Tilting her head, she bites back the smirk playing over her mouth. “You said nothing has ever worked to get me out of your mind.” She takes a small step forward, her thighs bumping my knees. “Maybe we need this one night to get it off our minds. Then we’ll move on tomorrow.”
Her tongue darts out to lick her lips, leaving a perfect bit of wetness there that I want to taste. I squeeze her hips under the water, memorizing how they feel in my hands.
I’m smart enough to know this plan won’t work. It’s absurd to think I could stop wanting her the way I do. It’s laced so tightly into who I am that it’s just become a part of me.
Gavin. Architect. Foster child. Introvert. In love with Lena. Adamant she deserves better.
They’re facts. They’re inescapable.
She’s burrowed so far into my heart and soul that there’s no moving on. Ever.
But at least if she gets it out ofhersystem, it’ll be easier for me to stay away. Maybe without her teasing and flirting, there won’t be this magnetic pull dragging me closer.
Then she can go back to Wilhelmina. Back to her friends and her job and her vibrant life there.
And I can stay here, drowning in the agony of having her for one night, only to lose her.
21
LENA
Gavin looks like he’s starving and I’ve just put a buffet of his favorite foods in front of him. And he’ssotempted. So close to taking a bite.
But all those thoughts ofshouldn’tare still playing in his mind, and I need to silence them.
Because I want this one night with him. I want to mindlessly fall and let him catch me.
Deep down, I know I won’t recover from this night. There’s no getting him out of my head, but it would be ecstasy to surrender.
So I give him the nudge we both need.
His gaze sparks like fireworks as I lower myself onto his lap, straddling his thighs. I keep my hips lifted, but I know there’s only a thin layer of my thong and his briefs separating us, and it makes my pulse pound in my core.
I’m craving that pressure of grinding myself against him, but he looks like he needs small steps.
“Lena,” he breathes like a prayer, focus glued to the bit of skin swelling out of the top of my bra.
Sliding my nails through the hair behind his ears, I tilt his head back until he meets my gaze. “Can we make each other feel good tonight?”
His fingers tighten on my hips. “Fuck,” he mutters, dropping his head to my shoulder, hot breath puffing over my collarbone.
I let out a whimpering laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking for.”
He tugs me an inch closer, and his lips skate over my neck. “Okay,” he sighs, and my heartbeat hums in my ears. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”
Logically, I know he means that he’s going to make me feel good, but my heart bypasses that information and charges straight intoforeverterritory.
He’s going to take care of me. Always.
My body tingles with anticipation as he slides his hands up to my ribs, stroking over them with the pads of his fingers. He lifts his head, pressing gentle kisses to the corners of my mouth, his lips like velvet as he glides them over mine leisurely.
“Just tonight,” he whispers against my mouth. He pulls my bottom lip between his teeth gently before releasing it. “One night withmy Lena.”
He growls the last two words, and pleasure buzzes over my skin.
I’m trying so hard to be patient, letting him set the languid pace between us, but then his tongue slides over the seam of my lips.
And languid is the last thing I want. I’m cravingwildfire.
