Page 53 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Her heart sank at his words. “We need to leave.” Logistics began to crowd her brain. Remembering her father’s papers she had come to retrieve. Emptying the fridge.

“No. We can stay until your dad drives up here and evicts us.” He kissed her neck again, and the soft spot just behind her ear that made her knees weak and her heart pound.

“In other words, we need to leave.”

He nudged her away so they could see each other properly. “You spoil all the fun, Cerys.”

“I know. But one of us has to act like a grown-up.”

“Do we have to go straight away? Or could we just lie a little. Pretend the snow only got cleared this evening and head back tomorrow morning.”

Cuddled up on the bed, she so wanted to agree, but couldn’t. “If it snows again overnight, we’re screwed. But we could check the weather. Maybe stay here for a bit longer today, then drive back later on, head back into the studio tomorrow?”

“Deal,” he said, suddenly climbing off the bed. “Come make some sweet music with me, Cerys.”

And with her hair a curly nest and still in her Christmas onesie, she followed him to the studio.

* * *

Several hours later, as they drove back to Detroit, he was still thinking about the taste of her.

And the way she’d gripped his waist while teaching him how to breathe from his diaphragm. The way her fingers had run over his ribs as she’d taught him to control his exhale, while making hissing sounds that had ended up with them both in a pile on the floor, laughing hysterically.

“I’ve got an idea,” Cerys said.

“Is it keep your eyes on the road so we don’t get killed?”

She looked over at him and narrowed her eyes. “Now you’re just being mean.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been beeped at as many times in my entire life as I have since I got in the car with you, sunshine.”

“Twice.”

“Twice, in the last hour.”

Cerys laughed, the sound floating around him. “Okay. I think people are just quick to toot their horn here. There was no reason for that last one.”

He winced as he tried to discretely move his semihard dick away from the zipper of his jeans. The ache hadn’t been eased by jerking off in the shower after he’d cleaned away their breakfast dishes.

While Cerys had set the kitchen to rights and emptied the fridge, he’d come to thoughts of the way she’d arched her back against him, pressing her tits into his chest and the way she’d tasted on his tongue.

And fuck, now his semi was headed towards full-blown erection. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone two weeks without sex. Or a line of coke. There hadn’t been any rule about avoiding either while in Detroit, but in fairness, none of them fancied messing around with the risk of arrest for the sake of a quick hit.

He slid his hand on Cerys’s thigh and gave it a squeeze before settling there. When she placed her hand over the top of his, slotting her fingers between his, he smiled. The landscape changed from peeks at the lake and wider open spaces to more densely populated areas and high rises.

The pressure that had wrapped around his chest on Friday returned and began to tighten.

“Are you okay?” Cerys asked, stroking the back of his hand. “You’ve gone quiet.”

“You want my honest answer?”

“Always.”

He looked at her as she glanced his way, and he was struck by the care he saw in her eyes. “I was just thinking about how we’re headed back to things ... to the band, to stuff that makes me ... I don’t know. I can’t put words to it.”

Cerys squeezed his fingers. “Just remember that whatever happens, to sit in it and observe what is happening before you dive in. You’ve always responded from your gut. From fear, or anger. It can’t hurt to try something different.”

Jase sighed and placed his elbow on the door, resting his head on his fist. “I don’t know, Cerys. It’s going to take a really long time to untangle all ... everything. I don’t even know if I’m ready for what that will entail.”

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