Page 34 of Knox Unleashed
That fact will chew us up and spit us out. But I just need a few more minutes of this before it does.
Carefully, I shift onto my side so that I can face him, and Knox is quick to adapt and pull me close once I’m settled.
Then, I look up at him.
His eyes are open, but they’re dark and focused, like he’s been awake for a while.
I wonder what that means, that he was happy to lie here, holding me, when he could have crept out the moment he woke.
Last night, the silence between us felt charged. At first, with adrenaline and the gusting winds rattling. In the bathroom, it had been filled with curiosity and need and desire. Even when we ate together, there were pauses I’d felt the need to fill with questions.
But now, it all feels different.
His gaze moves over my face as if taking in the details for posterity. He studies the injuries on my head.
“I’m probably pretty beaten up, right?” I ask.
He smiles softly and uses his knuckle to brush my hair off my face so he can look properly. “A bit. Still pretty, though.”
Heat rises in my cheeks at the simple compliment.
I lift my hand and brush my fingers along his jawline. His dark scruff prickles against my skin, but it grounds me in the moment. There’s no point worrying about the inevitability of him leaving when he’s still right here. These are moments I’ll never get back.
He exhales as I touch him, and then, he tips his head and brushes a featherlight kiss on my temple.
“Last night wasn’t a mistake,” I say. “I know you might try to frame it that way in your head or something when you ride away from here, but it wasn’t.”
His nod is filled with understanding. “But just because it wasn’t, doesn’t mean this can happen again.”
“I know.”
He leans in, and the kiss is nothing like those we shared in the shower. Those were all heat and pent-up sexual tension.
This kiss is slow and filled with something that might break my heart if I explore it.
I forge into memory the texture of his lips. The way his tongue feels as it touches mine. I haven’t given a thought to morning breath because…well…there is an intimacy here that neither of us can bring ourselves to step out of.
His mouth drifts from mine, brushing along my jaw and the curve of my neck. Every movement is patient and unhurried, yet the level of excitement in my stomach reaches rollercoaster proportions.
He pays attention to my every reaction, the places that make me shiver when he licks and nibbles and sucks. His hand slips beneath the hem of my top, his palm warm against my skin.
I should probably stop him, or at least slow him down, but I slide my hand around the back of his neck and hold him closer. The ends of his hair tickle my fingers.
He rolls me so I’m on my back and his body rests over me. With one hand, he pushes my top over my body to reveal my breasts. My back arches off the bed as he sucks a nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, before letting it pop out again. He blows cool air over it, watching it pucker.
Then, he repeats the motion on the other side.
Yesterday, in the shower, he said a lot of dirty things to me, and I loved every utterance. But I also like the intimacy of this silence.
He reaches my lounge pants and slides his fingers beneath the waistband. I plant my feet and lift my hips so he can tug them down my legs, free my feet, and then throw them onto the bottom of the bed.
When he lowers himself this time, his eyes lift to mine, silently checking I’m still with him in this moment.
I nod.
I am. Probably more than I should be.
There’s nothing hurried about the way he approaches my pussy. His thumbs gently open my lips a little, and the corner of his mouth twitches in a smile, as if he likes what he sees.
