Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I’m strong, but I’m only a man. It’ll take more than a punch from Chance to keep me from her now.
10
CARLY
* * *
Despite being in the cool water, Austin’s palm is warm against my flesh. I close my eyes and let out a soft sigh.
He can’t see my scars. Not yet. They’re mostly on my inner thighs, but there are a few on my back. He may see them when we get out of the spring, but I can’t worry about that now. Not when his strong hand is cupping me so delectably.
He jerks his hand away. “Carly…”
I pop my eyes open. “Damn it. I know you like me. I know you want me.”
He groans. “God, I do. But baby, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you.”
“Did you hurt me last night when you had your fingers inside me?”
“I—”
“I’ll answer for you. You didn’t, Austin. You didn’t hurt me. You made me feel. And God, it’s been so long.”
His resistance crumbles. He grabs me then, pulls me into his embrace. Instead of his lips meeting mine, though, they brush against my forehead. “Carly…I want you so much, but fuck. We need to talk first.”
A quick roll of his hips and I come in contact with the proof of his desire, but the seriousness in his gaze has me stilling.
“About what?” I ask cautiously.
“About what happened to you. I know you want me to treat you like nothing happened, but we’re going to do things that might… I don’t know what.”
I look at his chest and run my fingertips over the skin. “I was taken from the diner in town. Millie’s. Kidnapped. I was held for three years on an island and—” I swallow, trying not to let the memories mess with where we are.
“What did they do to you?”
I blink and then swirl my finger through the smattering of hair on his broad chest. “Everything.”
I’m not telling him more. Not now. Not like this when we’re so close.
He sighs and his fingers clench where they hold me. This is where he’ll reject me, carry me out of the water and cover me up. I hold my breath and wait.
“Then tell me,” he says finally. “Tell me what to do. You be in charge.”
I whip my head up and stare at him. He wants to continue? Relief courses through me, along with excitement.
“I don’t want to be in charge. Before I was taken, I liked a man to…to be a man. A little dominant, a little rough because he couldn’t help himself. That I aroused him enough to lose his mind a little. It was powerful.”
Being in charge would make me feel powerful. Austin isn’t wrong. But more than that, I want to watch him lose control in me.
I look into his eyes—those deep brown eyes. “Take me. Right here in this spring. Right here in this special place that I’ve never shared with anyone. I didn’t have to bring you here, Austin. I wanted to. It was my choice. And this is also my choice.”
He pulls back and trails his finger lightly over my cheek, lower to my shoulder, and then further to my breast. He circles my hard nipple. “I want to go slowly.”
“For God’s sake,” I huff.
Then he pinches the tip, and I gasp.
“Slow doesn’t mean I won’t please you.” His voice is deep and a bit bossy.
The little bite of pain has me clenching my thighs together, as if my nipples and my pussy are connected.
“You deserve better than a quick fuck. Our first time won’t be rushed. I have plans for you and I need hours to work through even a fraction of them.”
Hours?
“But you didn’t want slow last night. Before you knew the truth about me,” I counter.
He meets my gaze, nearly melting me. “I wanted to make you come. To watch you let go. I wouldn’t have fucked you against the side of the building.”
“I wanted that,” I admit. “I was ready. I am ready.”
“Have you been with a man since you returned?”
I blink at the question. Not because of what he asked, but the simple fact that he asked it. Everyone else avoids the elephant in the room. I respect him for it and I want to answer.
“No. No one’s touched me like that since I’ve been back. Until last night. With you.”
“I sure as hell am not rushing this then. I want to take my time with you. The anticipation is…foreplay.”
I look into his dark eyes that are heavy lidded with arousal. And I see…truth. He believes what he says.
“I want to come,” I pout. I sound like a child who was taken to an ice cream shop but not given a cone.
He kisses my lips this time—just a simple peck, but it jolts straight between my legs. Then his mouth is on me, tongue finding mine. Licking into me. I whimper at the feel of him. The need that practically vibrates through the water.