Page 33 of Keep Me Safe: A Small Town Suspenseful Love Story

Tears pricked my eyes at his brutal honesty and I buried my face in his chest, inhaling his scent. “Maybe,” I whispered finally, biting my lip and trying to steel myself up for what I was about to say next. “Maybe I was supposed to get lost in New York and find my way back to you.”

He shifted us so that I was on my back and he was above me, his arms caging me in with his palms flat on either side of my head. My dress rode high on my thighs as I tucked my bare feet behind his knees, my hands sliding up his chest and linking around the back of his neck. If we were playing the honesty game then I knew what I needed to say next. “This is getting dangerous.”

His eyes were heavy lidded as he stared down at me. “I don’t care and neither do you, Abbs.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t. If you did you wouldn’t have let me drag you up to the dune where I first kissed you.”

My head whipped around so fast I almost smashed my nose on his wrist. I pushed against his chest until he was on his knees and I was sitting up and looking around. “Really? Is this really where…”

Knox put his hand over his heart in a faux hurt gesture. “You don’t remember? Are you kidding me?”

I remembered. How could I forget? Knox was my first everything, but apparently in my alcohol fueled state I didn’t realize we’d walked right into a memory. A beautiful, wistful memory that had me on the verge of tears all over again.

“Do you hate me?”

His eyebrows skyrocketed and he jerked back as though I’d slapped him. “Hate you? Why the hell would I hate you?”

My voice shook as I spoke. “For leaving? Do you hate me even a little? Because… because I would hate me.”

If I never left all those years ago things would have stayed the same. Knox and I would have probably been married by now with a kid or two. He wouldn’t have had to suffer through his dad’s death all alone. I probably would have co-owned the store with Simone and figured out a way to play matchmaker for her and Robbie. Maybe I would have figured out what the hell was going on with Logan. I never would have been attacked.

Knox reached out and swiped his thumbs under my eyes, dragging away tears I hadn’t been able to hide. “Never. New York was huge for you, Abbs. It was life changing. You were doing what you wanted to do and kicking ass while doing it. But I wasn’t willing to move to the city and I had my life figured out here. I had to let you go figure yours out. Even if you’d wanted to I wouldn’t have let you stay.”

“We lost so much time.”

“Look where we are now,” he shot back.

I did look. We both had successful careers and friends that the other had yet to meet. We weren’t the same people we were five years ago and still had so much learning to do. Maybe we had to grow apart in order to come back together. Maybe we needed to experience life alone to see what we really wanted. Maybe I wouldn’t feel guilty forever, or maybe I would.

Maybe the best thing to do was just not think too hard about it.

I don’t remember who moved first, but one minute I was staring at him and then I was flat on my back again, Knox’s mouth slanted over mine as his tongue hungrily parted my lips. The kiss was carnal and dirty and exactly what I needed. He bit my bottom lip and sucked on my tongue, silently demanded that I give him more.

His fingers slid down my sides and under my dress, gripping my thighs almost painfully as they wrapped around his waist. I could feel how hard he was as he ground himself against me, my own hips lifting. I needed more friction. More Knox.

“Fuck,” he muttered and sat up again, his hands going to his belt buckle.

I slapped his hands away and he laughed, a laugh that ended on a low groan when I began palming him through his jeans. I traced the outline of his cock with my fingers and then leaned forward repeating the motion with my tongue as he fisted my hair in one hand and tugged hard enough to make me look up at him.

“You want it?” he asked, undoing his belt with one hand and gripping my hair with the other. “You want my cock in your mouth?”

I gave a small nod and gasped when he tugged my hair a little harder, the slight pain shooting straight down to my core and making me clench.

“Say it,” he ordered, pushing his jeans down.

My mouth watered, literally watered, at the sight of his length. Long, thick with pre-come dripping down the swollen head had me aching to have him between my legs. “I want your cock in my mouth.”

I reached forward and grasped his hips, pulling him forward and flicking my tongue against his tip, tasting the saltiness of him. Repeating the motion, I took Knox a little deeper and released him with a pop, spurred on by the growl that came out of his mouth and the way his grip on my hair tightened. When he urged me forward I took him deeper, using one hand to grip him at the base of his cock and sliding my tongue down his shaft.

He released my hair and locked his hands behind his head, seemingly fighting to control himself. I went to work, hollowing my cheeks and taking him deeper with every stroke of my mouth.

“Abby,” he groaned as I looked up at him, sliding my tongue over the velvety head. “Fuck, you gotta stop.”

“Why?” I asked with a small smirk. “You don’t like it?”

His fingers quickly worked the buttons of his shirt and then he was pulling it off. I slid my hands over his chest and down his abs, tracing the v of his hips with one finger. Tucking his fingers under my chin, Knox tilted my chin up as he leaned down and kissed me slowly. Taking his time.

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