Page 129 of Ramshackle
“Fuck!” I shout, jumping back and spinning to adjust myself again. It’s hard as fucking granite. That’s how crazy she makes me. I curse at myself for letting my thoughts go in that direction. And then prodding her with it like a fucking stickup robbery.
When I chance a look over my shoulder to see how upset she is, she’s biting her bottom lip with a barely restrained smile.
“You thought that was funny?” My voice comes out sharp in my embarrassment, but I’m more confused by her reaction and still angry with myself.
Raegan’s smile slips free from her teeth, and she tries to cover it up by clearing her throat. “No?” She cringes when she hears the amount of amusement still in her tone. She turns and leans her back into the table. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I know this isn’t thebestsegue into that conversation, but we should talk about the elephant in the room.”
More like elephanttrunkin the room.
Ha.
I make sure I’ve better contained my dick to avoid any future potential for stabbing or knocking into anything else before I face her fully.
She hesitates, her eyes focused on mine. “Right. I think…I mean, what I can’t stop thinking about is…your sister.”
Not really what a guy wants to hear, but I know what she means. “This isn’t about her.”
Rae shifts off the table. “Isn’t it? How can it not be when it comes to us? How can I know that there’s no more lingering resentment that’ll affect us? And what if…” She wavers, then pushes through. “What if she doesn’t make it by the end of this? Can you still look at me if that happens? This…what we’ve been building back, I’m scared to lose it, Dane. I’m scared to lose you again. And it’ll hurt that much worse if we start something together.” She exhales sharply with a shake of her head. “And that doesn’t even include how I shouldn’t consider this while I’ve been with the others. That’s not fair to you. To any of you. But if you asked me to leave them, I can’t. I…won’t.”
Her fierce blue eyes are drawn up to mine again. They’re so blue, so bright. Like the hottest fire when it turns blue. That’s what they look like. And she is fire. She’s stronger than she knows.
But I can see her walls going up behind that fire. The way she’s trying to shield herself from me.
I won’t let her.
I want to be let in. I won’t ruin this. No matter what happens after this, after GE, there is no going back to the way I was when she was out of my life.
It takes two steps to bring her back in reach. Two steps to close the distance between us and cradle her face. She holds my wrists with both hands and watches me.
“You won’t lose me again. Whatever the outcome is with Vera, I won’t let it come between us. Everything to do with her is because of Gifted Enterprise. And we aren’t going to stop until they’re destroyed.” My thumb strokes her cheek. “But you and me? This isonlyabout us. And you’ll have me for as long as you want me. With those other assholes, too, if that’s the deal.”
Her grip on me tightens. “But, Dane—”
“I know I’ve said and done some fucked up things. I know I’m impulsive, and maybe Kellan isn’t completely bullshitting to say I can be dramatic. But I want this with you more than I can put into words. I want to get to know you again, inside and out. What you think, feel, want, need. I want all of you, Rae. Let me in, and I swear, I won’t mess this up.”
Her eyes are glossy as they search mine. I hold my breath. This answer means more to me than air, and I won’t miss it.
“You’re really okay with the others…?”
“Yes,” I respond quickly on an exhale. “I can’t promise I’ll…participate…with them. Not unless that’s something you really want. But I like seeing how happy they make you, and I don’t want to take that away. I just want to be a part of what makes you happy, too.”
She grabs my face and kisses me.
My chest explodes in a series of fireworks that knocks my heart completely out of rhythm. I’m lightheaded and dizzy, but I’ve never felt better.
The surprise of her kiss gives her the advantage while I gather my bearings, but now that I know she wants me too, I don’t have to hold back anymore. I lean into the kiss, pressing her back into the table as I take over.
I’d dreamed about this moment before I even realized what my feelings for Raegan were. What it would be like to kiss her. To taste her. To hold her in my arms, not as a friend but as someone more.
She moans into the kiss when I deepen it, and my cock swells back to its full, rigid length. I move my hands down her sides, over the small curve of her ass, then break our kiss to grip and lift her thighs and plant her on the table. Raegan opens her legs and pulls me between them to restart our kiss where we left off.
My hands slide under the back of her shirt. They graze over the scars there that only further remind me of how fucking strong she is. I’m suddenly obsessed with the feel of her bare skin beneath my fingertips. Like a contact drug that’s slipped into my veins and demandsmore. She’s braless beneath the shirt, and my heart thrashes wildly at that discovery. The extra blood flow rushes in my ears, and my dick throbs almost painfully with the need for friction.
I palm a breast in one hand, feeling the weight of it with a male giddiness that I’ll never admit to.
Fuck me.
Raegan releases another wanton sound when my thumb flicks over her nipple.
