Awk-Weird (Ice Knights, #2)(68)

She’d survived that.

She’d survive this.

Inhaling a deep breath as she stared up at the patchwork mess of her ceiling, she counted to ten slow and steady. Then she let it out and walked into her living room, coming to a dead stop as soon as she entered the room. Cole stood in front of her closed door, his hands clenched, his jaw squared, and a look of yearning so palpable on his face that she almost took a step back.

“I couldn’t go,” he said, the words coming out harsh and hard. “Not yet.”

She rushed forward, looking for signs he was hurt worse than she realized, not stopping until the only thing separating them was an inch of electrified air. “Are you okay?”

“I can’t just walk out of here without a goodbye.” He reached out, cupping her face with his hand and running the rough pad of his thumb across the line of her jaw.

“You need me to say it?” Her voice shook even as she tried to remain neutral to the heady sparks of want and bittersweet lust that his touch set off. “Goodbye?”

Something dark and desperate flashed in his eyes. “No.”

And his mouth was on hers in a demanding kiss that stole her breath and her self-preservation, and she kissed him back like a woman getting her last glimpse of forever.





Chapter Twenty


Cole shouldn’t be kissing Tess. It wasn’t part of his plan when he’d shown up on her doorstep. It wasn’t even close. Yet here he was, trying to tell her everything he couldn’t put into words and hoping she’d hear the meaning anyway.

Trailing his lips down her neck, he memorized every soft moan of pleasure she made, the feel of her fingers threaded in his hair holding him close, the way she fit perfectly against him as if they were made for this. It was the sweetest agony and he wanted more but he was only temporary.

Forcing himself to stop, he lifted his head and stared into her eyes, searching for a sign—anything—to let him know what she was thinking. “Tess, do you want me to stop?”

The right side of her mouth lifted up in the smallest of half smiles. “One last time.”

It wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wanted forever. But if this was all she was willing to give, he’d take it. He’d remember it all, every breath and move, and lock it away somewhere safe. And when he returned to his usual routine in his house that seemed so empty without her, he’d remember and it would be enough. It would have to be.

He brought his mouth back to hers, pulled her close, and let his palms glide down over her curves to her ass. They were close enough that even daylight couldn’t penetrate, but it wasn’t enough. There were too many layers between them. He snuck his fingers under the hem of her T-shirt and lifted it inch by inch until it was off.

God, she was beautiful, standing in her jeans and a bra, her glasses askew and desire giving her pale skin a pink flush. He licked and kissed his way across the full roundness of her tits encased in a pale-pink bra. The need to rip it off, play with her nipples, roll them between his fingers, nearly laid him low, but if this was the last time, he planned to take it slow.

Lowering himself to his knees in front of her, he caressed and tasted his way over her growing belly while his hands were busy with the button of her jeans.

“When I get these off you, I want you to spread your legs as wide as you can and brace yourself against the wall.”

The pulse point in her throat went into overdrive. “We can go into the bedroom if you want.”

“I can’t wait that long.” He tugged her jeans over her hips and down her legs, desperate need running hot through him. “I need to taste you, lick the sweet, slick folds of your pussy and feel you come on my tongue. Then I’m going to fuck you against the wall, good and hard, until you come again, hard enough to make you remember this for the rest of your life.”

He took her by the hips and turned her so her back was to the wall. Then, while kissing his way up her inner thighs, getting oh so close to the apex but never actually reaching it, he lifted one leg and then the other, freeing her from the jeans that had been pooled around her ankles. Down on one knee in front of her and gliding his hands over her smooth skin as she adjusted her position, he took in her belly starting to round, the full heft of her tits, the way she tugged her full bottom lip between her teeth as her eyes closed and her head tilted back whenever he got close to brushing his fingers near her slick folds.

“You’re killing me, Cole,” she said after one almost touch.

“Do you want me to stop?” He dipped his head down, kissing his way across the soft skin above her tight curls, taking in the heady fragrance of her and the soft lilting sigh of pleasure she made. “Or do you want me to take my fill?”

She let out a shaky groan. “Definitely not the first.”

Raising his hands, he used his thumbs to spread her folds open, holding them taut and blowing a teasing breath against her swollen clit. “So say it. Tell me what you want.”

“You.” She slid her fingers through his hair, cupping his head and urging him closer with the slightest pressure. “Your tongue on me.” She tilted her hips toward him. “Your fingers in me. Your cock. All of it.” She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the wall as if it was too much to admit to herself, let alone out loud. “I want all of it.”

Every game-sharpened instinct screamed at him to do it, to dive in and feast on her until she came, but he fought it off, needing to give her another chance to turn him away, to change the pace. “Sure you don’t want me to take it slow?”