“We shouldn’t…” She bit down on her lip.
“Yeah, we really fucking should.” My mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding. Needing to taste her while she got herself off on my dick.
Her hands slid over my shoulders, nails digging in and making it hurt. But the flash of pain only amped me up.
“It feels good.” The breathy moan made me grip her harder, erasing every sliver of space between us. Any closer and I would have been inside her, fucking her, owning her.
But this wasn’t about me. It was about her. About her taking what she needed.
“Fuck…” I choked out as she started circling her hips, grinding right down on me.
“God, Nix… God.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I’d only ever seen her come undone like this once before and I’d felt too fucking guilty then to enjoy it.
That night I’d allowed myself one taste, one touch… but I had no plan of walking away this time.
Consequences be damned.
Harleigh
An intense wave rose inside me, spreading through me like wildfire until I was moaning his name over and over.
Nix… Nix… Nix.
“Shh.” He nipped my jaw before kissing me deeply and swallowing my little cries of pleasure.
I was flying, soaring out of my body as the ripples went through me. Nix didn’t just kiss me, he fucked me with his tongue. Long deep licks alternated with quick shallow thrusts. I was drunk on him, completely and utterly wrecked.
When he let me up for air, I buried my face in his neck, too embarrassed to look at him.
“Don’t ever hide from me, B.” He coaxed me out and forced my eyes to his. “You’re so fucking beautiful when you come.”
“I… I can’t believe I did that.”
“Wait until I’m inside you.” My thighs clenched and his brow quirked up, a knowing smirk on his face. “You like the idea of that, B? My dick buried deep inside you?”
“Nix…”
“Don’t be embarrassed, Birdie. We’ve waited a long time to get here.”
Here.
He said the word as if it had always been inevitable. Part of me liked to think that maybe he was right, that we’d had to endure all the pain and heartache, trials and tribulations to get to this point. Because how could you ever truly know if something was meant to be if it hadn’t been tested to its limits?
But when he took my wrist and gently pressed his mouth to my scar, something inside me shattered.
“Shit, B, don’t cry.” Nix wiped away the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
“Come here.” He wound his arms around me and drew me into his chest, the steady beat of his heart like my own personal lullaby.
“I got you, B. I got you.”
The tears came harder… wracking my body as I sobbed into his shoulder. But Nix didn’t recoil, he didn’t demand answers, or try to get me to stop. He simply held me again, as he’d done in the games room.
And his patience, his willingness to give me space meant everything to me.
He was everything.
“Tonight has been fun,” Celeste whispered as we dried off in one of Nate’s guest rooms while the boys set up the movie and snacks downstairs.
“Miles didn’t look too impressed,” I said.
“He’s cute,” Chloe added. “Not as cute as Nate, but he has that whole hot geek thing working for him.”
“Miles is… a good guy.” There was a slight hesitation in Celeste’s voice that had me wondering if a certain brooding bad boy from The Row had caught her attention tonight.
“So Nate…” Chloe wore a sly smile. “Is he seeing anyone?”
“Clo,” I warned. “I’m not sure Kye would—”
“Kye Smye. I’m not looking to marry the guy. But he’s hot and guys back home aren’t exactly…” She stopped herself, gawking at me. “I mean guys except Nix.”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured, not wanting to think about Nix like that. With other girls.
With Cherri.
My stomach sank, the question crawling up my throat and onto my tongue. Don’t do it. Don’t ask. But I couldn’t do it, I needed to know.
“Were Nix and Cherri … together?”
Chloe froze as she towel-dried her hair, telling me all I needed to know. “You should probably ask Nix about that.”
God, I hated the sympathy in her eyes. The sheer pity.
“I’m asking you.” I choked out.
“They hooked up a lot over the summer. You know what Cherri is like; it’s always meant more to her than it ever has Nix. He doesn’t care about her like that, Harleigh. Not the way he cares about you.”
True.
But I hated that he’d been with her, turned to her over the last few months. When he should have been with me.
Cherri Jardin had always been a thorn in my side, a festering wound I couldn’t heal. Because she was exactly the type of girl Nix went for. Bold, brave, and sexy. I’d never been any of those things. She was a bright red rose in a bed of thorns, and I was an insipid flower wilting in the shadows.
My heart sank.
“Oh no, Harleigh. Don’t you dare think whatever you’re thinking right now. Cherri isn’t important to Nix, you have to know that.”
And I did. Somewhere under the years’ worth of self-doubt and second guessing. But she was everything I would never be. And they had history, sexual history.
I dropped down on the end of the bed, curling my fingers into the soft coverlet.
“Harleigh.” Celeste sat beside me. “I don’t know who Cherri is—”
“Total bitch,” Chloe interrupted. “Sorry, continue.”
“But Chloe is right. Anyone can see how much Nix cares about you. The way he literally crashed through Nate’s bathroom door to get to you… we’re talking action movie hotness level right there.”
A small smile tugged at my mouth. “I know. It’s been a long time though.”
She nudged me gently with her shoulder. “And you have a lot to work through. But don’t doubt him before you’ve even given him a chance.”
“You’re really okay with this?” I gawked at her. She knew some of the history. Knew who Nix was to me.
Celeste’s brows pinched. “You love him.”
“You know Michael won’t—”
“Screw Dad.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “He is the last person I want to talk about right now.”
“Same,” I sighed. But the truth was, I couldn’t ignore him. He would never accept my relationship with Nix. Not in a million years.
Celeste took my hand in hers and squeezed gently. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I couldn’t lose Nix, not again.
It was bad enough thinking about returning to the house soon and leaving him.
“Well, this is as good as it’s going to get.” Chloe tamed the damp hair out of her face. “I look like a drowned rat but whatever.”