Frayed (Connections, #4)(48)

I run my palms up his chest. “Well, it’s every girl’s prerogative to say those words and to change her mind after. You told me to tell you if I changed my mind and . . . Ben, I have.”

“Fuck,” he groans.

I nod with a glimmer in my eye because that’s just what I want to do.

“Fuck,” he groans again.

A few more moments of silence pass as we communicate without words.

He places his hands on both sides of my face. “What made you change your mind?”

I push the hair from his eyes. “You.”

With a devilish grin he asks, “Would you care to elaborate?”

“Later,” I say, making my voice sound low and enticing.

He nods and then tangles his fingers in my hair, pulling me so tight against him I know he can feel my hard nipples against his bare chest. I caress the skin of his back and when his fingers sneak beneath the golden string of my bikini top, I shiver. My hands move to his shoulders, his neck, his hair. He looks down into my eyes but still hasn’t kissed me.

“Why haven’t you kissed me?” I ask in a breathy voice.

The corners of his lips quirk up. “I’m enjoying watching you,” he says.

But I think it’s more. I think he wants to make sure I want this. And I do. I don’t care about anything other than him right now. So I make sure he sees nothing but absolute certainty in my eyes. And then just like that, he grabs my face. Our mouths meet, our tongues collide, and we breathe each other in. We kiss with a hunger that I’m almost certain can never be satisfied. Time slips away as our hands move freely roaming over each other in ways they shouldn’t in a public place. With my heart thundering in my ears, my pulse racing, and my breathing out of control, I never want this moment to end.

Then just like that, he breaks our connection. My mind is whirling with how much I want him, right here, right now. The beach is fairly secluded, even if it’s not private.

“Come back to my place with me,” he whispers.

And I want to. I really do. But I can’t. I run my palms down his chest, trying to soothe the sting that’s about to come. “I can’t. I have Ivy’s release party tonight. I should have left already.”

He rests his forehead against mine and grabs my fingers, lacing our hands together. “Later tonight, then,” he says, and kisses me once more.





CHAPTER 15


Show Me

Ben

Having the freedom to finally touch her makes me feel like a kid in the candy store. The beach is quiet, with few surfers in the water and even fewer cars in the parking lot. I’ve thought about her, remembered what she felt like, ached for her body to touch mine for so many weeks you’d think knowing we will finally be together in just a few short hours would be enough, but it isn’t. I don’t want to wait.

But I walk her to her car with my hand resting on her ass, all the while whispering things in her ear that I’m going to do to her. She looks up at me, a glimmer in her eyes, and I swear I growl at her.

When we reach the parking lot I step in front of her and lift her chin, forcing her eyes to mine. “I want you wearing this when I see you later.”

She pushes up on her toes and bites on my lip. “I thought you’d want me wearing nothing.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. “You’re killing me.”

She smiles in that sexy way she has.

I can feel myself turning predatory. With a slide of my hands into her bikini bottoms, I palm her ass. We walk the rest of the way like that to the car with our lips locked. Only when she fumbles for her keys in her purse do I remove my hands. But when I hear the click of the lock, I open the door quickly and push her up against the opening. She gasps and threads her fingers through my hair. Then I kiss her hard. Her lips are soft and taste like mint—I’ve never forgotten their taste. I run my hands over her bathing suit top and then down her bare stomach, where I stop to finger the clover I saw earlier. “You’re so f*cking sexy,” I murmur.

She freezes for a moment but then lets out a soft moan when my fingertips graze the edge of her bikini bottoms. I twist my head to survey the area. Her car is parked at the end of the lot and we seem fairly isolated. If I could f*ck her here I would, but we’ve already gone down that road. The next time I have her, I want her in my bed. But that doesn’t mean I won’t settle for leaving her thinking about me until she sees me again.

“Red,” I whisper over her mouth.

“Hmm . . . ,” she breathes, nipping at my lip.

I don’t say anything else. Instead I rub the heel of my palm over her *.

Her lips part and she makes that quiet sound again.

“Do you like that?” I ask her.

“Yes,” she answers, her breath blowing hot against my neck.

I slide my fingers inside the golden string of her bottoms and stroke them up and down before stopping to massage her clit.

Her eyes widen and her head bobs side to side.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, no one can see you with me standing in front of you,” I whisper in her ear. “Do you like how this feels?”

She gasps, nodding and digging her fingers into my flesh.

I kiss up her neck and stop to whisper in her ear, “You’re so wet.”

My cock grows so hard it throbs almost painfully as I watch her—the way her eyelids close, the way her mouth parts, and how her hold on me tightens with every move of my hand. I want to touch her everywhere. I want to kiss every spot on her body and then sink deep inside her. But here in the parking lot there’s no way I can do that. With one arm shielding one side of us and her car door shielding the other, I move my fingers mercilessly in and out of her, wishing they were my cock. My pulse pounds in my ears when she buries her head in my neck and whispers something I can’t hear. The waves crash against the rocks, the wind whistles as it blows, but there is no mistaking her muffled cries of pleasure. She nips at the skin on my neck while digging her nails into my shoulders, but I don’t stop. I want her to remember me. Her body pulses against my hand and only when her body shudders and a much louder “Oh God, yes” escapes her lips do I stop.