Page 23 of Avoiding Temptation
“Shit, sorry.” I can’t help but laugh as I reach for the tap to stop the water. I live here on my own; I have no reason to know that running the tap makes the shower run cold. I don’t tend to do both at the same time.
Making the most of the water that’s still in the kettle, I boil it and throw it into the cold water. Forcing myself to focus on the task in hand, I set about rinsing his t-shirt and lose myself watching the water turn a dirty grey colour. When the shower has stopped, I run a clean bowl of water to rinse it out with, trying like hell to ignore the fact that he’s about reappear at any moment.
I wring out as much water as I can when a shiver runs down my spine. My muscles ache for me to turn around, but I’m scared of what I’ll find when I do.
Sadly, the first words that leave his lips have me moving without any thought.
“What the fuck are you wearing?”
I spin around so fast that water from his still sopping shirt covers me. “Shit,” I mutter, turning and throwing it back into the sink.
Heat seeps into my back before his finger runs around the neck of my cardigan. Goosebumps prick my skin as I wait to find out what he’s going to do next.
“I thought you wanted to banish the little old lady clothes.”
“I-I do. B-but, they’re all I had.”
“Then I think another shopping trip is in order, because these aren’t who you are.” He couldn’t be saying truer words. These clothes have never been me, just fabric that I hid behind for everyone else’s sake. “I think they need to go.”
His fingers slip around my waist until he finds the buttons running down my front. As he pops each one open, my breathing increases. By the time he’s at the top, my chest is heaving, my breaths coming out in needy pants. Wrapping his tattooed fingers around the fabric at my shoulders, he slowly pulls it down my arms.
“Joe.” It’s meant to come out as a warning, but it sounds like a needy moan for more even to my own ears.
His heat is almost scalding as he closes the space between us, his front lining up with my back. The obvious thickness of his length presses into my arse, and my teeth sink into my bottom lip to stop me from making any more embarrassing noises.
My heart thunders in my chest, and my veins fill with fire as his lips brush against the curve of my neck.
“Let me take it all away.”
“W-what?” I stutter.
“Whatever it is that puts fear in your eyes. Whoever it is you keep looking over your shoulder for. The reason you’re hiding.”
“I-I’m n-not—”
“Shhh...don’t lie to me, Quinn. I can see it all. I can feel it. Allow me to make you forget, just for an evening.”
“Oh god,” I moan as his lips continue their trail up my neck. How am I supposed to say no to that?
“I haven’t been able to forget about you. Just the memory of you melting in my hands last night has kept me hard all day.”
“We can’t.” My words are barely a whisper, showing just how weak my argument is.
“Says who? Mr. Boring?” His hands move from my waist and find the hot skin of my stomach as he lifts my cami. There’s no way he misses my body’s tremble when our skin connects. “Get out of your head, Quinn. What does your body want? Listen to what your body needs.”
“Fuck.” As I turn in his arms, he takes one look at my face and his lips are on mine. He wastes no time in sliding his tongue past my parted lips and seeking my own to dance with.
One of his hands splays out across my back and ensures we’re pressed as tightly together as possible while the other dives into my hair as he devours my mouth like he’d die without it.
It’s the single best kiss of my life. He makes me feel needed, wanted and desirable—all things I’ve never experienced before on this kind of level.
“I need you so fucking bad, Quinn. You’re driving me fucking crazy,” he mutters against my jaw as he kisses along it and down my neck.
“So take me. Do what you promised. Make me forget.”
He walks me backwards until I bump up against the counter. His fingers grasp the hem of my cami, but before he pulls it up and over my head, he looks to me for permission. My chest swells that he’s thoughtful enough to do so, and heat floods my core at the dark and dangerous look in his eyes. But it’s not the bad kind of dangerous. It’s the incredibly sexy and full of wicked promises kind.
I nod, and he wastes no time in pulling it off me and throwing it over his shoulder. His lips drop to the swell of my breasts and he kisses, licks and nips along the edge of my bra. My breasts swell with my need for more and strain against the fabric, desperate for more attention. Slipping his fingers inside the lace, he pulls the cup down and wastes no time in feasting on my puckered nipple.
