Rhystsksme with a slow and measured shake of his head. “There’s a difference between making a fool out of you and having fun with you.” He takes a slight step back, only enough to fit his hand between my legs to stroke my pussy. To tease my clit through my shorts, pulling a breathless moan from me. “Beg me, sweetheart.”
With my eyes locked on his, I whimper a broken, “Please.”
“Please what?” he snarls.
I drag in a hard breath, rocking my hips to meet the grind of his. “Please, Rhys, don’t stop.”
He tilts his head, hovering his lips over mine. “You were the last thing I imagined when I was rotting in that fucking darkness.”
I bury my hands in his hair, fisting the soft strands, relishing his groan because, just as he’s studied me, I’ve learned a thing or two about Rhys Ravenstone. He enjoys a tiny splash of pain with his pleasure. God, his eyes, the way he looks at me. If we had forever, it wouldn’t be long enough for me to get used to being looked at like this—and a rush of fear follows in its wake.
The realization that I’m going to suffer once he’s gone hits me like a tidal wave, and it takes everything I have not to shatter into a thousand pieces.
“I want…” I whisper brokenly, my sentence trailing off.
“Tell me.” Rhys releases my throat and settles his hands on my waist, the heat of his hands radiating throughout my body. “What do you want, Charlotte?”
I spread my legs wider, giving him better access as he shoves aside my shorts and panties. He pushes two fingers inside me, and on a cry, I admit, “More time.”
Chapter Sixteen
Day Five
Obviously, Cupid never materialized out of thin air to grant us more time. But we sure had a hell of a great night—which led to a wonderfully lazy morning. Now we’re in the Sentra, windows down, an eighties freestyle song blasting on the radio, speeding toward Reece Park. I’ve never been to the famous amusement park but have always wanted to go. I mean, comeon, it’s home to the largest roller coaster in the Eastern United States. How can someonenotwant to ride that beast?
And afterriding Rhys last night, apparently, I can handle anything,
I sing off-key—loudly—most of the way…and it’s an hour-long drive, poor Rhys. It’s a hoot when he jumps in once he gets a feel of the words. Next thing I know, he’s disco-ing out toParty Your Bodyby Stevie B right along with me, and it’s more fun in a car than I’ve had in my whole damn life. So much fun that I’m almost disappointed when the GPS instructs me to take the next exit because we’ve arrived at our destination.
But wearehere, and…Wow!Reece Park is massive and marvelously imposing—everything I imagined and more. It’s loud and crowded, especially since it’s a holiday week. No big deal. We get swept up in the excitement, and sure, it’s a slog through the slow-moving traffic of sweaty bodies, but that’s part of the experience. So are the crazy-long lines. Thankfully, there are plenty of snacks to munch on while we wait.
I bombard Rhys with cotton candy and chocolate-covered pretzels. Because that’s exactly what someone’s stomach needs before boarding Armageddon. This ride is four hundred and fifty-eight feet of pure adrenaline. At max speed, it hits one hundred twenty-eight miles per hour and has a straight drop almost right out of the launch. I’ve heard the twists and turns have the power to churn even the sturdiest of bellies, so it’ll be super fun to see how Rhys holds up.
Lord knows I’ve refrained from ingesting anything except water while we inch up the line toward the intimidating ride.
Heh.
With the sun a pressure beating down on us, Rhys nudges his hand against mine. Smiling, staring ahead at the horde of peoplein front of us, I bump back. Someone stinks of raw onions thanks to the heat, so I bump Rhys harder, and when he looks down at me, I pinch my nose, make a cringe-y expression, and wave a hand in front of my face. Frowning, he none-too-subtly sniffs his armpit. I roll my eyes, shaking my head as I mouth, ‘Not you.’
‘Oh,’ he mouths back. Then he sniffs me. “Not you, either,” he announces.
Laughing, I seize the opportunity to kiss him. Then I grab him and haul him super close to whisper in his ear. “Of course, it’s not me. I made good friends with my deodorant this morning.”
I hear him sniff me again, loudly this time. “You actually smell like sunshine.”
“Do I? And what does sunshine smell like?”
“You,” he says gruffly, his breath tickling the sensitive shell of my ear. “Like you’ve been playing outside.”
“Nice,” I remark. “And I bet you taste like candy.”
With the most arrogant, one-sided grin I’ve ever seen, he steps back and holds up the bag of pink cotton candy. There’s only a tiny bit left. “We’ll have to remember to buy more on our way out.”
“That we surely do,” I agree.
The line moves up, and as we step with it, a group of three rowdy twenty-something-year-old guys behind us get a tad too close for Rhys’s liking. He turns and shoots them a warning glare they tragically ignore. Instead, they get louder. Wilder. Bothering two young girls behind them.
See, here’s the problem. The air is too hot, and the crowd is thick with assholes. Thrown in the insanely long line and we have ourselves a breeding ground for trouble. Especially when one guy pulls out his phone and snaps a photo of a girl without herconsent. She’s rightly upset and demands he delete it. Laughing like the jerkoff he is, he refuses. Of course, his friends encourage him to keep behaving like an absolute dickhead. Everyone around us puts as much distance as they can from the three guys, but it’s a tight space. There’s nowhere anyone can go, and no one says anything to the rowdy group, probably hoping to remain off their radar.
