Page 57 of Ruined
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I popped one eye open as the morning rays warmed my face. The first thing that came into view wasn’t the window, though. It was my hand perched on one perfectly sculpted pec. Peering up, I noticed that Eli was still asleep, so of course I took the opportunity to shamelessly take in his rugged sexiness.
While I stared at his handsome features, a crazy idea popped into my head. Dragging my hand across his chest, I reveled in the feeling of the coarse hairs scraping against my skin. I kept my eyes on him while I slowly inched closer to his face.
The instant I was able to do so, I softly pressed my lips against his. When he only stirred, I kissed him again, a little harder this time. His lids parted gradually, revealing those intensely dark eyes that always sent my pulse racing.
With my gaze still firmly locked onto him, I lowered my mouth to his once more. I felt him smile and I couldn’t help but do the same.
“Mmm,” he groaned. I moved to kiss him again, but he surprised me by anchoring a hand in my hair and thoroughly invading my mouth. I melted against him while his tongue coiled around mine, tasting me, teasing me. When he was satisfied that he’d kissed me stupid, he pulled back and grinned, “That’s how it’s done, sunshine.”
Oh, he was good, but I could do him one better. Smiling coyly, I threw one leg over him before moving to straddle his thick thighs. Bracing my hands on his hard chest, I bent down until our lips were almost touching. “Are you sure you wanna play this game with me,Sheriff?”
“Zoe…” I heard the warning in his voice, I just couldn’t bring myself to heed it. A wonderful thing had happened last night; Eli had made me feel safe. For the first time in my life, I was finally starting to feel not so broken.
It might’ve sounded so silly but when I was in his arms, I felt like I could conquer the world.
I wiggled my hips slowly, deliberately. His nostrils flared with his sharp intake of breath as his hands clamped down on my bare thighs, his fingers digging in so hard, I was certain their imprint would be on my skin later.
Eli’s jaw started ticking while his heart rapidly slammed against my palm. I could feel the tension pulled taut in his body as his breath blew fast and hot against my mouth. It was very empowering to know that I had this effect on him.
I’d be lying if I said my body wasn’t reacting the same way. I wanted him as I’d never wanted another.
“Zoe…” This time my name left his lips in a plea. “What are you doing?”
I mimicked my movement from earlier, eliciting a guttural sound from the back of his throat.
It was so low and ragged, it vibrated through my entire body, I almost hummed in appreciation. “I thought I was being obvious,” I murmured against his lips that had gone dry from his rapid breathing.
His hand came up to my cheek. I thought for sure he was going to pull my mouth to his and ravish me like I’d been aching for him to do. Instead, he held me in place while his eyes — his dark, dark eyes — roamed all over my face. I saw the question burning in them before he even voiced it, “Are you sure? We don’t have to—”
“I want you, Eli.”
It was the simplest form of the truth. I wanted Eli Jackson, body, mind and soul. Flexing my fingers against his chest, I pushed myself upright. His hand fell to the mattress while he kept studying me.
“I want you,” I said again and, just to be certain he fully understood what I meant, I gripped the hem of my sleep shirt, yanked the cotton over my head and tossed it to the side. His sharp intake of breath echoed through the room while his gaze darted to the red lacy triangle between my legs before slowly, appreciatively gliding up my body.
My skin tingled as his heated stare lingered on my breasts, before continuing upward until our eyes locked. “Damn, Zoe…” his voice was hoarse with need. “Damn…” Calloused hands smoothed up my legs, over my thighs then curved around my ribs and finally settled on my back.
His abs pulled taut as he lifted his upper body, pushing himself into a seated position too. We were chest-to-chest while he dragged his hands up my spine, then curled his fingers over my shoulders. His breath was hot against my skin right as I felt his lips move over my collarbone.
His kisses were slow and soft at first, but the more he peppered my skin the needier those kisses became until he was trailing wet, open-mouthed kisses down my chest. I fell back slightly, bracing my hands on his legs sticking out behind me.
“So soft,” he murmured against my skin as he continued loving on me. His hand came up to cover one breast while his mouth did sinfully delicious things to the other. I was on a slow path to losing my mind in the best way imaginable.
Everything with Eli always felt so amped up. I wasn’t that naïve that I didn’t realize that it was because when I was with him; I wasn’t feeling with my body, I was feeling with my heart. He did something with his tongue that pulled a little whimper from the back of my throat.
I felt him smile against my skin, “You like that?”
“Yes,” I sounded breathless and completely turned on, which was exactly what I was. “Yes, I do.”
He chuckled, but instead of repeating whatever magical thing he’d done, he flipped us so fast my head spun. But I couldn’t complain because pinned beneath his hard body wasn’t a bad place to be exactly.
His dark head lowered, inching closer and closer. As soon as he could, he dropped a kiss to my lips before giving my cheeks and my nose the same affection. “My beautiful Zoe.” I had no time to decipher the look in his eyes, he shut them and slanted his mouth over mine. He kissed me with an urgency I’d never felt from him.
His lips left mine, so he could drag them along my jaw before sinking his teeth into the tender spot below my ear that always sent my pulse skittering. My fingers immediately speared into his hair and pressed into his scalp.
As much as I loved his slow seduction, it wasn’t what I needed right now. It felt as if I might combust if I didn’t have him as close to me as humanly possible. “Eli.” His name came out as a low drawl while his hand scraped up my torso at the same time as he nipped at my skin again. His head lifted slowly, those dark eyes of his partially hidden behind his hooded lids. “Please?”
