“I understand if you want to break things off.Maybe it would be best for both of us to avoid getting attached.”
His gaze searched hers.“Too late.”
Tears pressed behind her eyes.For a woman who rarely cried, she was turning into a regular watering pot around him.She took a deep breath and blinked away the moisture, but not before he noticed.He stepped forward and framed her face with his hand.His thumb traced the scar beneath her lower lip.
“Promise you won’t leave without saying goodbye,” he said.
“As long as you promise you won’t follow me.”
His gaze darkened with frustration, because they were in an impossible situation.No agreement could be reached here.“Goddamn it, Mary,” he growled.“You’re asking me not to care if you disappear, and I can’t do that!”
“Meredith,” she said, looking up at him.
“What?”
“My name.It’s Meredith.”
Chapter Nineteen
Meredith lifted hermouth to his.
Wade dipped his head to meet her halfway.His thumb continued a path from the scar on her chin to her bottom lip, which trembled from the contact.
“Meredith,” he said softly.
“Everyone in my family called me Meri for short, so it’s technically not wrong to—”
He cut off her words.She accepted the kiss eagerly, desperate to end the conversation.She couldn’t talk about Tripp, or her future plans, or her family anymore.She could do this.She wanted to do this.
He didn’t bother with the slow buildup or aching tenderness he’d shown before.He dove right in, plundering her mouth in hot, hungry strokes.She threaded her fingers in his thick, damp hair and plastered herself against him.Their tongues met and tangled.The afternoon’s encounter flashed through her mind in warm pulses.She became instantly aroused, her body responding as if they’d been lovers forever.
Before she knew it, he was carrying her toward the bed.She landed on the mattress with a soft gasp.He settled between her legs, still devouring her mouth.Her breasts flattened against the hard wall of his chest.She clutched at his hair in encouragement.He thrust his lower body into the apex of her thighs, over and over again.
An urgency she’d never known before struck her.She yanked at his shirt, desperate to feel his skin.He broke the kiss, panting against her neck.Then he obliged her by pulling his shirt over her head.
Though she’d seen his chest many times before, she marveled at the sight.Her fingertips skimmed the whorls of hair around his flat nipples, and the striated muscles along his rib cage.His fingers curled into the waistband of her leggings.With a swift tug, he stripped them away.Either by design or by accident, her panties came off, as well.Then she was bare below the waist, and he was bare above it.They stared at each other for a long, hot moment.His erection jutted at the fly of his jeans.
Meredith figured she might as well go for broke.She removed her T-shirt and bra, tossing both aside.He moistened his lips as he studied the length of her body.He seemed unable to decide which part of her to kiss first.
She helped him by bringing his mouth back down to hers.With a low groan, he resumed kissing her, his hands exploring her bare bottom.She squirmed with delight as her nipples abraded his warm, hard chest.His denim fly rubbed against the triangle between her legs, adding another hot layer of sensation.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he said gruffly, his lips trailing down her neck.
“Then take me.”
Grunting an assent, he moved his voracious mouth to her breasts.He sucked her nipples into tight points.Then he moved lower.Spreading her thighs with his hands, he examined her quivering flesh.She moaned at the memory of his actions this afternoon, his features taut as he pleasured himself.
God.
His hands traveled from her thighs to her hips.He paused at her waist with his thumbs pressed on either side of her belly button.He panted raggedly, his gaze searing every part of her.“You are exquisite.”
She flushed at the compliment, torn between pride and disbelief.She’d grown stronger since she’d left Tripp, physically and mentally.She wasn’t lush, but she was feminine.She had sinewy muscles and sleek curves.Wade obviously liked what he saw.He seemed transfixed by her nudity.Her skin was pale against his suntanned hands.When she arched her spine, he nuzzled her exposed breasts.
“Your nipples drive me crazy,” he breathed.
She gripped his broad shoulders and smothered a moan.He sucked one of the tight buds, then the other, leaving them wet and pink.
“Please,” she said.
