Page 82 of Rebellious

The rules, as obnoxious as they were, told me Bennett could change his mind. It wasn’t that long ago I thought he wouldn’t have anything to do with me, and then came the rules. I could keep a piece of him I thought I’d lost.

The same as today.

Him writing these rules is a warning; no matter what happens tonight or the rest of the summer, we will never be together. He won’t allow it.

I should be angry.

I should walk away and find someone who will love me with no barriers.

But I don’t want anyone else.

I want Bennett.

We stare at each other, marked in ink, our fears on our skin, vulnerable and full of wonder.

“I’m so sorry,” he grates out, his voice full of emotion.

I turn in his arms. “I’m not sorry,” I tell him, cupping his cheek in my palm. “I’ll never be sorry for loving you.”

His eyes pinch shut as he lowers to his knees. His arms wrap around my waist as he holds his face against my chest, tight and unyielding.

“Look at me, Bennett.”

Slowly, he pulls up, those emerald eyes full of love.

“Love me,” I say, knotting his hair in my hands, “until the summer ends.”

I don’t want to think about anything past that. All I know is, I’ve wanted Bennett like this my entire life. And nothing, not even heartbreak, is going to stop me.

That dark head nods in my hands, drawing up to kiss the rule on my chest. The last one he’ll ever write on my skin.

Forgive me.

Closing my eyes, I savor the press of his lips and the heat of his body as he stands, untying my top, watching as the fabric flutters to the floor.

Never leaving my gaze, his fingers curl under my bottoms, placing a kiss below my belly button. “May I?” he asks, gazing down at the last bit of fabric keeping me from his gaze.

I nod. “Please.”

He doesn’t need another word as he slips his fingers under my waistband, tugging the bottoms down my legs until they pool on the floor.

Inhaling, his eyes sweep over my body as he takes in every inch. “I’ll never get enough.”

I push my fingers through his hair. “Ditto.”

I don’t think anything more needs to be said. We have four weeks left of this summer and it won’t be enough. He and I both know that.

“We can take this to the bed.”

I lean in and place a kiss to his lips, eliciting a moan. “It started with a shower,” I agree. “It should end with one.”

I don’t mean this is the last time I’ll have him, but I see the parallel and, frankly, it gets me all kinds of tingly.

Without indulging me in more banter, Bennett grabs the backs of my legs and slides me back onto the counter, his arms locking around my thighs as he pulls them open for his viewing. I can feel his breath as he hovers, his lips lowering gently to my center before his tongue takes over, licking tortuously over the bundle of nerves.

My back arches and I reach for him, not intending for his hand to intertwine with mine. Over and over, he works my body into a puddle of mush, stretching and tugging.

“Bennett,” I say, trying to pull him up. His mouth is amazing, but I want all of him.

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