"Honest," I agree.
And when he kisses me again, deeper this time, I let go of every wall I've ever built.
Tomorrow I'll probably regret this. Tomorrow, reality will crash back in.
But tonight, in this cabin with the fire and storm and Brennan's hands learning my body, I'm finally, utterly alive. And I’m taking it.
And it's worth every moment of fear.
Chapter 4
Brennan
Avery tastes divine, and there's no stopping me. No second-guessing. Just her hands in my hair and mine on her waist and the slow, deliberate removal of every barrier between us.
Base layers come off in a tangle of limbs and laughter. I pull back to look at her—all soft curves and smooth skin and vulnerability in her eyes—and something cracks open in my chest.
"You're staring," she says, blushing.
"I can’t help it." I trace the curve of her hip. "You're perfect."
"I'm not—"
"Don't argue with me. You're perfect. Every soft inch."
I prove it with my mouth, kissing my way down her body—throat, collarbone, the swell of her breasts. She arches at my touch, making sounds that undo me.
"Brennan—"
"Let me worship you. Let me show you how incredible you are."
I lavish attention on her breasts, learning what makes her gasp, what makes her moan. Her hands fist in my hair, holding me closer, and I've never felt more needed.
"I want—" She's breathless, flushed. "I don't know what I want."
"Yes, you do. Stop thinking. Just feel."
I kiss down the soft curve of her belly. She tenses, and I pause.
"This too," I murmur against her skin. "This is beautiful too. All of you."
When I settle between her thighs, she gasps my name like a prayer. I take my time, learning her with tongue and lips, what makes her hips buck, what makes her lose words.
She tastes like salt and sweetness and everything I've denied myself for ten years.
When she comes against my mouth, shaking and crying out, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed.
I kiss my way back up her body while she recovers, trembling and flushed.
"That was—I've never—" She can't finish sentences.
"Never?"
"No.” She shakes her head and tries to hide in my neck, but I don’t allow it. “I could never get out of my head enough to have an orgasm. They never cared enough to try."
The confession breaks my heart. "Then, everyone before me was an idiot."
She laughs, pulling me down for a kiss. "Your turn."
