Benjamin slumped against me like I'd released him from a heavy yoke. He gathered me against him and breathed me in, his chest catching. "I couldn't breathe without you."
His words barely had a moment to register in my mind before he caught my lips in a hungry kiss. And then I was falling into that abyss, that canyon. And I never wanted out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
FROST
I kissed Evie like she was the rain and I was an empty reservoir. Our lips slid together, slick and cool to the touch, and it contrasted sweetly with how warm her mouth was. Her tongue burned my lip as she licked and sucked, and I delved deep into her ambrosial warmth. I teased her with my tongue, in and out, exploring and testing. She sighed into it, melting between my arms and shivering.
This was the only way to breathe. It was the only way that air tasted clean and my lungs didn't ache for wanting her. I hadn't noticed because of my grief and confusion… and fear. I'd built my own prison of expectations, and they'd been slowly suffocating me for years. Expectations of never connecting, never being too serious, never being devoted.
But Evelyn deserved devotion. She deserved sun-warmed skin and delicate touches. She deserved someone who couldn't draw air without her at their side. And God knew, I would asphyxiate if I had to deny my feelings for her any longer. I didn't know if that meant that I deserved her, but I knew I wanted to try. I knew if I didn't try, I'd walk away with an open wound, and it wouldn't heal with time.
I pressed my body against hers, and she absorbed my touch hungrily, clutching me close and molding her curves to my frame. My marshmallow, my soft, sweet delicacy I'd never known I was missing. She moved her hips against mine, grinding against my growing erection, and for once, I didn't think. I devoured her mouth and tugged on the tied straps above her shoulders, loosening the damp dress. It sagged away from her chest, revealing her breasts almost to her areolas, and I groaned into her mouth, dragging my hand down her collarbone and then cupping her breast. She sighed, like she'd been waiting for me to tease her sensitive skin to life. I pebbled her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, and she sagged, her breath growing erratic.
My thoughts were a London fog, warm and cozy and murky all at once. I fumbled with the car, barely chaining together a thought process that involved "no rain" and "fuck this goddess until she screams my name." I managed to open the back door, and then I was guiding her inside, refusing to relinquish her lips and keeping a firm hold on her lush body.
She's mine. She missed me. She's mine.
I slid in after her, shut the door, and positioned her on my lap. Rain drummed on the car, a steady cadence that mirrored my thundering heartbeat. Evie clutched my shirt, her back arching as I massaged her breast and then let my fingertips draw her nipple to a hard peak. "Benjamin," she whispered harshly. She pulled away, her eyes more honey than green, more fall than spring in the darkened car. "I need—" she licked her lips. "I want to feel."
I nodded, fully understanding what she wanted. Neither of us wanted to think about the crashing weight of what we'd both just confessed to each other. Neither of us wanted to consider the dangerous implications of how this day had turned out. Wedidn't want to relive fears and talk away sorrows. She wanted to feel. And I needed to feel her.
I pushed her dress all the way down her body, unclasping the strapless bra she wore and tossing it aside until her breasts were free and heavy in my palms. She moaned, and her head drifted back as I bent to lick the salt and alyssum-scented rain from her nipple. I sucked and nipped until she was writhing on my lap, and as I did, I pushed her dress all the way down her body until I could shove it to the car floor. Panting softly, she straddled me in just her underwear, and she ran her hands down the planes of my chest.
She unbuttoned my shirt, and I helped her slide it off my arms even though her fingers were hot irons against my skin and I itched to consume her. Her gentle, feather-light touches were going straight to my aching dick, and that mantra slammed through my brain with every loving touch she showered on me.
She's mine. She missed me. She's mine.
Evie kissed me slower, more deliberately, like she was memorizing how my lips felt and tasting every emotion. Almost like she was worried that it wouldn't last, and she wanted to savor it while it lasted—I didn't want her to do that anymore. I didn't want her to assume I would leave. But I also knew the only way I could take away that pining in her touch was to show her. I could only hope she would let me show her over days and weeks and months. Longer, if I was lucky.
When my shirt and pants were gone, and we hurriedly removed the last of our underwear, I dropped kisses on her shoulder, over her collarbone and back up to her neck. She curled her fingers behind my neck, playing idly with my hair and positioning herself over my ready erection. I thought she would pause—maybe rethink what the hell we were doing fucking in a car after one of the most traumatizing days either of us had likely experienced in a long time. She didn't. Evelyn sank down ontomy cock, slow and steady, and I saw white behind my closed eyes.
She was so perfect in every way. Her slick warmth hugged my cock with rapturous concinnity, tight but effortless, firm but soft. I ground my teeth together from the sheer bliss of it. And then she was moving, her fingers between us, over her clit, and her breath steady and humid against my neck. I lifted my hips to meet her, and we found an easy rhythm, dancing with our pleasure, pushing it to its highest point. Her curled fingers became claws, and the puffs of breath on my neck became needy gusts.
I sucked the delicate skin of her shoulder through my teeth, suckled it, and licked away any redness. "What do you need?"
"More," she moaned. "Harder."
Her plea was the permission I needed, the crack of a start gun before releasing my passion. I grabbed her hips and drove into her, hard. Once, twice, three times. I slammed into her, waiting for her to rebuke me or beg me to be gentle but she cried out in pleasure and rode me harder. "You want to feel?" I gritted out, taking in the tableau of her breasts bouncing with each thrust and her long lashes fanned out across her pink cheeks. "Can you feel this?" I rocked into her. "Can you feel me filling up your perfect cunt, Evelyn?"
"Yes, please," she begged. Her fingers moved faster over her clit.
I drove into her as hard as I dared, and every pent-up emotion, every fear, every unspoken, primal need toownher, to protect her seemed to expend itself from my body. Her back bowed forward, her shoulders hunching, and she tensed, crying out and shuddering from her climax. I let myself go, pulling her tightly to me and rocking my hips deep inside of her, adding pressure against my balls and giving myself permission to release. The orgasm rippled through me like a violent riptide,sucking the last of my energy and leaving me breathless with my forehead against her shoulder.
Evelyn slumped against me, wrapping her arms around me and going limp in my hold. For a long moment, neither of us said anything. For several heartbeats, it was just our breath and the feel of our bodies still connected. Finally, my arms returned to normal after feeling like gelatinous algae, and I eased her off me, keeping her in my arms. "Are you alright?"
She settled on her knees on the seat beside me, naked and framed by her glorious, honey hair. "I feel alive again." A slow smile touched her lips. "And maybe sleepy."
"Should we make a run for it?" I jerked my head toward the house.
Evie peered out of the window uncertainly. "I don't know if Ghost's team is still out there."
"Lucky them, if they are," I replied, my lips twitching.
"Benjamin," she huffed, obviously torn between laughter and derision.
I scooped her up quickly, loving the feel of her weight in my arms and the satin on silk of our skin rubbing together. "One, two…"
