Fighting Fate (Fighting #7)(39)

“Shh, please.” I close my eyes and pull together all my strength. “It’s not about tonight.”

She tilts her head. “Okay?”

“Axelle, I haven’t exactly been honest with you.”

Her eyebrows pinch and she leans away. “About what?”

I open my mouth then shut it then open it again and—

“Killian, whatever it is, just say it. You can tell me anything, you know that—”

“I’m in love with you.”

She blinks.

“I know it probably seems like this is coming out of nowhere, but for me it’s not. I’ve been in love with you since we were sixteen years old, and I keep thinking that what I feel for you will mellow and we can stay friends, but it hasn’t. It…f*ck, Ax, it’s only gotten stronger.”

Her eyes shine, but I can’t tell if the tears are the happy or sad kind.

“Look. I don’t expect anything from you. I just can’t go on living like this. I can’t go another day watching you give these guys your time and your body, when they don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you. And I’m not saying I do, but if you gave me a chance, God, Axelle, if it were even in the realm of possibility that you’d give me a chance, I’d show you every second of every day exactly how you deserve to be treated.”

I sit back, rest my hands on my thighs, and wait as I watch her phase through a slew of emotions. My heart sinks with every second that passes and she says nothing until finally I sigh in defeat. I just poured my heart out, laid it at her feet, and she has nothing to say. Great.

“You’ve had a long night; you should get some sleep.” I attempt to push back the beginning stages of a headache.

The sound of her chair legs scraping the tile brings my eyes to hers. She closes the space between us, and when her knees hit mine, she pauses. Our eyes lock and my heart pounds in my chest.

And then she blows me away by lifting one leg over my thigh and climbing on to straddle my lap.

I hiss when the warmth between her legs covers my dick. My hands instinctively grip her waist and hold her there, absorbing her heat.

Is this really happening?

Her hands slide up my shoulders to lock behind my neck, and she presses her forehead against mine. My eyes slide closed at the feeling of holding her in a way that is far from friendly. Holding her like a lover.

“Killian, no one has ever loved me the way you do.” Her minty breath washes over my face, and my mouth waters to taste it. “You’ve always been there when I needed you.” She rocks her hips against me, and the way her breath hitches from the friction between our bodies makes me groan.

“I want you, so bad, in every possible way.” The words tumble from my lips in a plea.

“I want you too.” She angles her head and brushes her lips against mine.

So soft, so damn sweet. Better than anything I imagined.

Her tongue traces the seam of my mouth and I pull away.

“I’m sorry. Is this too much? Too fast?” She wiggles to back off my lap, but I grip her ass and pull her back flush to me.

“No, never too much and, after four years of waiting, it’s far from too fast.” I run my thumb along her closed lips. “But I’m not kissing you as long as you have that metal in your tongue that you got for another guy.”

Her cheeks turn the lightest shade of pink and she nods.

I press the tip of my thumb between her lips, nice and slow, mimicking the way I’ve dreamed of doing it with my fingers between her legs. Her breath catches, and her teeth part to welcome me in her mouth. She pulls my thumb deep with a suction that draws all the blood to the surface; the ball of her piercing toys with the pad.

“Fuuuck.” Blood powers through my body, making me throb.

She closes her eyes and continues to suck as I drag my thumb in and out with lazy strokes.

“You’re f*ckin’ beautiful, baby.”

She flexes her hips, and the heat between her legs intensifies.

Unable to drag this out any longer, I slide my forefinger between her lips and grip the ball of her piercing. “Open.”

She slides her tongue out, and I unscrew the ball, pulling free the barbell and tossing it into the nearest trashcan. I expect her to protest, to make some remark about wanting the piercing back after we’re finished here, but instead her eyes flash with understanding and acceptance.

She squeals as I stand, locking her legs around my waist. I carry her to the bed.

Laying her back, I thrust long and hard against her. I might be a virgin, but it doesn’t take a genius to know how to move inside a woman.

“I’m gonna kiss you now, Axelle.”

“Please,” she moans.

“Everything changes after this; you sure you’re ready for that?”

Her hands fist into my hair, and her body undulates beneath me. I turn my head with a muttered curse. This woman is going to kill me. And what a sweet f*cking death it’ll be.

“Killian?”

How long have I waited to hear my name from her lips, heavy with hunger and longing?

“Yeah, baby?”

Her gaze tangles with mine and sparkles with desire. I hold my breath, so scared she’ll say something that’ll end what we’ve started. That she’ll come to her senses and realize I’m nerdy Killian McCreery from high school and be repulsed.