Page 113 of Best Kind of Trouble
I pull her on top of me so she’s straddling me, one leg on either side. “Can’t you feel what you’re doing to me?”
The pleased look on her face nearly tears another groan out of me. I like being the reason for that look on her face. I’d like to please her in other ways, always.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says in a quick rush of words, and I lift my hand to her cheek, cradling it. Feeling…
I’ve never been good at knowing what I’m feeling, but I’m glad I’m here too. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, no one I’d rather be with.
No matter what trouble it causes for both of us, I’m glad I came—and not just because she’s on top of me. It’s the way she’s looking at me mostly, like I could be good news for her. I want to earn that look. I want to help her make Silver Star into the best fucking brewery in Asheville.
I’d want that anyway—it’s been so long since I’ve believed in my work—but I want it specificallyfor her.
I want Briar Sterling to have everything she’s ever dreamed of. I want to do stupid shit, like reach into the sky and pluck out a star for her, and throw the best New Year’s Eve party in the history of Asheville, even though I’ve always thought New Year’s Eve parties were a joke.
Dammit. She’s still looking at me like that, and the words spill out. “I’m glad I’m here too,” I admit. “I’ve missed you.”
It’s true. I’m usually not aware of missing people until I see them and figure out the void inside of me was shaped like them. But with her…
I’ve felt her absence like a broken tooth (yes, I’d fucking know). Always there, always hurting, particularly since I knewshewas hurting.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she says, her expression tentative, “but I want you tonight.”
I kiss her again and then reach for the hem of her red sleepshirt, pulling it up over her head and tossing it. She’s still straddling me, her golden hair loose, framing her pink-tipped breasts. An angel, down to her soul.
Fuck me, I’m a lucky man. Come what may, I can’t regret stumbling down dozens of wrong paths if they led me to this time and place andher.
“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I murmur as I trace her with my hands, following my touch with my lips. I kiss her breasts, taste her nipples, and she holds the back of my head, clutching me to her like she doesn’t ever want me to stop.
Fine by me. I’m a man who knows how to focus when the situation calls for it.
She’s the one who eventually pulls back, but only to say, “I want your shirt off too.”
I grin, because whywouldn’tI be grinning? “You liked what you saw last time?”
“Obviously,” she says with a soft smile, echoing what I said earlier.
I sit up, Briar still on my lap, and tug it off in a quick movement, tossing it. Her palms skim over my chest, trailing fingers across a couple of scars I’ve picked up.
“How’d you get these?” she asks softly.
“By being a dumbass.” I kiss the side of her face, then the little beauty mark beneath her eye. “I got into some fights when I was a kid. Nothing too serious.”
“And this?” Her fingers roam over my tattoo.
“Also by being a dumbass,” I say with a snort. “But if you like it, I’ll be a dumbass again and get another one.”
In response, she leans in and runs her tongue lightly over it. More tattoos it is.
I slide my hand down her thigh, her leg still wrapped around me, then my fingers trail inward. God, Ineed to feel her slick heat. Her hand instantly descends to my belt, and I take over, suddenly eager to get my damn pants off.
“Take your shorts and pants off,” I say, my voice hoarse, as I set her down on the bed so I can finish undressing.
I watch as she complies, my throat dry as I take in the sight of her—a fucking vision—and then I sit down and pull her back onto my lap, wanting it like this so I can touch every inch of her.
“Liam…I don’t want to wait anymore.”
Neither do I.
I adjust myself, and she sinks down on me slowly, the sensation unreal. My eyes feast on her. I can’t look away from her face, from her needy expression as she takes me, every inch of me burying into her tight, wet heat. A desperate growl escapes me as I grip her hair again and kiss her deeply.
