Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(59)

She slid him a look that made him grin. “You’re funny too,” he said. “And also kind. And sweet.”

“Okay, now you’re just trying to piss me off.”

He laughed and then his smile faded. “And resilient,” he said quietly. “You’re amazing, Ivy.”

In spite of herself, she was unbearably moved by his words. And unnerved. “You’ve known me for all of . . .” She counted in her head. “Not even two weeks.” And yep, she sounded a little panicked so she drew in a deep breath. “It’s taken me longer to decide to trust a new pair of running shoes.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I get it. For you, it’s all about trust, which takes time. There’s plenty of that. I’m not going to rush you. I’m just asking if you’re interested in me staying.”

There were a lot of things happening on her inside. Pulse going a little too fast and too hard. Air backed up in her lungs. And then there was her heart, which was squeezed in both hope and fear.

Kel ran a hand up and down her back, waiting until she remembered that she knew how to breathe. “Too hard of a question?” he asked gently.

She closed her eyes. “No.” She knew that when he left for Idaho it would hurt. But beyond that? She gave it a thought and knew the truth, even if she couldn’t say it. “I wouldn’t mind seeing where this might go,” she admitted quietly.

He took her hand in his. “I like the sound of that,” he murmured.

What she liked was the way he was looking at her, and his confidence in what they might have. Unable to stop herself, she reached out to touch him, running a hand up his chest, around the back of his neck to sink into his hair. “If I kiss you, is anyone going to be watching us out the window?”

“With my family? You never know.” Standing, he pulled her up as well, turning them to the only tree in the corner of the yard. He tugged on something and a rope ladder fell down.

He gestured that she should start climbing and she blinked.

“It’s a tree house,” he said. “It was here when Remy and Ethan moved in. Remy won’t go up there because she’s afraid of heights. Are you afraid of heights?”

“No, just intimacy, relationships, and true love.”

His teeth flashed white in the dark and he gave her a nudge.

So she started climbing. The tree house was one small room with a cut-out window street-side. There was one of those huge beanbag chairs that took up almost all the space, and a shelf on which sat a six pack of beer.

“It’s Ethan’s man cave,” Kel said. He plopped into the beanbag chair, snagged her hand, and tugged her into his lap.

“How often does he come out here?”

“With a new baby? I’m guessing not much.” He turned her to face him and his lips met hers in a kiss that went straight to DEFCON 5. The heat started in her core and spread outward and before she knew it, he had his hands under her clothes and she was practically purring. She could feel him hard and ready beneath her and shifted her legs to accommodate him, and was rewarded by a low masculine groan of pleasure that had her trying to get his jeans opened.

“Here?” he asked huskily, adding his hands to the cause.

“Here.” She wrapped her fingers around him and started to rise up on her knees, but he stopped her.

“No condom,” he whispered, voice strained.

They stared at each other.

Then she smiled into his eyes. “I think we can work around that.” She began to slide down on his body but he caught her, pulling her up for a kiss that left her panting. Then he rolled in the beanbag, and it was a testament to his core strength and those delicious abs of his that he managed to tuck her beneath him so that she was on the bottom, him between her legs. He kissed her softly. “Ladies first,” he whispered and shifted lower, adjusting her clothing as he went, freeing a nipple for his hot mouth, then a hipbone, which he nipped, making her jump and then moan when he soothed the ache with his tongue.

Then he was southbound, his hands moving her turned-to-jelly legs the way he wanted them. And the way he wanted them was draped over his forearms, his hands on her ass. This left her extremely exposed, but she wanted his mouth on her so badly, there was no room for modesty.

He took the longest moment in history to look his fill. “Gorgeous,” he whispered.

She squirmed. “Kel—”

He used his teeth to pull the scrap of lace between her legs aside and then he put that amazing mouth on her.

They were outside, within shouting distance of his family. It was cold, and she was pretty sure her exposed nipple was going to fall off, but she didn’t care because his mouth. God, his mouth. She tried to hold her breath, not trusting herself to be quiet, but then he added his fingers and she was flying.

When she came back to herself, she sucked in a breath. “Oh God,” she whispered in horror. “Was I too loud? I’m so sorry—”

“You were perfect,” he said.

With desire still pooled low in her stomach, she wanted, needed, to have her wild, wicked way with him. Pulling free, she shoved him to his back and climbed on top of him. Pressing her lips to the hollow at the base of his throat, she began to kiss her way down. Dropping to her knees, she licked her lips and leaned forward and—

“Kel?” a voice called up from the ground below.