Alma studies me for a long moment. There’s no fear in her expression, no disgust. All I see is a sense of understanding staring back at me. The corners of her lips quirk slightly as she sets a gentle hand to my cheek, her thumb rubbing along the stubble there like she’s mapping the space between who I was and who I am now.
“That’s a heavy thing to carry alone,” she says quietly.
The words land differently than pity ever would’ve. They’re softer and more precise.
I shrug, purely because that’s my first instinct. “I got used to it.”
“That doesn’t mean you should’ve had to.”
Something in my chest shifts then, uncomfortable and unfamiliar, and before I can so much as deflect, she moves. One second she’s curled into my side, the next she’s pushing up onto her elbows and swinging a leg over my hips. I go still automatically, hands hovering at her waist but not touching until I’m sure.
She settles over me easily, dark hair falling around her shoulders, her eyes locked on mine.
“Alma,” I warn, my tone firm yet equally cautious.
She doesn’t respond with words. No, she leans down and kisses me. It’s not frantic or messy, but rather, deliberate. Her lips, warm and soft, tell a story of certainty, a silent way of saying she’s choosing this.
My hands slide to her hips, fingers digging into the soft fabric of her leggings. “Alma,” I try again.
But it doesn’t deter her. She simply eases back enough to look me in the eye, her browns bouncing back and forth between my blues. “You said you were good at cleaning up the messes, right? You cleaned up the mess outside. Now clean up the mess in my head. Make me forget—even if it’s only for a little while.”
I hesitate, a sheer moment away from shaking my head when she touches a lone finger to my lips.
“Please, Crew…. It’s so loud right now. I’ll never be able to sleep.”
The breeze howls once more, taking with it my rationale. “Fuck it,” I mutter, urging her flat against my chest.
Locking an arm around her waist, I thread a hand into her hair and smash our lips together. She moans on contact and melts against me, molding to my body like she was always meant to be there. Prior to this moment I would’ve told you it’s impossible to be so wholly obsessed with someone so quickly, but I’m there, utterly intoxicated by her scent, her taste, both needing and wanting so much more.
As if reading my mind, Alma rolls her hips against me, undulating in a maddening rhythm that has my cock harder than a rock within sixty seconds. She hums approvingly and continues on it her feat, reaching around herself to guide my hands to her ass. I’d tried my damnedest not to notice it, but it’s as lush and full as I’d imagined, begging for far more than a simple squeeze.
“Watch yourself, pretty girl,” I mumble against her lips. “These hands can do a lot more thanjustthat.”
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ALMA
Is he…isthreatening me right now?
Cute.
I can barely withhold the laughter bubbling in my throat, my lips spreading in a full-on grin as I grind myself against him harder. “Who said that’s not what I wanted?”
Crew groans softly, his eyes shutting in bliss. Every roll of my hips parts his lips a little more, silently urging me to continue. I do, so caught up in the moment that I barely register the warmth of his palms disappearing until they touch down on my ass in a unified slap. The sound bounces off the walls and melds with a guttural moan shooting free from my throat as I throw my head back.
“Yes…” The word, like a plea, leaves me in a whisper.
“You like that?” Crew asks, the gruff edge of his voice sending a shiver down my spine. He thwacks it again, earning him another sound of approval.
That must be what he wanted to hear because I do nothing but blink and he’s shooting up from the pillow. The tips of our noses brush as he crushes me against him and slides a hand up my back.
Into my hair.
His fingers locking firmly at the roots.
“Look at me,” he commands, and it’s only then that I realize my eyes had fallen shut.
