Page 106 of Triggered By Love
“You can’t possibly be in the dark. You practically grew up in the business.” Too late. Jason bit his tongue and recoiled from the fire in Avery’s whiskey-colored eyes.
“You called me a whore before. Get out. Just get out. I know that’s all you think of me. A pretty face and an easy lay.”
“Hold it right there.” He withstood her flailing herself at him and grabbed both of her wrists. “We’re brainstorming a crime. Not talking about you.”
Unless he hit a sore spot, he thought.
Her breath sizzled through her teeth. “I have standards. I don’t let them touch me.”
He could almost hear the unspoken, not anymore.
This was the reason she went from modeling to designer.
He got it. Even without her stating it. He was a cop. He didn’t need her to spell it out. A young model was vulnerable, especially if her parents socialized with predatory men—the ones who thought themselves above the law—actually, not only were they above the law, they paid off the law to look the other way.
The Leaches fit, and being family friends gave them cover. No wonder Avery knew the hidey holes at her family’s mansion. A deep pang ground in his heart at how frightened the young girl must have been. How a beautiful girl was only regarded for her looks, and that no one dug beneath the surface to find the brokenness beneath the doll’s perfect face.
“What are you looking at?” Avery’s voice was faint. “You pity me. Don’t you? You think less of me.”
“No, I think the world of you.” He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her. “I see a strong, resilient woman who is much, much more than a pretty face. I feel your humanity. The way you care for Saul and want to help him lift himself by his bootstraps. The way you love on Mrs. Bonet and the way you honor Brando’s life and memory. You diminish me when you believe I have such a lack of faith in you.”
Her hands rested on his shoulders, and she gazed at him, blinking and shaking her head. “I’m not as good as you believe.”
“You’re better than I believe. Believe it yourself. You are not made of the circumstances you cannot help, but your mettle is constructed by how you rise above them.”
“Then why do you blame yourself for your mother’s death?”
Whammo!She certainly turned that one around on him.
Jason’s heart melted like hot wax. He lowered his gaze and held his breath to control the sudden onslaught of wetness in his eyes.
Her hands were soft over his head, running through his hair and caressing the back of his neck. She gently cradled his head against her breasts and soothed him with her steady breaths.
How long they stayed, with him on his knees being comforted by her, he couldn’t say. But gradually, his heart swelled, and her touch drew sparks across his skin.
She kissed the top of his head and then bent lower to kiss his temple. She dotted nibbles around his ear, and her warm breath fanned heat that radiated straight to his growing cock.
He lifted his head, and she lowered her lips over his mouth, and then he was on his feet with her in his arms, sweeping her off her feet. And she was kissing him hard, panting and moaning, and inviting him to imbibe, consume, and ravish her.
He lumbered to her bedroom, and together they crashed onto the bed. A voice in the back of his mind urged caution. Only a few minutes ago, she was accusing him of degrading her. She’d called herself an easy lay. Little did she know how utterly difficult it was to hold himself back.
Her lips were plastered to his, and that tongue of hers worked magic, twisting and squirming around his mouth. She was fire and ice, wrapped in one, and he couldn’t stop himself from melding his heart to hers, whether to be scorched or frozen out, he didn’t care.
He held her close, running his fingers over the curves of her exquisite body, but that wasn’t the main thrust of her attraction. It was the soul inside, of a survivor, like him, but a survivor plagued with guilt—again, like him, who raged at a past that could not be changed.
Her hands splayed against his chest, moving down his torso to the sides of his hips. She squirmed against his ballooning erection, lighting embers of lust throughout his body. He should put a stop to this. They were in the middle of an investigation. His mouth froze in a moment of indecision, and she relinquished the kiss.
“I shouldn’t do this to you.” His voice sounded like rough gravel. “This isn’t how I envisioned it.”
“Life isn’t how any of us envisioned it.” Her tone was silky, without a hint of regret. “I trust you, Jason. I’m sorry for what I said earlier about accusing you of pitying me. You, of all people, know what’s gnawing me.”
“This can’t fix that.” He gritted his teeth, trembling to tame the heat within him.
She palmed the side of his face and stared into his eyes. Hers were large and luminous, soulful, deep with understanding. “I’m not trying to fix what’s broken. I’m wanting something new.”
“New?” The concept cracked open his heart. He’d never thought of trying anything new. He’d been papering over the same wound, taping and bandaging it, over and over.
“Jase, you’re dead-ass new to me.” Her smile brightened her entire face.
