Page 50 of The Devil's Tattoo
Suddenly, I wasalive.
His knee pushed in between my legs, and I opened them enough so his thigh could rub against me. Rolling my hips forward, I let out a deep moan into his mouth. He kissed me deeper in response, his tongue clashing with mine.God, it feltsogood.
I tore my lips away and let out a whimper as he kissed a trail down to the crook of my neck. His hands fell from my face and brushed across my breasts before coming to rest onmyhips.
“I’m not finished,” I said breathlessly as his lips grazed the skin underneathmyear.
“Don’t care,” he mumbled into my hair as his thumbs passed over my tightnipples.
Holyshit.
I was wearing a bikini top with boardies over the bottoms, but I may as well have been in my bra and knickers. There was only a thin piece of material between my skin and his hands, and it seemed like too much distance. As if he’d read my mind, Will’s hand trailed up my back, and he pulled the clasp of my top undone. Tugging at the string securing the halter at the nape of my neck, it fell away, and then the whole thing was gone. Cool air hit my skin, and my nipplestingled.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” he murmured, caressing my breasts as his lips found mine again. Grinding into me, I felt just how much he meant it. A hand slid to the small of my back and pulled me harder against the length ofhisbody.
I couldn’t help arching my back, pressing myself into his hands and moaning into his mouth. This was going way too fast, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was beyond stopping myself. Everywhere he touched burned. Iwaslost.
My hands found the hem of his board shorts of their own accord and slid underneath, eliciting a sharp gasp for their effort. God. After all this time wanting him, I never knew it would feel like this. So utterlyuncontrollable.
He buried his face into the crook of my neck and trailed kisses up toward my ear making my whole body tingle, and I wanted him closer. Inside. I would have done anything to lose my body in his—anyway I couldgethim.
“Zoe,baby…”
My eyes snapped open, and suddenly, I felt like I was back there. That one little word pulled me back into my reality so fast it was like it had given me whiplash. Back into the life where I didn’t trust anyone. Pain from a long time ago shot up my right arm, and I bit down hard on my lip. Automatically, I pushed my palms against Will’s chest, and his hands dropped from me, the phantom painsubsiding.
“Zoe?” Will was looking at me, a frown creasing hisforehead.
A bead of water trailed down his cheek from his wet hair, and I stared at that because it was better than looking him in the eye. So close, yetsofar.
“Zoe?” he said again, and it was enough to push me into action. He still had me against the mirror, so I wriggled away from him, picking up the top half of my bathers, an arm across mychest.
“I can’t,” I said thinly, not trusting myself to look at him. If I looked at him, hewouldsee.
We were in my hotel room, so I walked out, grabbed a T-shirt, dragged a pair of jeans on, and then tugged my boots onto my feet.Flight modeactivated.
“Zoe?” Will had followed me. “Did I do something wrong? I’msorry,I…”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” I said, picking up my phone and room key. “It’s not you.” I knew this was probably a stupid thing to do, but I couldn’t stop myself. It was like a default setting with me. Things would get good, so I would shit all over it with mystupidfear.
“Zoe,” he pleaded with me again. “What justhappened?”
I went to walk past, aiming for the door, but he grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him. “I know a runner when I see one, Zoe.” He said it like he knew, but I tried to ignore it. I just needed to get away and think about this. Everything about Will Strickland clouded my vision until I couldn’t tell upfromdown.
I felt tears stinging behind my eyes, threatening to pool, and I tore my arm away. “Ican’t.”
He just stared at me with a mixture of hurt and disbelief but didn’t try to stop meagain.
It wasn’t until I was out the front of the hotel next to the taxi rank that I realized I had to get as far away as I could. No one else was waiting, so I opened the back passenger door of thefirstcar.
“Youfree?”
The driver nodded, and I slidinside.
“Where to, love?” he asked, and Ifaltered.
“Is there a museum near here?” I asked. A museum would bequiet.
“Yeah, there’s an art gallery nottoofar.”
“Okay,” I said before I lost my nerve, “take methere.”
