Page 71 of Leah

“Carter,” I stuttered out, feeling his breaths against my mouth.

He lips tentatively touched mine. It was brief and light. He pulled away and eyed me again, gauging my reaction as if expecting me to push him away. I didn’t, though. My need for him had me trembling. My legs felt unusually heavy, and the painful need between my legs had me cloudier than ever.

“Carter,” I repeated, uncertain.

“Yeah?” he whispered back.

“I’m scared of this.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know what’s going to happen after.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told me, adamantly. “I’m not, Leah.”

I swallowed hard, staring at his lips with this aching hunger to feel them again. I wasn’t sure I believed him. At the moment, I was just feeling, like he told me to.

He kept still, waiting for me to give him the green light.

“I’m conflicted,” I said, more to myself than him. “I’m so lost, Carter…”

He nodded, understanding. “I know.”

“Every time I think I’m strong, I’m reminded how weak I really am with you—”

“You have the power, Leah,” he cut in. “Angel, you can walk away anytime you want—”

“You’d just follow me.”

“I’m fighting, Leah.” He swallowed hard, eyes rimmed red. “Baby, I’m trying…but you’re still the one in control.”

He was right.

I really was.

He was holding himself back, allowing me to take the lead, and I—I wanted him, I did, because what girl didn’t want a man like him chasing them?

More than that, though, he was the boy I grew up with, and he hadn’t changed. That boy was standing in front of me now, and he was asking me to touch him.

Just feel, Leah.

I cut the space between our lips and kissed him lightly. His hand curled around my neck, taking my mouth harder against his. His lips were soft and wet andso deliriously good. I gripped his shirt to me, parting my lips so I could taste him.

His tongue clashed against mine, and it was like adding kerosene to an already burning fire. My desire roared within me. My hand snaked further up his chest and around his neck, grasping the hair at the nape.

I felt his front press harder against me, wrenching me to him. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he pushed me back slowly, never leaving my mouth, never allowing enough room to breathe. I could feel his need for me through his jeans. His cock was hardening, and I couldn’t stop my hands from brushing over the rigid denim. He groaned, his vise-like grip tightening.

I felt the bed at the back of my legs.

Felt his arm tighten around me as he laid me carefully down, his entire frame following.

He slid me up the mattress, his hand roaming very slowly down my body. Down my neck. Over my breast. Along my ribs. Grasping my hips. All the while, he kissed me passionately, biting my lower lip softly, groaning when he spread my legs apart and settled between them.

Every inch of me was alert.

My breasts ached and my back arched up, moving beneath him, trying to feel every part of his long body. His mouth trailed down my throat. He grasped the hem of my shirt and draggedit up my body. He pulled it off me and unclipped my bra. My skin was cold to the touch, and I writhed the second his tongue flickered against my nipple. His hand trailed down my stomach and into the waistband of my shorts, very slowly rubbing against my sensitive flesh.

“Jesus, Carter,” I moaned, bucking my hips against him.

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