Page 72 of Savored Sins
A glint of something fierce flashes across Autumn’s green eyes.
“Bullshit,” she says. “You were never mooching. I told you that. If a corporate job is what you want, then I’m happy for you—and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. But I need to tell you something.”
“Okay…” My heart rate, which has finally started to come down, speeds back up. Autumn’s gazing at me, and there’s a little color in her freckled cheeks that wasn’t there before. “I’m listening.”
Autumn draws in a deep breath, then plows ahead. “I don’t give a flyingfuckhow much money you make. I don’t care where you live, or what you do, or how many times you’ve been aroundthe sun. I don’t care if you’re grumpy-ass Will Holloway’s baby brother.”
I’m grinning now. I can’t help it. “Yeah? You don’t even care about Will’s wrath?”
“Nope. Bring that shit on.”
“I do live with him, you know,” I say, feigning seriousness. “That might pose a problem.”
“Well, consider your cabin tenancy reinstated,” Autumn says with a cute little shrug. She looks up at me in earnest, and despite our silly banter, I know she means every word she’s saying. “Or come live with me in the house. That’s even better. On second thought, maybe I’ll move out to the cabin. I don’t want to share you with Lena. Whatever—the point is I want to be with you, no matter where we are. I’d live with you in a shack. In a hut. In an attic. In a car. In—in—in a freakingcave. Doesn’t matter.”
This time, I laugh out loud. “Okay, Sam-I-Am.”
Autumn grins at me. We’re standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, smiling at each other like a pair of damn fools. Autumn’s car is still idling, and I’m about to tell her to turn it off and let me carry her into the bushes somewhere so I can make her feel as good as I do right now, when she clears her throat.
“I also need to say…” She starts off strong, but her voice falters, like she’s kind of embarrassed about what she plans to say next. I squeeze her hand, giving her time. “I want you to myself. I know it’s a big ask—you’re, like, a magnet for women. But it’s something I need. If there’s going to be a you and me, it’s gotta be anonlyyou and me.”
I stifle the urge to laugh. She’s so fucking cute. This bombshell of a woman—who’s talented as hell, kind as shit, and saw me in a way nobody else did—is standing here, looking up at me like I hung the damn moon, and asking me not to sleep with anyone else. Like she thinks it’s a question.
Licking my lips, I trace my thumb down her jaw. “Remember that time you asked me to ruin you?”
Autumn blushes, nods.
“Well, you ruined me that night, too. I’ve been ruined for any other woman since you came sprinting through the rain to hurl yourself at me, and then fell asleep in my bed.”
Autumn looks startled. “Really?”
“One hundred percent.”
“So you haven’t… I mean, you’re not…?”
“Jesus, hot stuff,” I throw my head back, laughing. She looks so utterly confused. “I’m flattered that you think I’m out here fucking around, but let me give it to you straight. I’m hella serious about you. About us. Okay? I’m gonna give this everything I’ve got.”
I pull out my phone and start swiping through apps, deleting them. “Look—Tinder? Gone. Hinge? Bye. Bumble? See ya. Okay, this doesn’t look great, but you get it, right? I’m yours. I never thought I’d say this to anyoneever,but—I love you. There’s only you for me.”
I stare at her breathless, a little shocked by the words that just came out of my mouth. But I mean them. I’ve never meant anything more.
A slow grin spreads across Autumn’s face. Standing on her tiptoes, her lips find mine again, and she kisses me, long and deep and slow. Then, grabbing my ass with both hands, she pulls my pelvis in toward her, fitting us together.
“Autumn,” I murmur against her mouth. “In street. People watching.”
“Good,” Autumn says, echoing my words from that night in the alley.
I can’t argue with that. She’s using my own tricks. I’m not mad.
Autumn releases her grip on my ass and pulls back slightly. She trails her fingers down my stomach, and my skin breaks out in goosebumps, my balls tightening.God damn it. If she keeps touching me like this, I’m going to have a hard time not pushing her into the back seat of the car and plowing into her here and now.
“Meet me at home,” Autumn says, giving the waistband of my running shorts a snap. She turns and starts toward the car. Then, in a voice that’ll have me groaning every single time I think of it from now until I die, she turns back and says, “And no, I’m not giving you a ride. You’re going to run ahead, and I’m going to stare at your tight fucking ass—which no one but me is ever going to grab again unless I say they can.”
thirty-six
AUTUMN
Zeke: You want a shower pic?
