Juniper Hill (The Edens #2)(46)

Knox kept a grip on my hand and dragged me out of the room, leaving the door open so we could hear Drake if he cried. Then we were hurrying down the hallway. He didn’t slow his long strides for me, he just pulled, the urgency in his movements matched by my own.

But I guess I wasn’t walking fast enough because when we reached the living room, he turned and swept me up and over a shoulder, carting me the rest of the way to his bedroom in a fireman’s hold.

“Oh my God.” I giggled as his palm smacked my ass. Then I was flying through the air, a yelp caught in my throat, before I landed on his bed. “Your house has a lot of windows for a caveman.”

He grinned, his handsome face muted in the dim moonlight that crept through the glass. Then he leaned forward, his arms planted beside me in the bed. “You are mine.

Whether we do this tonight or not.”

He was going to make me fall in love with him, wasn’t he?

I put my palm against his bearded cheek, then leaned in, closing the distance, and took his mouth.

Knox’s intensity met mine, desire curling between my legs. The ache I’d had for him came to new life as his hands slipped beneath the thin fabric of the camisole I’d pulled on with my pajama bottoms.

He moved me deeper into the bed and then he was everywhere, kissing down my neck while his hands roamed my ribs and the soft swell of my breasts. My cardigan was stripped from beneath me and tossed to the floor.

My hands threaded into his hair as I let the scent of his bedroom wrap around me. Soap and sage and Knox.

Every touch, every caress, made the throb in my core pulse stronger. “More.”

Knox ignored me and continued his delicious torture, never touching me where I needed him to touch me, just getting close. And damn it, we were both fully clothed. I was about to crawl out of my skin if I didn’t get to touch his.

My fingers abandoned his hair to pull and tug at his shirt, but every time I had the hem tugged up his spine, he twisted and I lost my grip. “You’re killing me.”

“Slow. Remember?”

“That’s a horrible idea.”

“Just making sure you’re ready.” He dipped lower, dragging his tongue across my collarbone. His hand slid down my belly, dipping below the elastic waistband of my pajama pants. Then those long fingers were beneath my panties, gliding through my wet folds.

“Knox.” I arched into his touch, my eyes falling closed.

His lips traveled lower and lower. A hand came to free my breast. Then his hot mouth closed over a nipple and I nearly came undone.

It had been a long time since I’d felt worshiped. Sexy. My body came alive beneath his touch and the more he toyed, the more I trembled.

“Don’t come,” he ordered.

My eyes flew open. “What?”

He gave me a wicked grin. “Don’t come. Not yet.”

“Then you’d better stop.”

His hand came out of my pants and he climbed off the bed.

The moment he reached for the hem of his shirt, I propped up on an elbow and refused to blink as he dragged it over his head. I’d seen him shirtless through the window, but damn.

There was nothing like a close-up view of those washboard abs. The definition at his hips was mouthwatering. He had the V that disappeared past the waistband of his jeans.

The tattoos on his biceps wrapped up and around his shoulders. One dipped low to his pec. If he let me tonight, I’d gladly trace the lines with my fingertips and my tongue.

He kicked off his shoes while flipping the button on his jeans.

The hitched breath that escaped my lips made Knox freeze.

“Too fast?”

I shook my head, eyes glued to his long, thick cock.

“You’re, um . . . wow.”

He planted a knee in the bed, covering me with that muscular body. An arm reached for the nightstand drawer and when he brought the condom between us, he gave me one more chance to hit the brakes. “We can save this for another night.”

“Why are you trying to talk me out of having sex with you?”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Because tonight will be the best damn time I’ve had in years. I want that for you too. No regrets.”

“No regrets.”

He held my gaze, searching for a shred of doubt. He wouldn’t find one.

I shoved at his shoulders, forcing him up. Then I stripped off my own top, tossing it to the floor. His eyes flared at the sight of my bare breasts. That appreciation was enough to banish any fears that my body had changed after childbirth and I’d lost my appeal.

Knox surged, his lips fusing to mine. Then we were a mess of frantic movements as we both worked to shove away my pants, leaving nothing between us but heat.

His weight settled into the cradle of my hips. His body was a tower of strength. His arms bracketing my face kept him from crushing me, but he stayed close enough that the dusting of hair on his chest rubbed against my sensitive nipples.

“You are . . . you are a dream,” he breathed. “I gave up on those.”

My breath hitched. “So did I.”

His kiss was soft and gentle as he positioned himself at my entrance. Then he rocked us together, inch by inch.

I savored the stretch, the feel of him so hard inside me. My entire body ignited as he moved, in and out, in deliberate, measured strokes until I was clawing at his shoulders, urging him on, faster and faster.