Page 58 of Against the Autumn Pines
Her eyes narrowed on me, and I knew she was picking her next words carefully.
“Why?” she finally questioned. “I don’t mean that to sound rude, but what’s wrong with you?”
My hand hit my chest as if I’d been injured. “Ouch!” Ilaughed and dropped my hand back to the back of the chair. “Nothing is wrong with me, brat. I just haven’t found a woman whom I enjoyed enough to see more than a few times. As I told you, I work a lot, and I’m not naïve; a relationship is work. My job has always been more important to me, so I haven’t been interested in pursuing anything beyond casual.”
She nodded slowly. “Until me?”
“Until you.”
She leisurely started walking towards me, her bare feet padding along the wooden floorboards, hips swaying in a way no woman should be physically able because it was just too cruel. Stopping a few inches away from me, I could feel the heat radiating off her bare skin, my fingers twitching to grab her.
I looked up, eyes locking with hers as she lifted a single finger only to run it from my temple and down my jawline.
“Well, I must be something special, Wyatt,” she whispered.
Having her fingers on me while she whispered my name like that? Icouldbe content with just this tonight, but I was a greedy man, and I didn’t want to be just content. I wanted it all.
“Tell me you don’t want this Ember, and I’ll leave,” I whispered back, my voice deeper than it typically was as the tension between us grew.
Her hand dropped down to her side, and my heart almost dropped, but she shrugged with a knowing smirk and then turned to walk towards her bedroom door.
Standing up out of the chair, I placed it calmly back where it went under the table before I sprinted up behind her, picking her up bridal style and spinning her around with a chuckle. Her arms shot around my neck as she let out a yelp of surprise.
“Wyatt!!”
I laughed, fully and completely, before I stood with her at the edge of her bed. Both our chests heaved as we locked eyes. The only light coming into the room was from the windows along her far bedroom wall, but our gazes locked, the moment turning serious.
“Tell me what you want, Ember,” I whispered.
“I don’t want anything to change,” she replied back. “But I also don’t want to be the other girl, Wyatt.”
I stared at her, trying to decipher what she meant, but she pushed herself from my arms, and I released her, letting her stand up in front of me. I thought she’d take a step back, but she stood there, her head stopping just at my shoulders, still in her heels as she stared up at me.
“If you want to fuck other people, tell me now,” Ember snapped.
I couldn’t help myself; a smile started curving across my face. “And you think I’d allow you to fuck other people?”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted before she smacked me—open-handed, across the face—causing my head to snap to the side. “Fuck you, Wyatt Carragan. Get the fuck out.”
My eyes slowly returned to hers, and I couldn’t help the smile that overtook my face. “Remember what I told you before, little flame?”
She glared at me, her face saying everything her bratty attitude wasn’t allowing her to speak aloud.
“You’re more than welcome to try to get rid of me, Ember, but good luck,” I repeated my earlier comment to her with a smirk. “I suggest you prepare yourself, little flame. You don’t want anything to change? Nothing will. Get on your knees.”
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MULTIPLE RIDGES
Ember
“Get on your knees.”
The words fell from his perfect fucking lips so…expertly, it made me want to scream. Instead, I just stared up at him, those dark blue eyes looking back at me. Why did he have to be so perfect?
As if the fates above crafted him specifically to be my downfall, and he was. My perfect downfall.
Stubborn. Smart. Quick-witted. The perfect amount of nerdy. Funny with the sarcastic banter that wasn’t easy to find, and so damn sexy.
