Page 62 of Make It Last

Ava stared at me, holding my gaze. Her chin lifted, her skin flushed all over. Even though I could sense she was a little anxious, her boldness revved the engine of my pulse. My heart pounded so hard it felt like a kettledrum in my ears. I was so hard, I ached. For her.

I’d had a plan—that we were going to take it slow, one step at a time. But so much for plans. They'd gone up in smoke, burned in the fire of need that her mere presence kindled higher and higher.

I wanted Ava. All of her. Now. But I didn’t want to rush.

Her demand drew a chuckle from my throat. “Impatient, are we?” I managed to tease, my voice ragged from my frayed control.

“I am, actually,” she said honestly.

That was the twist with Ava. Although she affected me like no other—and had since the moment I met her on the mountain that afternoon—there was an honesty between us. I didn’t know if it surprised her as much as it did me.

It wasn’t that I’d ever actively been dishonest in any other situationship or relationship. Just that this level of openness, the way she called to me and reached inside, was new and different.

I swiftly unbuttoned my jeans, peeled them off, and tossed them aside. I hooked my hand into my T-shirt and yanked it over my head, leaving me in just my fitted boxer briefs.

Ava’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink as she looked up at me. When she slid her tongue across her lips, my cock twitched, swelling even further.

“Oh, Tanner, this is unfair.” She sighed dramatically.

“What? Now I have more clothes off than you,” I said, stretching out on the bed beside her.

“Maybe, but…” She lifted her hand, trailing her fingertips over my chest and down over my abs. “You are in really good shape. In case no one ever mentioned that to you.”

My laugh was choked, because I could hardly bear her touch. I trailed my knuckles along the edge of her jaw, needing to kiss her again, needing the connection, needing to stop thinking. That was a first for me.

Her mouth opened easily underneath mine, and we tumbled into another hot kiss. Fuck me, I really could kiss Ava forever. Yet all the while, the drum of my pulse and need pounded harder and faster inside.

I slid a hand down to tease her breasts, savoring the way she arched up into me. I could feel the tight peak of her nipple through the fabric. She broke away abruptly, her breath ragged.

“I need this off.” She shifted up, yanking her tank top off. I glanced down to take in the lush curves of her breasts. She wore a white lace bra, revealing her pink nipples through it.

I wasn’t even thinking when I dipped my head down and sucked one in. She let out a sharp cry, her fingers spearing into my hair. When I lifted my head, her lips were parted, her eyes wide and dark. She didn’t even speak.

I needed more. Swiftly, I unsnapped the clasp between her breasts, and her bra fell open.

“Oh, fuck me, Ava.” My words were guttural and raw.

“Well, I mean, we could get right to that,” she said. Her eyes were entirely serious when they met mine.

I chuckled again, loving this easy warmth between us. “We could. But first this…”

I sucked her other nipple into my mouth. She cried out again, arching up.

I teased both of her nipples. When I lifted my head, they were damp, dusky pink, and—sweet fucking hell—her breasts were gorgeous, full and lush. Her belly had a delectable soft curve. I let my hand trail down over it, sliding between her thighs, and she shifted her legs farther open. Her panties were drenched.

“I had a plan, Ava,” I said, my voice barely a rasp.

“What was your plan, Tanner?” she asked.

I tried to think, to collect my thoughts into something sensible. “Fuck, I don’t even know what my plan was.”

“Please just fuck me.”

I let out something between a laugh and a groan.

“We’re gonna get there.”

“Are we, though? Because I don’t want to go slow.”