Page 47 of Bayside Heat
Except maybe a hundred miles…
Chapter Nine
DRAKE’S PHONE RANG at a little before two o’clock in the morning, and Serena’s name flashed on the screen. He felt bad for the way he’d left things with her, but he’d had to get his head on straight and make a decision once and for all before answering her question. He put the phone to his ear, and before he could get a word out, her panicked voice rang through.
“Drake! Someone’s banging on my door. What should I do?”
He clutched the phone tighter. “Slow down and look through your peephole.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m so scared.”
“Breathe, Serena. What do you see?”
“Hold on.”
He listened to her hasty breathing through the phone, the frantic slide of the locks and chain, and then she was punching his chest, crying.
“You scared the shit out of me! You bastard! Why…?”
He dropped his bag inside the door and gathered her trembling body into his arms, closing the door behind him. He held her tight, kissing her tears away as she clung to him, gasping for air.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry. You asked what we were doing, and I had to say this to your face.” He drew back, cradling her face between his hands, her warm tears colliding with his thumbs like accusations. He’d driven like a bat outta hell to get there, and he was glad he had.
“What are we doing?” she demanded.
“What we should have done ages ago.” He lowered his lips to hers, and she smiled and cried against them, breaking his heart and then healing it again with the eagerness of her kisses.
He lifted her into his arms and opened his eyes long enough to navigate to the small bedroom. “I found your card this evening. It had slid behind the door. Thank you for never letting us go.” As he lowered her to the bed, he said, “Everyone needs one person they can count on. Someone who isn’t a lover or a parent. Someone who can watch out for them with nothing clouding their vision. I wanted to be that person for you.”
“Maybe I’m not like everyone else,” she said sweetly, confidently. “Because I want you, and you are that person for me.”
He kissed her again, slow and deep, feeling all the chained-up pieces of himself unshackling. “I was never a selfish man, but with you, I’m shamefully selfish,” he whispered, pressing tender kisses to her chin and cheek.
“Be selfish with me, Drake. I can handle it. I want to handle it.” Her gaze turned fierce, and she said, “But if you ever scare me like that again, I will not forgive you.”
He couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “Says the girl who was sleeping in my favorite beach shirt. When did you steal that?”
“If you’re good, maybe I’ll tell you,” she said lustily, and lifted the bottom of his shirt. “Off, please.”
He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. She reached for him, and he knew every moment of his life, every decision he’d ever made on their behalf, had been the right one at the time, just like this.
“Is that a challenge, Supergirl?” he asked as he lifted her shirt over her head, leaving her bare, save for her pretty panties. He clutched her waist with both hands, lifting her off the mattress, and shifted her toward the head of the bed. He lowered his mouth to her breast, teasing her roughly with his teeth and hands, the way he’d learned she loved.
She arched up, fisting her hands in his hair while pushing against the back of his head, pleading, “Harder, oh, oh!”
A loud, surrendering moan left her lungs, making his cock throb. He shifted positions, rocking his steel shaft against her sex as he devoured her breasts.
“Oh God…Drake,” she pleaded breathlessly.
He captured her mouth, thrusting and grinding against her center. He read her noises perfectly. A high-pitched whimper told him he’d hit the spot, and her nails carving into his skin told him to press harder, move faster. Soon she was soaring, bucking and crying out into their kisses. He fucking loved that.
He rose, grabbing both sides of her panties. “These have got to go.”
He tore them off and rubbed the silk against his cheek, loving the flare of heat in her eyes as he drank in every sexy inch of her. She was shaved bare, her center glistening with desire—all for him. She’d unleashed every ounce of possessiveness he had been stowing away, and now there was no holding back.
