Vigilant

Fisting his shirt in her hand and pulling him close she said, “I disagree.”

* * *

Ari led Davis behind the partitioned wall. His bedroom was small, barely bigger than the bed. Her fingers found the hem of his shirt and pushed it upward, revealing his hard, muscled stomach. She ran her hands over his chest while he unbuttoned her shirt, shivering when his fingers met her skin. “God, you’re perfect,” she said like she’d been wanting to for weeks.

Davis pushed her shirt over her shoulders and it fell to the floor. He ran his thumbs over the top of her breasts, smoothing her lace-edged bra. “Yeah, I could say the same thing.”

Eager, she brought her mouth to his and pressed her body forward until he fell back on the bed. Ari unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them off, laughing as he struggled to kick them to the ground. She removed her own and when she looked back up, she asked, “Commando?” with a lifted eyebrow.

“I wasn’t expecting company.” He propped his head up against a pillow. “Not that this is an unwelcome complication.”

Ari unclasped her bra and dropped it to the side of the bed and she shimmied out of her panties. He beckoned her forward and she climbed over his body until her face was inches away from his. “You still see this as a complication?” she asked, fighting a moan when his body pressed tentatively against hers.

“God, no,” he said, looking up long enough to flip her over on her back. He ran his fingers down between her legs and she tightened her grip on his back in response.

“Davis,” she whispered. He paid her no mind, kissing down her body, loving each memory, each star. “Davis.” It came out more insistent. She reached down for him, pulling him back up, feeling that he, too, was ready. He was just prolonging her misery. Or ecstasy. Or both.

“Now,” she exhaled into his ear, biting the lobe. She wanted him in her. Now. Just being near him was foreplay enough.

Davis filled her while kissing the star in the middle of her chest before moving to her mouth. He moved excruciatingly slow, his taut muscles rolling with each movement. Her entire body felt alive, pulsing with energy and fire. This man had amazing self-control and he used every ounce of it while they moved together.

Biting her bottom lip, Ari began to whimper, her breath coming short and fast. Above her, Davis’s, forehead creased and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. With a final push, he pressed his mouth to Ari’s, stealing her breath.

With their bodies still connected, Ari whispered into Davis’s mouth. “Thank you.”

He laughed and kissed her mouth, nose and cheeks. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

Ari laced her fingers through Davis’s and rolled so she could see him. “I have a question.”

Davis kissed the tips of her fingers one by one and said, “Okay. Go ahead.”

“I guess I understand why you saved me at the hardware store and from Jace that night. Like why you were there. But what about the club? And showing up in my backyard that night. What was that?”

“Yeah, that was different.”

“Care to explain a little more?” Ari laughed, poking him in his rock-solid abs.

“I didn’t know you were going to be there, I promise. We just decided to go out that night and blow off a little steam. The club loves it when we show up, so it was no big deal. Then I saw you on the dance floor and it was like that feeling? The one in my gut? It just exploded. I don’t think I could have kept my hands off you if I tried.”

“I pretty much felt the same way,” Ari confessed. “I hadn’t felt like that in a really long time. Not even with Nick.”

“Nick?”

“The boyfriend—the ex,” she clarified. “What, you haven’t seen him with me? No offense but you kind of suck as a stalker.”

Davis grabbed her in a playful hold. “I wasn’t stalking. I only came when I had the feeling I needed to. Or well, that one time in the backyard when I was just really, really horny.”

“Ew, really?”

He kissed her hard. “Yeah, really.”

TWENTY

The next night with a magazine lying across her chest, Ari dozed, half asleep on her bed. Her phone buzzed, jarring her awake and two words popped up on the screen:

Meet me.