Page 51 of The Complete Truth Duet
God knew I was attracted to Cora more than reason or logic could ever explain. So I stopped trying to rationalize it.
I’d picked up Thai food and cupcakes she loved, bribed River and Savannah to get gone, and opened myself up for whatever the hell made her happiest.
As it turned out, we’d wanted a lot of the same things.
Like my mouth sealed over hers.
And, eventually, my body driving between her legs.
For fuck’s sake, someone had to win in this entirely messed-up situation.
Why couldn’t it be her?
I could spend my days making her happy and my nights making love to her until we were both too sated to remember the past. Who knew? Maybe that was all she truly wanted from me.
A distraction from reality.
A warm body to make her forget.
A man to worship her.
I could do all of it.
What came after, I had no idea.
But I could make this easy for her.
And, selfishly, it would give me time to gather up a few million memories to torture myself with when I was gone.
“Kiss me, Penn.”
She didn’t have to repeat herself.
I kept my eyes open, drinking her in as I angled forward, slanted my head, and then took her mouth without a single regret. Her long lashes fell, and with one more stolen glance, I let mine follow.
Palming either side of her face, I relished in the way the ache in my chest disappeared.
Her lips were just as soft as I’d feared. Warm and pliant, her mouth opened, welcoming me in.
I groaned when her tongue touched mine. I’d thought about how she’d taste more times than I’d ever admit. Turned out, it was mint, soft and smooth. Just like her.
She set the pace of desperation, and I more than followed her.
Her tongue rolled with mine, her fingers slid into my hair, and her legs locked around my hips, holding me as though she thought I was trying to get away.
But, in that moment, the world could have fallen off its axis and I was going nowhere.
I glided my hands down her sides, allowing my thumbs to sweep over the curve of her breasts. Her mouth fell slack, a soft moan escaping, and I swallowed it like a man on the brink of starvation.
I wanted more of those.
I wanted to give her more of those.
She released my mouth and started shoving the front of my shirt up. A curse tore from my throat as she latched on to my neck, her teeth raking deliciously across my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath when her nails traveled down the ridges of my abs, teasing at the waistband of my jeans.
“Take this off,” she ordered.
I’d told her we’d go slow.
I’d fucking lied.
Panting, my cock thick and ready behind the denim, I stilled. “Jeans or shirt?”
She giggled, peppering kisses up my neck before nipping at my ear. “Have you reconsidered your stance on boxers?”
“Nope.”
“Then maybe we should start with the shirt.”
It was gone in the next heartbeat, and then my mouth once again sealed over hers.
We both moaned that time.
Our upper bodies were flush, her large breasts pillowed between us. But she was wearing entirely too much clothing.
“Tell me what’s off-limits,” I murmured.
“Nothing.”
“Cora,” I pressed.
“Shut up and touch me, Penn.”
That I could do.
Her shirt joined mine on the floor, revealing a simple white bra that did nothing to hide her peaked nipples. My mouth watered as I dove between her cleavage. Licking and sucking, I made my way up to her delicate collarbone before heading south again.
“Oh God,” she breathed, throwing her head back and using the top of my hair for balance.
I could have handled that. The erotic sting on my scalp. Her breathless urgency and sultry mews.
But what I could not handle was the roll of her hips, searching for friction against my zipper.
“Shit. Slow down,” I groaned.
Get naked, my mind screamed.
She leaned forward, forcing me upright. One of her hands snaked into the back of my pants. I couldn’t help but smile when she gripped my ass and bit my shoulder, mumbling, “Speed up.”
“Any faster and I’m gonna be inside you.”
She suddenly stilled, her head popping up, some unreadable emotion blazing in her wide eyes.
In my experience, Penn…
“Fuck,” I muttered, regret dousing me like a bucket of ice water. I started to back away, but she refused me my space.
“That’s not where this is going,” I said. “I’ll kiss you any way you want. But that’s as far as we go.”
She shook her head. “Wait, Penn, I—”
“I don’t need an explanation. We got ground rules. Pants stay on. Everything above the waist is fair game.”
She opened her mouth, but I silenced her with another kiss.
“No more talking.” With both hands on her ass, I scooped her off the counter.
Her legs once again encircled my hips, and our mouths reconnected. Our tongues danced and dueled as I carried her from the kitchen, blindly bumping into walls.
