Page 110 of Ink and Ashes
I pull my lip between my teeth, hesitating momentarily. I want this so bad—wanthimso bad—but all I’ve done since I arrived is bring chaos into his life, and he doesn’t need more of that. Which is why I tear my gaze from his as I whisper, “I don’t want to stop, but I burn everything I touch, Colson. I don’t want to burn you too.”
“Burnme, Holland. Set me on fire and watch until I turn to ash for all I care, but come with me when I do. I want you, and I’m tired of hiding it. I’m tired of pretending you’re not everything I’ve been searching for. I’m tired of living in fear of being hurt when the only thing hurting me is not being withyou.” He captures my face between his hands, forcing my eyes back to his. “If we burn, we burn together, Red. You’re not alone anymore. And if I have anything to say about it, you’re never gonna be alone again, youhear me?”
I roll my lips together. “Is it really that easy?”
“If we want it to be.” He strokes his thumb under my eye. “Do you want it to be?”
I sigh, letting my gaze stray to his lips before meeting his eyes again.
I can’t keep living afraid of the unknown. If the past few months have taught me anything, it’s that almost everything in life is temporary. Maybe this is my chance to have something that isn’t.
I’ve spent so long trying to get back to who I used to be, trying to prove myself to the people who turned their back on me the first chance they got.
I don’t want to do that anymore.
I deserve people in my corner who will stick by me no matter what. People who love me without expectation, and who make me feel safe. And the people here, in Ember Grove, do that for me.
Colsondoes that for me.
The two of us may have gotten off on a rocky start, but now? Now, I don’t see myself ever being able to walk away from him. I’m certain if I did, I’d be leaving my heart behind with him.
So I push my fears down and say, “Yes, I want it to be. You’re in every part of me too, Colson. I don’t want you to let me go. And I don’t want to let you go either.”
His eyes flash with a heat I’ve never seen before, and then his lips are on mine again.
CHAPTER 39
Colson
My hands roam Holland’s body as she tangles her fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck, all the blood in my body rushing straight to my cock the moment her tongue brushes against mine. She opens up for me as I untuck her top from her skirt, letting my hand find its way under her shirt onto her bare skin.
“Oh, Colson,” she moans as I grip her waist, and that sound alone is enough to fuel me on.
Without breaking the kiss, I pick her up off the kitchen island and carry her up to my bedroom. I lay her on my bed, then tear my shirt off before hovering over her, placing my knee between her legs.
“I’m going to ask once more. Are you sure about this?” I brush my nose against Holland’s, our heavy breathing mingling in the air around us.
She tilts her face up toward mine. “I’m sure,” she whispers against my lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I groan as the words I’ve been dying to hear fall from her lips, and that’s all it takes for me to crash my mouth to hers again.
She trails her nails down my torso, letting her fingers linger momentarily on my stomach before she reaches between us to undo my belt buckle.
I pull back with a smirk, taking her skirt with me as I go, then she pushes up to a sitting position to remove her shirt too. She isn’t wearing a bra underneath, so I’m met with the delicious view of her gorgeous tits.
I let out a low growl, moving to trail my fingers up her waist to the underside of her breasts. She shivers at the feel of my hands against her, watching my movements before looking up to meet my eyes.
“You’re so beautiful,” I tell her softly.
A pink blush fills her cheeks. She skims her fingers along my tattoos that cover my physical scars from the apartment fire. A light smile graces her lips as her eyes lock on the tree with seven doves flying around it.
I might have to make it eight soon.
“So are you,” she tells me, meeting my eyes again.
I take a step back to remove my boxers and jeans in one fell-swoop, and she doesn’t let her gaze leave mine as I do. When I stand up straight again, she scans me, her jaw falling slack as her eyes catch on my cock jutting out from my body.
“Are you real?”
