other lifetime would be great because it would mean my sister isn’t nagging me to death.

But actually, it’s made my life harder. Twice last week I drove off the ferry, intending on stopping at the bar to see Skyler before I headed home to my kid, only to see Autumn’s car parked outside.

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