Truthfully, I haven’t felt the same since whatever Azalea had done to me. As if all the fear and weight of my past no longer suffocated me. It is still there but no longer at the forefront of my mind, and watching Gannon sleep, I realize he truly isn’t one of those monsters.

Heck, I slept naked next to him and he didn’t try to touch me or anything. Just slept.

“Abbie?” Gannon murmurs as I sit up on one elbow. Gannon pushes my hair back behind my ear. His brows furrow and his lips part to say something, yet I cut whatever he was about to say off as I lean down, pressing my lips against his. He groans, and his lips part at the demand of my tongue as it slips inside his mouth.

His arm around my waist pulls me closer while the other slips into my hair as I deepen the kiss, my tongue tangles with his, but he lets me have control when I feel him smile against my lips.

“Are you feeling alright?” he mumbles against my lips, attacking his. I nod my lips, not leaving his, as I lift my leg over his waist to straddle him when he grips my knee and pulls away.

“Abbie,” he whispers.

“What?” I ask, smiling as I peck his lips, but he shakes his head.

“We should stop,” he groans, moving his lower half away and making my legs slip off his waist.

“Isn’t this what you want?” I ask him, confused.

“Is that what you want?” he asks in return, and I nod, moving closer when his hand grips my hip, and he clears his throat, stopping me from crawling on top of him.

“Abbie, stop. I don’t want to scare you,” he says, his voice coming out more of a growled warning. I swallow at the noise as he moves onto his back. .

“Gannon?” I ask, confused by his actions, he always says I refuse to touch him, so I do, and now he doesn’t want my touch. I move to crawl on top of him, only for him to move quicker and grip my leg before I place it over him.

“Abbie,” he says in the same warning tone, his grip on my thigh tightening as he held it off him.

“Gannon, I am fine,” I tell him, and he sighs but lets my leg go, shutting his eyes, and I drape my leg over his waist to find he has an erection. I gasp at the feel of it touching my naked leg and swallow.

“See, that’s why Abbie. You are making me aroused,” he says, and I chew my lip, looking down at him only to find him watching me, waiting for me to flip out at him.

“I won’t hurt you,” he whispers, cupping my cheek in his hand. I lean into his touch, loving the warmth of his skin and the scent of his wrist by my nose. Sucking in a breath of his heady scent, I move on top of him, and he adjusts himself, pulling me higher and away from his hard cock. I wiggle lower, only for him to grab my ass; his hand grips my ass cheek before he suddenly freezes.

“Shit, Abbie, I didn’t mean.”

“Will you stop? Do I look freaked out? I just want to touch you,” I tell him before grabbing his hand and placing it back where it was on my ass.

“You want to touch me?” he asks, and I nod. Well, I am trying to, but he’s making that a bit difficult.

“You know you don’t have to?” he whispers.

“I want to, I want to be able to touch you, Gannon,” I tell him, and he sighs and lets me explore his body. I have countless times, yet never did my hands wander the way they are right now as my fingers map out every part of his exposed chest and his abs. My hand moves lower toward the waistband of his pantswhen he wraps his arm around my waist and sits up, making me shriek, not expecting it.

He sits there for a second as if gauging my reaction to his action as I straddle him. His erection pressing against my lower region makes me look down when he grabs my chin, forcing my gaze to meet his.

“I would never hurt you,” he whispers, brushing his thumb over my lips.

“We can stop. Do you want to stop?”

I shake my head, and my hands move over his chest to his shoulders.

“Then say it, I want to know you understand, Abbie; I want to know it is what you want?” he whispers as his fingers trail down the side of my neck to where his mark lay. I shiver as his fingers graze over it.

“You won’t hurt me,” I whisper.

“Never,” he says, tugging me closer before pressing his lips against mine softly. My arms wrap around his neck, and I push closer, so my chest is flush against his as I kiss him harder when he stands, gripping my leg and wrapping it around his waist while not breaking our kiss. His fingers tangle in my hair as he moves toward the bed before stopping beside it before he sits on the edge of it.

“Is this alright?” he asks around my lips, sucking on his. I nod in answer, not caring where he puts us as long he doesn’t stop kissing me.

The longer he does, the less I think about it. My body takes over, consumed by him. I tug him closer when he suddenly rolls and makes me gasp when I find myself on my back with him pressed against me. He holds all his weight on his arms and peers down at me, his eyes move to my chest and back up.