Page 45 of Touch My Shelves

He leans closer until I can feel his breath on the side of my face and the scent of his cologne makes my mouth water. In a low, sensual murmur, he says, “You’d really let him have you when I know you can still feel me between your thighs?”

Blood rushes to my face and I’m sure the beet red hue isn’t flattering. He’s forcing me to remember all the sinfully delightful ways we had sex over the too short time we were together. As if I could forget. I relive them incessantly.

His eyes drop to my lips and I know he’s remembering too. His gaze moves up to mine and heat flares between my legs. I’m wet and needy in an instant from only his smoldering gaze. My heart beats wildly.

I push my chair back and rise, tossing my linen napkin to the table. Rushing down the hallway toward the kitchen, I detour through a door I know leads to Shyanne’s rooftop garden. She grows herbs and vegetables in containers that she uses in her recipes. I’m using it to escape from Brax and the emotions he’s causing.

Except he follows me.

I turn with my back against a brick wall to confront him. “Why are you doing this? You said you didn’t want anything more with me.”

His brow quirks as he gives a nonchalant shrug. “Things change.”

Do they really? Do I even want them to change? He hurt me and now he wants me back. I would have loved to hear these words from him a day after he broke up with me. But now? “No. You said we were a mistake and you don’t get to show up here and ruin my date because… I don’t even know why you’re doing this.”

“I came here for you, Poppy.”

He has some nerve to look insecure.

“Why? Why do you want me now and not then? You aren’t making any sense,” I cry as I fight to calm my heaving chest. I can’t look at him because I know the answer. “You said it yourself—I’m not what you need. I could never be that woman.”

His finger tips my chin until I’m staring into his remorseful eyes. “You think that, after the hours we spent together were so perfect.”

“They were,” I admit, giving him that at least, yet something still doesn’t add up. “But nothing has changed. I’m still the same woman you were afraid would hurt your daughter when you leave to go back to California. I’m the same woman you called a mistake. Is it because you’re lonely and I’m the most convenient fuck buddy you have?”

A low growl rumbles from his throat as he moves closer, leans into my neck, and inhales. My nipples draw up into hardened peaks. I shudder and my head tips back, freeing up more skin for his nose and lips to peruse.

His voice is low and gritty. “You are the woman I want, Poppy. Just you. Don’t for one moment misconstrue my need for you as one that anyone else could satisfy.”

His hand inches up my ribs and cups my breast, brushing his thumb over the rigid nub. I try to breathe in, but I can’t. I don’t want him to stop.

Nuzzling beneath my ear, he says, “I crave your taste, your touch, and the way your pussy feels gripping my cock as I spill inside you.”

I moan and thread my fingers through his hair. He pins my body to the brick wall. “Do you feel how badly I want you?”

The ridges of his cock press into my belly. I squirm against him and the friction makes me wet and needy.

My eyes slowly open and connect with his just as he lowers his mouth and takes mine in a branding kiss. Our tongues caress and entwine with each other as he takes the kiss deeper.

His hands roam my body and my dress inches up from the hem until his fingers hook into the sides of my panties and he rips them from my body. I gasp and open my eyes to find him desperately lost in mine.

He cups my face gently between his hands. “I need you, Poppy. Just you. And you will never know how sorry I am for hurting you. You aren’t a mistake. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

CHAPTER 16

BRAX

A deep, throaty laugh erupts from her mouth and the sexy sound of it is like music to my fucking ears. “Are you finally going to ravish me against a brick wall?”

I grin and inhale when her hand snakes through our bodies and grabs my cock, running her palm over the hardened ridges through my pants. My mouth waters, begging for a taste, but first, I brush a strand of hair back from her face. “I think we need to talk about this, Poppy. I don’t want misunderstandings about what this means or doesn’t mean.”

She slowly nods and follows me with her eyes as I lower to my knees. “I know what this is, Brax. You don’t have to worry. I know you’re leaving and I know how important it is to keep this from Freeya so she doesn’t get any ideas about us being together. I’ve told you I don’t want any more than to be with you while you’re here. I have no designs on you. I don’t even know if I will ever be in a serious relationship. I don’t think I’m that type of woman.”

I find it curious that she thinks that. She’s incredible with Freeya. Why wouldn’t she want a family of her own? “You never want to be a wife or mother?”

A swirl of emotions plays over her face. It’s impossible to pick just one.

“I want to be me,” she says with that same defiant chin tipped a fraction into the air.

---