Page 74 of Free to Run
Him.
“I didn’t either,” I admit. Every time with Keene has sent fireworks through me, cravings, longing for more. I expected all of those things. But what I didn’t expect were butterflies.
He lets out a low laugh, even as his dark head pulls back a bit. “I didn’t mean you, beautiful, though I have to admit, it helps mine to know it.” His hands still from where they’d been roaming across my bare shoulders, squaring me off against him. They meet behind my neck and tip my head up, forcing me to meet his eyes. My breath gets caught somewhere in between my stomach and my throat.
“Why?” I manage to croak out.
“Because we both know we’ve stopped running. The minute our bodies meet on those sheets, there’s no turning back from the path we’re on. I’m afraid too, Alison. I’m afraid I’m going to fuck this up somehow and there won’t be another chance.” Keene’s making me a vow I’m not entirely certain I understand. “But I promise I’ll try every day we’re together to never give you the chance to regret us.”
“Okay,” I whisper. I take a deep breath and let him know something he should already know. “It was always more for me, even from that first night.”
“I know.” His head bows. “Alison, I can’t say there haven’t been…”
I lift my finger to his lips to silence him. “Neither can I.” We both thought we’d never see each other again. Who would have thought of how we’d ever end up finding each other again? My hand drifts to his shoulder.
“The last woman I was with was you. And even before that, it was more than six months,” he says quietly. “The minute I knew where to find you again, I knew I couldn’t touch another woman again. No one could compare.”
“The last man I was with was you. And before that, it was more than a year. Even before I found you again, I was tired of searching and never finding what I had with you in one night. I’m tired of comparing every man I meet to a ghost.”
“I’m not a ghost, Alison.” He takes my hand and places it over his heart. “I’m right here.”
“Then make me feel again, Keene. Take me where only you can,” I plead.
His kisses me, driving me to the point of insanity. He backs me up until I’m against my bed, and without releasing my lips, he sweeps me into his arms and places me diagonally across my mattress before crawling on top of me.
God, this feels so right.
Keene, in my bed.
Keene, obliterating my mind.
Keene, infiltrating my heart.
I gasp on the last thought. He pulls back slightly and uses the break in our kiss to whip my tank over my head. The sheer, nude-colored bra I was wearing beneath does little to camouflage my breasts and everything to incite the man before me. With a growl, Keene’s head drops and captures one of my protruding nipples between his teeth. He begins sucking, using the fabric between my nipple and his tongue to drive me even closer to the edge, where control is a memory.
I arch my back, pushing my breast closer toward his mouth.
Pulling back, he reaches for his T-shirt with one hand. When it’s gone, he lowers his body back onto mine, and I immediately rake my nails over the skin covering the sinewy muscles of his back. He lifts his head from my breast, moving to the spot under my ear that drives me insane.
Soon, I’m writhing on the bed, my hands slipping down the back of his shorts, pulling his hips deeper into mine when he rolls off and says, “No.”
The flush that hits my body must travel from head to toe. Embarrassment and shame make me want to gag. Tears hit the back of my eyes. I have to get out of this room. I’m just about to scramble off the bed when Keene’s arm hauls me back on top of him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He’s pissed. I struggle to get away from him before the tears I’m holding back fall. “Alison, stop moving.” He rolls on top of me again, and I turn my head. I’m not going to be able to hold the tears back.
“In the conversation I was having in my head, which apparently you weren’t privy to, I was saying I wanted to… Hey, baby. No. No tears.” He has to forcibly turn my face, but I refuse to look at him, no matter how much he pleads. I finally feel him hold himself up on his arms, and I brace for it. This is when he leaves me. Again.
His weight redistributes on top of me, and slowly, I feel him kissing away my tears.
“Baby, please give me your face,” Keene says quietly. His mouth brushes my cheek to capture another tear as turn my head.
“I wasn’t saying no to us. I was saying no to how fast we were going. I need to savor you, devour every inch of your skin. I want to taste the parts of you I never had the chance to before. I want to hear you moan when I touch you somewhere you’ve never been touched, somewhere no one has ever touched you. I want to bring you to the brink of pleasure and start all over again. I want to give you more than I’ve ever given anyone. Say yes to that,” Keene whispers. My mouth falls open. He uses his wicked mouth to deliver a slow, languid kiss before he murmurs, “Don’t just fall. Drown with me, Alison. Dive into oblivion with me.”
I can’t catch my breath enough to speak, so I nod instead.
A hint of a smile tips his lips. “I’ve dreamed about this for so long, I almost don’t know where to start. I’m afraid I’m in my bed at home, still dreaming.”
I roll Keene to his back and straddle him. “At any time in your dreams, do I get a chance to savor every inch of you?” Keene’s not the only one who’s dreamed these long, lonely years.
