His hands trailed up her waist. “It’s an easy question, Harper. Do you feel forme, what I feel foryou? Because I really like you. To the point you take up all my thoughts, even while I sleep.”
She swallowed, a big-gulp kind of swallow. “You barely know me. If I told you the truth about me and the life I grew up in, it could change things.”
“It would changeeverything…but not in the way you think.”
He thought revealing her darkest secrets would change things between them for the better? That idea was as crazy to her as telling her the sun was purple.
When she remained silent, he sighed and dropped his hands, trying to step around her again.
She grabbed him and pulled his head down, plastering her mouth to his.
Immediately, he tugged her closer, his hard chest pressing against her soft. She moaned when he took over the kiss. Suddenly, she was turning, Cody lifting her onto the desk, then standing between her thighs. When her lips separated, his tongue slipped inside her mouth.
God, he tasted good. Like cinnamon and whiskey. The taste of him in combination with his hands sliding up her sides was an onslaught of sensations. A complete annihilation of the world around her.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, her fingers sliding into his hair, pulling and tugging.
When his hand slipped beneath her top and skimmed up her side, taking the shirt with it, her breathing stopped. Then he cupped a hand over her bra and palmed her breast.
She groaned deep in her throat as wave upon wave of need and desire rippled from her chest to her core. Cody’s hand on her was like a bolt of electricity. And she wanted more…so much more.
Her bra cup was tugged down and suddenly he was palming bare skin, his thumb finding her nipple and gliding over it in a circular motion. She’d thought that was it, that was all she could take, but then his head dipped, and his lips closed over her nipple.
She threw her head back and whimpered, her fingers sliding through the soft locks of his hair as her hips ground against him.
His other hand was just trailing up her inner thigh beneath her skirt when a knock came at the door.
She gasped and straightened.
Cody was slower to move, his head lifting as he carefully slipped her bra into place before pulling her top down. Then his mouth went to her ear, his breath brushing against her skin as he whispered, “This is just the beginning, Storm.”
CHAPTER 13
“Uncle Cody, can I ask you a question?”
Cody’s lips twitched. He’d picked Avery up from school today and she was helping out before opening by folding napkins, while he got things ready behind the bar. He’d already answered a hundred and one questions, everything from his favorite color to why he didn’t have any kids.
“Yeah, Avery?”
“When you and Daddy were growing up, who was bigger?”
Finally, an easy question. “Well, your dad was the fourth born, and I was the third, so me. It worked well because it meant kicking his butt was easy.”
“Really? Daddy said he could beat you with his pinky.”
Cody threw his head back and laughed. Of course he did. “Maybe one day we’ll put him to the test.”
“Auntie Nylah always said she could beat up her brothers, but I don’t know if I believe her. She’s a lot smaller than you and Daddy.”
“Auntie Nylah may be a shorty compared to her brothers, but don’t let that fool you. She’s a tough nut.” She’d had to be, growing up with all of them. Hell, he and his brothers were often scared of the woman when she got mad.
“Do you think I’ll get a brother or sister one day?”
He paused what he was doing, his gaze rising to his niece. “I’m not sure, Avery. But I do know that you’ll always have four overprotective uncles and a badass auntie whenever you need us. Not to mention your dad.”
She frowned. Because he didn’t mention her mother?
He crossed the room and sat opposite her. “I’m sorry your mom’s not here.”
