The Private Serials Box Set(85)
I walked to her, pulling her against my body, feeling the heat from her sweat-slicked body pressed up against mine, my hand sliding up her back to cup her neck just below her raven ponytail. “Only if you’re a really good girl,” I said quietly, my lips at the shell of her ear. I felt her shiver and myself harden. Knowing the effect I had on her was the biggest turn on.
It had only been a week since I’d made my presence known to her. Just seven days since I’d laid my whole story out, hoping she would believe me, that she would give herself to me again. And in those seven days, after she had accepted that I never betrayed her the way she was led to believe, she’d been nothing but eager and responsive. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
My tongue darted out and pressed against the tender skin just under her ear. The salty taste of her caused a low groan as I imagined how the rest of her tasted. I felt her hands both come to rest on my forearms, then slide slowly up my shoulders.
“If you weren’t holding that cup of coffee, I’d ask you to carry me upstairs right now,” she whispered, her breath hot on my ear. My hand moved up, grabbing hold of her ponytail, pulling it down and forcing her eyes to look into mine. I dropped my cup filled with coffee to the sand and pressed my now free hand to the swell of her backside, pulling her in to me, letting her feel my erection.
“Be careful what you wish for, sweetheart,” I muttered, just before bending down and capturing her with my arms, and turning to carry her up the stairs. She immediately started squirming, laughing and mildly complaining as I climbed the stairs with her in my grasp.
“Preston, this is ridiculous,” she laughed, kicking. Lena was a strong woman. She ran regularly and took care of her body. But compared to me, she was slight, and she stood no chance against my arms when they wanted her close. One hand reached out and opened the door to my apartment and once we were inside, I used a foot to slam it shut, wasting no time walking back to the bedroom.
“I missed you when I woke this morning to an empty bed,” I said after I laid her down and covered her with my body. She was breathing hard, but it wasn’t from her run; it was her body reacting to mine.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” she whispered. “You looked so peaceful.”
My eyes ran over her face, trying to read her expression. I’d had a hard time being away from her since I’d come here. At night, my body wound itself around her, my arms and legs sought her out, making sure she was next to me while I slept. She’d probably wanted a few minutes alone; a few minutes where I wasn’t claiming her with my hands or holding her to me in my sleep.
My eyes roamed over her face, trying to read her expression, trying to figure out where her head was at. Lena had always been forthcoming with me, never shied away from telling me what I wanted to know—sometimes I just had to ask.
“Is it difficult to be around me so much? Would you rather go back to staying in the apartment with Piper?” Ever since we’d reconciled, she’d been staying with me in the apartment Parker had originally taken. Sam and Piper were staying in the two bedroom. I’d ambushed her. Shown up when she thought she’d gotten rid of me forever, and I’d practically held her captive since. I knew I was clinging to her, knew I was keeping her close, trying desperately to make up for the two months I had been away.
Her brow furrowed at my words and confusion became evident in her expression.
“Why would I want to move back into that apartment? I want to be with you.” She sounded convincing. In fact, she sounded almost a little offended I’d asked.
“We’ve been together almost every spare moment since last week. I just want to make sure you aren’t feeling smothered or in need of some space.”
“I had two months of space that I didn’t want to begin with.” Her hands moved around my waist and up my back, urging me closer to her. “I want to be with you. It was just a jog.”
She was right, I was being paranoid, but I would give her anything she wanted. I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her lightly, not entirely finished with our conversation.
“I just want you to be happy,” I said, my mouth just a breath away from hers.
“I’m happiest when I’m with you,” she breathed, her words making me lighter somehow. We’d met in a very unconventional way, started a ridiculously unconventional relationship, and then everything had gone to shit. She’d been convinced I was the worst man on the planet and there were times I worried her mind was still tainted with those thoughts of me—consciously or not. But I exhaled a sigh of relief at her words, my forehead falling gently to meet hers.
“Same goes, sweetheart.”
“Preston?”
I lifted my head to look at her. “Yeah?”
“One of two things needs to happen here. You either need to take my clothes off me and follow through with your threat, or I need to take a shower.”
A slow smile crept across my face and I leaned back so I was sitting on my ankles, her legs spread out around me. Her body was flushed from her run, a pink hue stretching from her chest up her neck. She bit her bottom lip, waiting for me to decide what I would do with her. To her. I reached behind me to grasp her ankle, bending her knee and pulling her foot in front of me. I removed her shoe and sock, then placed her foot back down and did the same with her other leg. She squirmed a little each time I removed her sock and I assumed she was ticklish, storing that information away for another day.