He has a wistful look on his face. "I'm glad I'm sitting with you, too."
After we eat, Knox takes me outside again to take care of business while he keeps watch, and then I do the same. We sacrifice a little bit of a bottle of water to wash up and brush our teeth. Then we head to the bigger of the three bedrooms. It's got a king-size bed. He pushes a chair in front of the door to buy us time if anyone comes into the house while we’re asleep. It’s designed to keep others night, and not me in.
"Are you okay with us sleeping in the same bed? I can make a pillow wall between us or sleep on top of the covers if you want to sleep below them."
I contemplate what he's asking and give him an honest answer. "I haven't slept in the same bed with another person for years. There's a part of me that's a little uneasy. I knew you before the world ended, Knox. That event changed a lot of people, and how do I know you aren't lying about who you are right now? You've been extremely nice to me, and it seems like you're the same guy I knew, but you could be putting on an act, right?"
"I could be."
"But my gut, which I've learned to trust, tells me that you're fine. So don't fuck me over, Knox."
His lips are pressed together in a tight line, but his stance relaxes when I say those last words. "I won't, Beth. I promise, you don't have to worry about your well-being while you're with me."
Just like that, I believe him because I want to and because being alone again is the last thing I want to do.
CHAPTER 6
KNOX
I've been awake for over an hour, trying to figure out how to extricate myself from the situation I'm in. At some point in the middle of the night, Beth rolled over, and hooked her leg around my waist. Uncomfortable doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling. Her knee is brushing against the head of my cock, and I'm about to come out of my damn skin. Fuck, if I’m not careful, my cock will be throbbing and there won’t be any stopping how it’ll end.
It's been fucking years since someone has touched my body, much less my manhood. And newsflash, my own hand doesn’t count.
She breathes in deeply, and trails her fingers along my stomach, snuggling in close.
Closing my eyes, I lick my lips, and tilt my head back. I'm trying to think of anything that will get my mind off the fact her knee is so close to my cock, and her fingers are close to the waistband of my boxer briefs. Here I thought living through Eruption was hell. How am I supposed to deal with this? What if I cum before I can get myself out of her arms?
Turning my head so that I can see how asleep she is, I'm surprised when her eyelids flutter.
"Knox?" She questions, her voice breathless.
"Yeah?" I answer her, my voice full of gravel and arousal. My eyelids flutter down, and I groan when I notice her nipples beaded against the thin material of her shirt.
"Have we been like this all night?"
My voice is tight and thin as I answer her. "About an hour."
She licks her lips, and feels the waistband of the only thing keeping our flesh from touching. "You've been like that for an hour?"
Filling my lungs, I call on every single bit of resistance I have in my body. "Yeah, and if you don't stop touching me, you're going to have a reaction from me that you aren't ready for."
Her eyes fall down to my lips. She stops scratching her nails along my abdomen. "How do you know I'm not ready for it?"
Fuck. My. Life. "Are you saying that you are?"
"I'm saying I wouldn’t say no."
The fact that she's even interested is enough to harden my cock even more. I'm not sure how the world works when it comes to casual sex anymore. I’ve been with a few women since the end of the world. But I was only ever interested in releasing pent-up feelings and frustrations. So were they, so it wasn't like they were full-on relationships, or did I want one. With Beth? I can admit to myself that I've always wondered about her. We have a shared history, even if we didn’t realize it back then. Thinking back, I can remember a few times that I saw her in the hallway at school in passing and thought she was cute, but there was always Maple. What would’ve happened if I’d acted on it? Now I have the opportunity to. "If I do anything you don't want me to, you've got to tell me."
She nods, catching her bottom lip in between her teeth.
Rolling so that I'm propping myself over her body, I press in between her thighs, groaning when she relaxes her hips and spreads wider. My forearms catch most of my weight, and I leanin, taking her lips with mine. The kiss is lingering and deep as I move her lips the way I want them. Elizabeth Harper takes direction well. She grips my shirt in between her fingers, holding me to her. Slipping my hands down her body, I find the hem of her t-shirt, and pull it up and over her head. It's been a long time since I've seen a bra. Most women aren't wearing them any longer. It feels more forbidden as I watch her nipple pucker beneath the thing material.
Her nails dig into my hair, holding me still as she thrusts her chest up into my mouth.
"I always wondered what this would be like, to be the person who had your undivided attention." She whispers as I situate myself closer to her body. I'm getting a crick in my arm, so I push up on my knees.
I pull my mouth from her chest, pride swelling within me at her admission. "Oh yeah?"
