Page 121 of Love Among Vines

He pulled her roughly toward him until her lips banged against his, rough and desperate.

Her hands glided to his shirt collar, then his buttons. One by one they slipped away, revealing a hint of chest hair and his chiseled physique. Her hands traced his chest, determined to memorize every curve, every follicle.

No matter what happened between them, she would remember this for the rest of her life.

His shirt fell to his side, and her mouth moved to his neck. She ground against him, and his hands came around to her back. They caressed her bare skin, drawing a full-body shiver from deep within her.

They pulled back to look at each other for a moment. His eyes spoke volumes. Like, a full set of encyclopedias. But what were they saying? He was looking at her in a way he never had. A way thatno oneever had.

Oh, hell. She was so screwed.

Determined to ignore the danger that was looking more and more inevitable, she closed her eyes and dove back in, more forceful this time. Their breaths met each other between parted lips. She ripped his belt off and his hips lifted. Pants hit the floor.

He moved to get up, but she pushed him back onto the couch. His boxers went next, sliding over his knees to join the jeans around his ankles. With her eyes on him, she lifted her pelvis and teased herself over him, running his head over her entrance. Her hand slipped between them and closed over him. After a couple of long strokes, she guided him to her and lowered herself down.

A deep sigh burst forth from Rett’s lips. She raised and lowered experimentally, marveling at how he filled her every emptiness. Her muscles twitched and expanded to accommodate him.

Slowly, she rocked.

His hands fell limply to his sides. She shifted forward, and he kissed her breasts tenderly.

Her head arched back as her body screamed with sensation. She slid her knees closer together and hovered again, raising and lowering, thighs burning with the effort.

His hands cupped her, supported her as she moved—slow at first, then faster.

She glided up and down, tension radiating inside her. He leaned forward to meet her, pressing his lips against her breastbone.

They were both getting close. His fingertips pressed into her, his breath in ragged gasps.

Their eyes locked again. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. They watched each other experience every sensation. Every thrust. Pleasure and desperation were in his eyes.

Finally, they exploded together like a cork releasing from a bottle. Rett fell back onto the couch and pulled her down with him.

Still joined, she rested on his chest. She fought to catch her breath as he twitched inside her.

She stayed there, in a cocoon of heat and arms, until their heart rates dropped. He stroked her hair and kissed her behind the ear. Goose bumps sprouted on her skin.

She turned to him, memorizing every inch of his face—the strong jaw beneath a trimmed beard, the vibrant green eyes, the slope of his nose and strength of his eyebrows.

She recognized this feeling. Love. It had been conspicuously absent from her life since Nate had shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. But here it was, all but sewn to her chest.

Fuck. Despite all her careful preparation, she was so screwed. Danger pulsated in the half-light around them. She might as well have been a freight train on an unstoppable path to heartbreak. There was no turning back. The brake lines had been cut. A head-on collision was coming.

Just as despair was setting in, lightning bolts shot up and down her arms and legs. She stared at them, half-expecting to see scorch marks. What the hell was happening? Her body hummed like she was made out of a trillion pieces of star dust.Something inside her awakened, soared. She itched for her paint set, but she wasn’t about to interrupt what could be her last date with Rett. Especially if she accidentally blurted something out and ruined everything.

Seriously, muse? It chosenowto come back, when she was on the brink of heartache again? Was it really back, or was it just the ghost of the sensation reminding her of everything she had lost?

“Holy fucking shit.” Her head popped up, and in a second she had leapt off him.

“What?” His sleepy joy had been replaced with borderline panic.

“You didn’t wear a condom.” She stared down at herself, half-expecting to see a baby bump sprouting.

That had always been a hard boundary for her. She hadn’t even allowed Nate through the pearly gates without a raincoat.

“Oh, shit. I didn’t even think—I’m sorry. Fuck. But you’re on birth control?”

“Sure, I have an IUD, but there is no way I’m leaving the next twenty years of my future up to one not completely foolproof birth control method. Put some clothes on. We’re going back to Target.”

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