My chest squeezes. That’s the nickname I love.
“I found him.”
Gray has been my hero since I was four. Now he’s going away so everyone else will see him as a hero. I just want him to stay here and be my man.
Large hands trace my waist, sliding along my hips. I lean back so our eyes can meet. “Kiss me, Gray.”
Blinking slowly, I’m drunk on his presence, on being exactly where I’ve dreamed of being all those nights. The muscle in his jaw moves, and the struggle in his eyes is clear.
But I know something else. He won’t tell me no.
Leaning into his chest, I ask one last time. “Kiss me.”
And my wish is granted…
Chapter 2
Gray
Kissing Drew Harris is like surfacing into warm sunshine, drawing a long breath after a deep dive. Her lips are so soft, and when my tongue finds hers, she tastes cool and sweet. Peppermint candy.
I hold her body against me, and she smells like heaven. She feels like forever.
All the shit disappears when I hold Drew. My body relaxes, the tension leaves my muscles…
I kiss her again, and she exhales a little noise of pleasure. It registers straight to my cock. Our lips chase each other’s. Our tongues slip and slide together, hungry, eager, reunited at last.
I taught her to kiss this way. I taught her how to open to me. I taught her, but she also taught me. She took my hands and showed me how to touch her body. I was following her lead when she came alive the first time, full of wonder and surprise.
I learned every inch of her, every place that made her moan.
The idea of her doing what I said, of some other guy touching her, sparks a dark possessiveness in me I don’t want her to see. It would scare her if she knew what was in my heart for her.
Her soft lips move to my cheek and she melts into my chest. The tips of her nipples brush my skin through the thin fabric of our clothes. She’s so fucking sexy. She’s so fucking beautiful and sweet.
“I missed you,” she whispers. “I missed how gentle you can be. I missed how rough you can be.”
My stomach tightens, and I want to bend her over the pool table and take her hard while she screams for more. Her blue eyes are hot when they meet mine, and I place my palms on the sides of her head, smoothing her pretty blonde hair away.
The moment I saw her downstairs, the crowd disappeared. Everything faded away but her, only her. I don’t know when or why my brain decided she was mine, but I’ve never been able to escape it—not that I want to.
“I dreamed about you every night.” My confession makes her smile.
It’s the truth. It’s the only truth I know—if she’s in danger, I’ll carry her out. If she’s crying, I hold her until she stops. If she wants me… I can’t tell her no.
It’s been that way since she was just a cute little kid. It’s been this way since last summer when everything changed. I tried to fight it. She was only seventeen. I was almost twenty-one… Her daddy would’ve shot me dead and buried my body.
I tried to date… One time. It was a fucking disaster. I could only see her, taste her, want her. Only Drew gets me this way.
At night, I’d lie in bed and reme
mber the first time we were together. Two triangles of white fabric covered her small breasts. I could see the curves at the bottoms and sides. They were perfect handfuls, high and pointed.
She looked at me as if she knew what she was doing to me in that white bikini. I’m sure I looked like an awestruck fool.
Then she blinked and tucked her chin into her shoulder, taunting me. Her hair swished down her back, ending at her slim waist. Her flat stomach led to round hips, long, silky legs. Her toenails were painted bright white, and I wanted to put them in my mouth. I’ve never wanted to do that.
I’ve never wanted to devour someone before.