Page 56 of In Full Bloom

She blinks up at me again, opening her mouth as if to argue. I lean in and cover it with my own again. This time I’m gentle when I taste her.

When I pull back, I gently disengage, then smooth a straylock of hair back from her face. “And I don’t regret it for a second.”

“I thought you didn’t want this,” she whispers, her fingers tracing over my face. My stomach swoops and a pulsing need shoots through me.

“Oh, I want this, princess.”

Her eyes flutter closed at the stupid name. “Even if I can’t commit to anything?”

I stroke my fingers through her hair, wondering how to answer that. Because I’ve already told her I don’t want a once off. She opens her eyes and peers up at me, uncertainty written across her face.

I press my lips against hers again. A brief moment of bliss. “Will you give me a chance to change your mind?” Another kiss. Her fingers trail down my neck, tracing the shape of my collarbone. “Give me a chance to replace the old memories with new ones?” I swipe my tongue across her bottom lip and she groans. I want to devour the sound. Devour her. “Let me prove to you that you can be happy here.”

I kiss her once more, then pull back and stare down at her. Her eyes are glassy and cheeks flushed. I prop myself on the elbow of my injured arm, ignore the throbbing pain and trail my fingers through her hair. “Can you do that?” I whisper.

Her eyes close as my fingers stroke across her scalp, then slowly open again. “Yes,” she says, her voice hoarse. “Okay. I can try.”

“That’s all I need,” I say, then fit my hand against her neck and capture my mouth withhers.

It’s a solid kiss, sure and slow. Then her hand runs down my bare chest, along my side, and slides around my waist.

I groan and press myself into her, like I’ve wanted to since I first kissed her. One of my legs is over hers and the feel of her thigh between mine makes my eyes blur and the world spin.

The sound I make, and the pressure against her leg switches something in her. She makes a hoarse gasping noise and pushes her hips into me. One moment, she’s underneath me, the next, she’s rolled us so I’m flat on my back, her leg hooked over my body.

“Holy shit,” I say, dazed. I blink a few times as I readjust to the new position.

Katie laughs and pushes off the bed. Next thing I know, she’s straddling me. She swirls her hips in the most sensual way, grinding down on my cock. It’s been hard since she lay down beside me but now it’s rock solid and aching.

“God, I’ve missed this feeling,” she murmurs, looking down on me.

My hands land on her hips, helping to guide her motion. I’m incapable of words, but another breathy sound escapes me.

She laughs again, the sound light and breezy. “I’ve been thinking about it since the night we met.” She stops circling and thrusts her hips forward in a sharp motion.

“Fuck.” The word leaves me riding another guttural cry and Katie grins down at me, all of her caution and wariness gone. “Come here,” I say as I snake one hand up her body and grasp the nape of her neck, pulling her down into another searing kiss. “You’re going to kill me.”

“You can take it,” she says, smiling against my mouth. “Ihowever, might not be able to take it much longer if you don’t touch me.”

“I am touching you.” I press a kiss to her jaw, then trail a line of open mouthed kisses down her neck. She shivers and shudders against me.

“Properly,” she hisses, then follows up the word with another thrust of her hips. She’s only wearing leggings and I’m only in my underwear so I can feeleverything. “Touch me,” she utters the command on a moan, which takes away some of the authority but not my desire to do as she says.

I trace my fingers across her hips, holding her lightly, then gently sweeping my hands higher. Katie growls and yanks the worn t-shirt off over her head.

She’s wearing another sports bra, this time bright pink. It pushes her breasts together, a soft swell spilling over the top of the low-cut neckline as she heaves in a deep breath. I just about lose my head right then and there.

Her shirt removal tactic did exactly what she wanted it to. I push myself to sitting, remembering not to use my injured arm at the last second, then reverently run my hands over the pink fabric. I cup her tits in my hands and run my thumbs across the velvety smooth skin. I lower my head and press a kiss to the exposed skin, then trail my tongue along the edge of the bra.

“This is so fucking hot,” I murmur, unable to lift my mouth from her flesh.

“Hotter than the first time?” She asks, her voice teasing as she threads her fingers into my hair, holding my face against her chest.

The memory slams into me. The one of Katie pushing medown onto her bed, then stepping back and staring down at me for a long moment. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched as she trailed her gaze over my body, pausing when she reached the fly of my jeans and slowly licked her bottom lip.

She pulled her sweater off and dropped it to the floor, then tugged her silky tank top over her head and tossed it onto my chest. She popped the button and lowered the zipper of her jeans, letting me see enough to know that her underwear matched the skimpy white lace bra she was wearing.

She watched me take in the sight, then stepped forward and popped the button of my own jeans as she dropped to her knees between my thighs.

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