Page 28 of Tru Blue
Holy fuck. Her jeans were hot and, if he wasn’t mistaken, damp. His cock throbbed behind his zipper. He kissed his way down her belly, which rose with each quick breath. Seeing his tattooed hand against her soft femininity made him harder, pushed him further. He imagined burying himself deep inside her, imagined seeing those perfect breasts bouncing as she rode his cock.
He lowered his teeth to the button on her jeans, ready to throw caution to the wind and let their wild desires lead them. But putting the kids to bed had kicked open the door to his past. Truman wanted to be selfish, to take everything she was willing to give and deal with the ramifications later, but as he thought about pushing his hands beneath that denim and seeking the wet heat he so desperately wanted, his conscience kicked in. He drew back, gritting his teeth, telling that fucking voice in his head to shut the hell up, but no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he wasn’t that type of man. And more than that, this—whatever this was—was totally different from anything he’d ever experienced. Gemma wasn’t a poolroom chick looking for a fast fuck who didn’t care about his past because she wanted nothing more than to get off. He needed to slow this runaway train long enough to let her in, at least enough for her to make the decision to go further with clarity.
Another mind-blowing realization. He’d never let a woman into his life before. His chest constricted at the prospect.
He reluctantly released that tiny flap of denim and pressed his mouth to the sensitive skin just below her belly button, slicking his tongue over it as if his mouth were nestled between her legs. He couldn’t resist sliding his tongue beneath the waist of her jeans. She arched her hips. He was this close to kicking his conscience to the curb, but when he lifted his eyes and saw her blissful, trusting expression, another organ constricted.
His heart.
His heart brought his mouth to her belly in an apologetic kiss. His heart made him move up her body and refasten her bra despite her resistance, right her shirt, and gather her in his arms. He pressed his cheek to hers and breathed her in—her lust, her sweetness, her disappointment—memorizing all of it. All of her, because once he said what he had to say, she’d be gone.
“I want to make you feel more than you’ve ever felt in your life,” he said in her ear, unable to look into her eyes just yet. “I want to eat you for breakfast, hold your hand and fuck you until you feel me the next day.”
“Then do it,” she said breathlessly.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He forced himself to draw back and meet her confused gaze. He felt the rigid edge of a knife slicing down his chest, a hand reaching inside the broken walls, clutching that organ that was driving him.
Her lips curved up, but she trapped the lower one in her teeth and ran a tender finger along his hairline. “Are you that big?”
He laughed and dropped his forehead to her shoulder for a brief moment of sheer and utter euphoria.
When he met her gaze again, she was smiling.
“Yes, but that’s the least of my worries.”
She mouthed, Wow, her smile growing wider.
He returned her smile, but reality pushed its ugly head in, stifling the happy moment. Hating to spoil this, her, them, he gazed into her eyes and said, “I want you, Gemma. I’ve never wanted anyone so badly in my life, but if we cross that line, it has to be with honesty from the very start.”
He drew in a deep breath as the dark lie he lived under shadowed all hints of a smile, of hope, of anything good he’d felt seconds earlier, and the painful, horrible truth came out.
“I’m not the man you think I am.”
GEMMA LAY BENEATH Truman in a cloud of confusion. Her body was still thrumming from his touch, his kisses, and the emotions that seemed to seep from him and slither beneath her skin. But he was pushing away, sitting up and helping her do the same, and the torment in his eyes brought shivers of worry, scattering those decadent feelings.
“I don’t…” She swallowed hard. “I don’t understand.”
He leaned his elbows on his knees and gazed into the darkness. Tension radiated off of him, fighting against something else, something much sadder, further confusing her.
