AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dylan was with you?”
He reached for her hand, pulling it away from the scar and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “We were in juvie together and he made it clear after this that things wouldn’t go well for anyone else who thought I’d make a good target.”
She was quiet after that, trying to take in a story that made her grateful for Dylan and trying not to resent it.
“Where’d your mind wander off to?”
She flushed. “Sorry.”
“I like watching you think. You wrinkle your nose just like this when you think hard about something.” He scrunched his face in a comical imitation and she giggled at the accuracy.
“I’m not supposed to be thinking right now.”
He lifted her arm again and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist, his smile turning wicked when she shivered at the contact. “You’re always thinking.”
“I can’t help it.”
“I know.” He stated it as a fact, like he was reciting her height or the color of her eyes. A part of her, neither good nor bad, just something that was. He’d remained focused and undeterred by all the stops and starts they’d had since she’d first asked him to go inside with her. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”
Turning off the constant noise of her thoughts was never an easy task for Eloise, but she didn’t voice her doubts when he dropped her hand and reached for the hem of her shirt. His fingers brushed against the skin beneath, and her thoughts, always so heavy and constricting, scattered like dandelion fluff on a warm breeze.
He stripped her down slowly, removing her shirt and then her bra, eyes and hands brushing over each newly exposed inch of her before moving on. Her pulse was pounding but she didn’t move to cover herself. The rush of blood in her veins was anticipation for once and not nerves, leaving no room for modesty.
It only got worse when he dipped his head to kiss her again. His bare chest was flush against her and with nothing to shield her from the warmth of his skin, she feared he’d burned his way onto her permanently, remolding her until she would never fit against anyone else.
The idea flitted through her mind and was lost again when his mouth began to demand her full attention. He was patient and thorough, exploring her mouth before moving across her jaw and down her throat with his lips as his hands became familiar with the curve of her hips and the dips of her spine.
Her thoughts quieted, taking with them all her worries, and Ethan took full advantage of her relaxed state, backing her the few remaining steps until her knees hit the bed behind her, and then followed her down when she allowed herself to be spilled over onto his soft sheets.
She’d known he was large but having him pressed between her thighs and looming over her made him seem suddenly impossibly big. He enveloped her, wrapped himself around her as she lost herself in the taste of him and the delicious hardness of his body where it met hers.
Eloise knew she was shaking, trembling already with a level of want she’d never experienced and didn’t have the ability to hide, but instead of rushing now that he had her in his bed, Ethan kept his same stubborn, tantalizingly slow pace.
Sunlight shimmered on the walls and behind her eyelids as he moved down her body, teasing her breasts with his lips and teeth before moving down her stomach. There was nothing here to hide her, no shadows to shield her flaws from his gaze, but every new bit of her that he encountered was given such attention that she held no doubt that he liked what he saw.
She’d never been entirely comfortable showing herself to a man, but she’d live the rest of her life as naked as the day she was born if there was only Ethan there to see her.
He peeled her out of her jeans, nipping at her thighs and making her squirm. “Ticklish?”
“Don’t you dare.” She tensed her muscles, prepared to fight, and glared at him until he chuckled, fingers skimming her knee, threateningly close.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She eyed him suspiciously until he laughed again and made the motion of a cross over his chest. “I swear I won’t,” he promised, leaning up to kiss her hard on the mouth. “But you’re beautiful when you look like you’re ready to fight me. I wanted you the first time I saw you, standing on my porch in your fucking pajamas looking like you were about ready to chew glass.”
“You were rude.”
“And you were amazing.” He kissed her again, more demanding than before. “You’re better than anything I could have dreamed up.”
She smiled, willing to let him flatter her even if she didn’t believe a word of it. “Now that you’ve got me here, what do you intend to do about it?”
He needed no further prompting and she watched with interest as he stood and pulled off the rest of his own clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor beside hers. Sometime soon she’d have to analyze why she wasn’t bothered by that, why she hadn’t given even a passing thought to picking them up and folding them neatly on a nearby dresser, but there was no time for those concerns now.
The awe she’d felt at the sight of chest paled in comparison to the sight of him nude. She’d seen plenty of ancient statues, sculpted by masters with an eye for male beauty, and he could easily have been carved of marble with one rather large exception.
“What are you staring at?”
She pulled a pillow over her face, laughing with embarrassment. “I was just admiring your … attributes.”
