She unscrewed the tops of both bottles, handed him one and raised her own. “Cheers.”
He touched the neck of his to hers with a soft clink. “Cheers.”
She took a few sips before speaking again. “Is the root beer thing because of your family history?”
“Sort of. Mostly it’s because I know I could be like her.”
Her golden eyes were illuminated by the moonlight slanting across her face. “Your birth mom?”
He nodded. “And after I was released from the hospital, things got bad. I drank way too much, could feel myself slipping into a place I was never going to be able to climb out of if I got in any deeper. That was when I realized I had to cut the booze off completely, and my meds too.”
“You’re not even taking any antidepressants anymore?”
She sounded surprised. “Just a daily furry one.” He rubbed Ric’s head with a fond smile. “Best antidepressant in the world has four paws and a wagging tail.”
“I can believe that.” She angled her head slightly, her lips tilting upward as she looked at him. “Not to sound trite, but I’m really proud of you for overcoming everything you have.”
Her praise warmed him from the inside out. “Yeah? Well, thanks.”
They finished the pop in comfortable silence, sharing glances and smiles every so often. With each minute that passed, the pull between them magnified. He wanted to gather her into his lap and taste the sweetness of the root beer on her tongue, peel that snug T-shirt and her shorts off so he could taste her all over. The other night at the wedding hadn’t been nearly enough.
Avery stood, watching him with a look he couldn’t decipher, but it made his heart thud and his dick harden. “Mason.”
The need to reach for her was so strong he had to curl his fingers into his palms to stop it. “Yeah?”
“Come to bed with me.”
Every muscle in his body drew taut. Staring at her, he slowly rose to his feet. “Be sure this is what you want,” he said in a low voice. He wanted this more than his next breath, but refused to be something she regretted in the morning. “Because I won’t be able to hold back with you.”
She shook her head, the moonlight making her hair glow like flames. “I don’t want you to hold back.”
Mason pulled her close and brought her flush to the front his body, letting her feel every inch of what she did to him. He searched those unearthly golden eyes, anticipation hummed in his blood. Seeing no sign of hesitation from her, he took her face in his hands and found her mouth with his.
Hunger roared through him, so intense it stole his breath. Avery seemed to melt into him, a soft moan spilling from her as he kissed her. Her hands dug into his shoulders, holding on tight.
Mine. She’s mine, dammit.
Mason banded an arm around her hips and hoisted her off the ground. She immediately wrapped her legs around him, stroking her tongue against his. She tasted of sweet root beer and pure need, one that he was going to satisfy completely.
He carried her down the hall to her room and laid her on the bed, the sheets striped with moonlight coming through the blinds above it. Avery made a sound of protest and held onto him when he stood.
“I want you naked,” he rasped out, reaching for the bottom of her shirt. She helped him peel it off her, and a low, dark groan rumbled out of his chest when her breasts were finally bared to him. He pressed her shoulders down flat and cupped her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over the rigid nipples. Tight and candy pink, begging for his mouth.
He bent and took one into his mouth, stroking his tongue across it as he sucked. Avery mewled and arched her back, her hands sliding into his hair. Loving her uninhibited response and that neither of them had to be quiet this time, he played with her other nipple with his fingers, tracking every restless movement she made.
She let go of his head to reach down and push her shorts over her hips. Mason helped her, dragging them off her long legs, then gripped her knees and applied pressure to the insides. “Open for me,” he said, his voice deep as the hunger inside him.
Avery slowly parted her thighs, allowing him to see the tender, flushed folds between her legs. He groaned deep in his chest and stroked his right hand up her inner thigh, the tips of his fingers brushing the soft flesh between.
She sucked in a breath, her legs tensing. Mason pried his eyes from the beautiful place between her thighs and raked his gaze up the length of her naked body to her face. Her cheeks were flushed in the moonlight, her eyes heavy with need.
Holding her gaze, he stroked his fingertips over her folds, his dick throbbing at the way she gasped and bit her lip. Watching. Waiting.
Avery lowered her lashes. He went to his knees beside the bed, ignoring the ache in them as he slid his arms beneath her thighs and lifted her calves over his shoulders. Her abs contracted, drawing his gaze back to the red-gold patch of hair covering her mound, and the succulent, pink flesh he was dying to taste.
Holding her hips, he kissed her stomach, trailing his tongue across that satiny flesh, then licking at the hollow of her hipbone. She squirmed but he held her fast, the need to pin and satisfy her driving him.
Leaning down to kiss that tender, secret place between her legs, he reveled at her liquid moan as he settled his mouth on her and stroked his tongue up the length of her folds. Her fingers dug into his head, urging him on. He licked her, delving deeper, up to tenderly circle the tight bud of her clit. Stroking, caressing, then down to plunge into her warmth.
Avery gasped and clutched him tighter, lifting her hips into his mouth. He wanted her mindless with sensation, drowning in the pleasure he freely gave, while he enjoyed the sweet-tart flavor of her arousal, her shallow breaths.
Over and over he aroused her, licking her clit, then sliding his tongue deep. Lost in her.
“Mason,” she breathed, her thighs trembling on his shoulders. “Please get inside me.”
Yes. This first time he wanted to be buried deep inside her, holding her down so he could stare at her face when he made her shatter.
He closed his lips around her clit, sucked and flicked his tongue tenderly until she was moaning uncontrollably. Wet and swollen and ready.
Shoving his jeans down, he lowered her legs from his shoulders and had just enough blood left in his brain to remember to grab the condom from his wallet before reluctantly lifting his mouth from her core.
Avery was panting, her hands grabbing at his shoulders as she sat up to fuse her mouth with his. He plunged his tongue deep, gliding it along hers. Her touch burned like fire as her hands roamed over his chest and down his stomach. The breath exploded from him on a tight hiss when her fist closed around the aching length of his swollen cock.
Ah, God… “Stroke me,” he rasped out, wrapping a hand around hers, caressing himself with her soft palm.
He groaned into her mouth, a shudder ripping through him. Pleasure streaked up his spine, sizzling along every nerve ending. He’d fantasized about this so many times over the past six weeks, but her touch felt even better than he’d imagined.
But he wanted more than her hand around him. He pulled it away and quickly rolled the condom on. She grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him in for a hot, desperate kiss. Mason growled and pressed her down onto the bed, immediately covering her with his weight.
She moaned and wrapped her legs around his, rocking against the ridge of his cock. Mason nipped at the edge of her mouth, her jaw, nibbled and licked his way down her neck and then paused to tease each pointed nipple, his hips rocking slow and sure against her core. Rubbing his length against her swollen clit.