Make Me (Broke and Beautiful #3)(43)

“Russell,” she murmured at his mouth, obliterating his concentration. “Tell me the reason you can’t push me away.”

His heart drummed faster and faster, matching his breath. Jesus Christ. He knew what was coming, knew she would offer herself to him tonight. On a regular basis, he felt unworthy of Abby, but right now? Right now, she looked like some exotic mermaid, glowing under the night sky, the ocean as her backdrop. She wasn’t something a man like him was allowed to experience. A painfully sexy virgin, tempting him to f*ck her on some rich man’s beach. It was like a pornographic postcard. Or it would be if he wasn’t prepared to die for this girl at the prompting of one, single word from her mouth.

“You know why I can’t stay away, angel. Work your hips up, and you’ll feel it.” Eyes sparking with excitement, Abby flexed her thighs around his waist, lifted, and rolled her body, gasping at the pronounced thickness inside his wet board shorts. Shiiiit. When had she started to move like that? She knew right where he needed to feel her *, knew to give a tight, little buck that conjured thoughts of his own hips doing the same. Only she’d be beneath him with her thighs spread. Christ, he needed to take this slow. Needed to make an attempt to deserve this. Deserve her. “Hey. Let me see your eyes, Abby.” Her hazel gaze was foggy as it lifted, snagged on him. It was a moment before he could speak normally. “I want your body. Want it bad as f*ck. But I can’t stay away from you, Abby, because you’re you. Okay?”

“Okay,” Abby breathed. She went for his mouth with such unexpected eagerness, the impact of her taste sent him back a step in the water. Her moan as their tongues met had the effect of a smooth hand wrapping around his dick. The familiar voice that growled mine whenever he touched Abby increased in volume, competing with the ocean. Her thighs started moving restlessly on either side of him, climbing his waist and grinding down, all the while making these head-wrecking, whimpering noises when her sweet spot met his cock. Their mouths were competing for the best taste of one another, lips greedy and desperate.

Closer. Need her as close as possible. With one arm wedged beneath her ass, Russell used the opposite hand to yank down the straps of her bathing suit. As soon as he got the stretchy material around her waist, he kissed down her neck and sucked each of her nipples in turn. “I can’t believe you’re going to let me inside this body. So hot . . . so smooth. I don’t belong there, but it’s mine all the same. Isn’t it?”

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as she leaned back to give him a perfect view of her tits. “I don’t want anyone but you. How many ways can I say it?”

Goddamn. If he didn’t get her out of the water and into someplace private, he would f*ck her standing up. Which sounded awesome to his Abby-starved brain, but no way in hell would he cause her more pain than necessary. Keeping a tight hold on her, Russell began wading toward the shore, pausing every few feet to get his mouth on her nipples or kiss a whimper out of her. In the dark, pressed so close to the girl he craved, secrets contained inside his head so long made for the exit. “What I said . . . about how I worry about you. There’s a huge part of me that loves it, Abby.” His hands found her ass and kneaded. “I love covering your body up with my clothes. Being the one who gets you home safe. I love it. It’s my job.”

She brushed her lips over his ear, making him shiver. “I was mad at you earlier for ripping my bathing suit . . . but I wasn’t mad, too.”

“What do you mean?”

They reached the shore as she answered, Russell’s footsteps eating up the sand on his way to the closest cabana. “I’m still figuring it out. But . . . I know when you tied me up, I realized that’s what I’d wanted all along.” She rested her forehead against his. “Does that make sense?”

His heart squeezed, then boomed louder. Faster. Some part of him had known all along she was made for him. These unfamiliar impulses she’d woken inside him corresponded to hers. They couldn’t be wrong if she needed them, too, right? “Yes . . . I think it does make sense, angel. I hope like hell it does.”

They reached the cabana, and Russell shouldered past the hanging canvas that kept the inside private. Side-by-side beach chairs, reclined to their flat position, were just inside, and he quickly picked the left one, laying Abby down. When she kept her arms wrapped around him, he had no choice but to descend with her. Their positions stayed the same, but when laid vertical, his dick shoved between her thighs with five times the pressure and friction.

“Ahhh, f*ck.” He captured her wrists and locked them over her head, giving her a tight twist of his hips. “I’m not a duke, Abby.”

Her eyes popped open on a moan. “W-what?”

No way. No way he’d just said that out loud. Russell dropped his head into the crook of her neck, using the opportunity to feel her pulse against his lips. Because any second now, she’d realize she’d entrusted her virginity to a guy who took pointers from imaginary noblemen. “I, uh.” She ran her fingertips up his spine, and nothing had ever felt so amazing in his life. “My brother’s wife leaves these books lying around. Romance novels. And this duke—his name is Sebastian, but that’s not important—he . . . it was his girl’s first time. He went so slow, letting her get used to his . . . manhood.” Russell reached between their bodies and palmed Abby’s breasts. “I don’t know if I can do that.”