Page 83 of Unhinged Cravings
“Ava, I don’t think?—”
“I don’t want you to think, Emerson. We take risks. You and me. It’s what we do. We don’t play it safe, and we don’t let the past do anything but feed our need to conquer more of life.” His hands moved, caressing my breasts. “I want you to distract me. To remove their unwelcome touches from me and replace them with yours.”
His eyes darkened, his hands stilling. “Did they…”
This was the man who killed without remorse and now killed for me. The unhinged mafia boss who took no prisoners and left a trail of bodies in his wake.
“No, they just stole my piercings. Assholes. That’s gonna be a pain in the ass to replace them all.”
“I’ll buy you diamonds for the next ones.”
His hands moved to my waist, squeezing it and causing a gasp to flee my mouth. He picked me up and pulled me forward so that my hands hit the wall to stop my movement.
“Sit on my face, wildcat. Let me lick that clit while it’s bare, so I can see if you taste anydifferent.”
A storm of flurries ricocheted through my stomach. I lifted and settled over him as his fingers dug into my thighs. I let thoughts of all that had happened go and closed my eyes as his tongue reminded me of his claim on my body. He licked and sucked and kissed until my climax roared through me with a ferocity that burned away the memory of any other hands on me.
His hand moved past my leg as I rode out the remaining waves of my release and I heard his zipper. Picking me up, he positioned me over him. I guided him into me, throwing my head back as he filled me completely. He pulled me down, his mouth capturing mine, and I lost myself further to him. Touches that were powerful and firm drove my body closer to another climax.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Come for me again.” His blue irises were as dark as a stormy day, his hoarse voice so sexy it sent my desire climbing. My body was no longer mine to control. It was his. He owned it and it would bow to his every wish. I leaned back on his thighs while his hands twisted my nipples and squeezed my breasts.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he muttered. Hands on my waist, his eyes stayed on me, watching me climax for him.
Every rise and fall of my body brought me closer to falling apart and as my release hit, I watched him crumble with me, our bodies destroyed as one. He yanked me down, kissing me so fiercely it was like a brand on my soul. He held my hips down, exploding inside of me, filling me while my body convulsed around him.
I collapsed completely on him and his hands slid up my back. They played in my hair as my head rested on his chest. His hold on me was so powerful, it almost seemed like he was soaking me in, like he would never hold me again. I snuggled into that hold, worry invading and shoving the rapture aside.
“You’re letting me go,” I said into his chest. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did. His comment about danger earlier, the intense way he was holding me, revealed more than he wanted.
He didn’t answer me. “Get some sleep, Ava.”
I tried to pick my head up, but he kept me against him.
“Emerson…” But I didn’t know what to say. We’d known this was going to happen. Two weeks. Separate lives, separate coasts. “Did I hear my uncle’s voice?”
“He’s here with Greyson. They’ll take you home tomorrow.”
“I don’t have a choice in that?”
His hold loosened, and I looked up at him.
“You have a life, Ava. Family, friends, school. All I have is danger. There’s nothing for you here, and I won’t endanger your safety by keeping you here.”
“We take chances, Emerson. That’s who we are.”
The space between his eyes knitted. “With business, but not with you. I won’t take a chance of you getting hurt again.”
We were risk takers and both of us had taken a risk with this. And now he was pulling away because that risk had been too great. On all fronts. This was why we never got close. Why he never let women in, and I never let men in. There hadn’t been one worth letting in before.
“So, you save my life and then it’s goodbye?” I moved from him, but he rolled over, caging me. His beautiful eyes looked between mine and he brushed his thumb over my cheek.
“I don’t want to give you up, Ava, but you were never mine to own.”
Yes, I was.The words sought to leave my mouth, but I couldn’t let them. I had no fight left in me and I didn’t think I had the words to change a fate that had sat over us since the moment I fell for Emerson Tides.
I pulled him to me, hating this, hating that he was right. That we had our separate lives, and they didn’t coincide. I kissed him, resigned to not fight it like I hadn’t fought falling for him, but knowing that walking away from this would hurt me more than anything those men could have done to me.
I woke the next morning,my body blissfully satisfied. Emerson’s touches and kisses like a lingering ghost on my skin. Looking over at the empty space in the bed, my chest caved. He had made love to me, the emotion fierce, the touches deliberate and slow, soaking in the memory of my skin. And now he was gone.
