Page 39 of Pieces Of You

This time, my laughter comes from pure nerves. “I wish I knew.”

“Well, knock that shit off.” And before I can stop him, his hands are gripping my thighs, forcing them apart so he can settle between them.

I instinctively wrap my legs around his torso while he presses into me, and I canfeelthe effects I’m having on him, feel his hardness bear down on my center. My entire body flushes with heat, my eyes drifting shut at the contact.

Without actually kissing me, Holden presses his lips to my shoulder, then up my neck until his mouth’s at my ear. “Whenever you’re ready to beg me to bend you over that workbench andboneyou, just let me know.”

“Shut up,” I laugh out.

His shoulders shake with his chuckle as he holds me tighter.

“Hey, Holden?” I say because I can’t seem toshut up,either.

Lips on my jaw—so, so close, he croaks out a “Yeah?”

“You’re hugging me.”

He runs his nose along mine, lips skimming my mouth, his heated breaths falling shallow against my face. “I’m well-aware.”

I tug on his hair, pulling him back until his eyes settle on mine. And then I smirk. “Are you thinking about me naked yet?”

He laughs under his breath, his mouth on the crook of my neck again. I run my hands through his hair, eliciting a moan from deep in his throat. Ifeelthe sound in areas I’m too ashamed to admit. “Actually,” he states, moving from my neck to my ear. And then his fingers dig into my thighs as he says, “I’m wondering what these thighs would feel like pressed against my ears while I slowly lick the entire length of your pussy.” He pulls back, eyes half-hooded. And then he blinks.

Once.

Twice.

And just like that, the moment’s gone.

Holden drops my legs, and I drop the idea of whatfuncould mean.He looks at his watch just as the alarm goes off. “But we don’t have time right now, so…”

He hops out of the pool and then offers me his hand. Once upright and poolside, he keeps me close, eyes holding mine, searching, right before he asks, “Did the shit with Dean make you afraid to try again?” He shakes his head quickly. “Not necessarily with me, but just in general?”

The single act of shrugging reveals my truth.

He sighs. “He broke your heart, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” I admit. “He kind of annihilated it.”

Holden sucks in air through his teeth but keeps his eyes on mine. “You know they say time heals a broken heart…”

“They say that, huh?”

He releases me to make a show of cracking his knuckles. “Time can heal broken arms and legs, too, Jamie.” His lips form the slightest hint of a smile. “You just say the word and I’ll finish that motherfucker for you.”

19

Holden

Jamie doesn’t saya word on the drive back to her house. She does, however, draw. With a black pen pressed to her thigh, she makes magic with her fingers. I almost veer off the road multiple times because I’m too fucking focused on her, and she’s too focused on her task that she doesn’t even realize we’re at her house until I practically slam on the brakes.

Driving was a distraction, and the sooner I stopped, the more I could watch her. But now we’re here, and she’s pushing her dress down, throwing the pen back in her bag, and it would be crazy of me to beg her to keep going, right?

Before I can contemplate it, she’s opening the passenger door and turning to me. “Did you want to come in?”

Only if you keep drawing.Clearly, I need to get out of the part of my brain that she seems to have overpowered.

I get out of the truck and meet her at the front door, where I watch her slide in the key, turn it, yank at the handle, kick at the bottom, and then finally push that fucker open.

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