Like earlier, his eyes darken again, but this time it’s for a completely different reason. I wonder if he’s slipping right back in time to our night together. I know I am. It’s something I do often, as if that night is embedded in my memory.
But he doesn’t say anything, just rolls over and flips off the bedside lamp. I do the same, and we’re bathed in dark. Though this bed is huge, it suddenly feels so small. I can feel the heat radiating off him, and part of me wants to move closer to that warmth. I don’t, though. I just lie there with my eyes closed, forcing myself to breathe evenly so I can fall asleep, and it can be morning, and I can be safe in the light of day.
Eventually, it works, and I’m nearly asleep when he speaks again.
“Nessa?”
“Yeah?”
“What happened that night?”
I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter. I’ve been waiting for him to ask this since the moment I came to town. And why wouldn’t he? Of course he wants to know why I left him after an earth-shattering night.
“Why did you leave?” he continues. “Why did you run?”
“Because I was scared,” I whisper.
“Of what?”
“You, Gavin. I was scared of you.”
Six months ago, New York City
Gavin stares down at me with lust-filled eyes.
“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice hoarse.
I nod. “I’m sure.”
It’s all he needs before he’s kissing me again.Hard.
I don’t even mind. I want it like this. I want him like this, unbridled and raw. I want everything he’s willing to give me, because Ineedthis. Not just to put Neal and everything he did to me behind me, but I need it for me. I need to feel alive again, whole. I can’t remember what it’s like, and I’m desperate for it. I think Gavin can give it to me.
Suddenly, he pulls away, and I whimper at the loss. He chuckles darkly, then kisses my throat again. Then lower, over the swell of my breasts, and I want to feel him there. I want to feel him everywhere. Bare. Nothing between us.
He continues kissing lower and lower, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s pushing my dress up as he goes. His lips touch the top of my thigh, and I gasp. He laughs against me.
“Easy, love,” he says. “I’m getting there.”
He kisses me again, this time closer to right where I want him. Then again. And again. He does it until every inch of my thigh has been touched and I’m squirming against him with want.
Finally, I feel his lips brush against my center, and I cry out. That’s how fucking desperate I am at this point. His lips grazeme through my underwear, and I’m howling like a damn cat in heat. I’m pathetic.
Another rumble of laughter.
“Gavin,” I say through gritted teeth, looking down at him.
“Nessa,” he taunts back, and I want to wipe that smirk off his face.
“I’m…I’m dying here.”
“Oh, are you?”
“Yes!”
I watch as he leans forward, pressing his lips to me again, and I want to scream. It feels so good, yet it’s not even close to enough. I growl, and he laughs.
“I think I like you like this,” he says. “So ready. So needy.”
