Page 66 of Against The Tide

The pink flush of her cheeks deepens as she looks over the bear, and then in a move that surprises the hell out of me, she hugs the damn thing.

“Not gonna lie, sunshine, it feels pretty fucked-up to be jealous of a stuffed animal.”

With a deep inhale of the toy’s blue fluff, she looks up at me, thick lashes framing moss-and-gold-flecked eyes. “Care Bears feel different to other stuffed toys when you hug them.” Avery licks her lip coyly and then adds, “This one smells good too.”

As though it was a prompt, I inhale deeply at her statement. Her scent fills my lungs, drawing me nearer. The closer I get, the more she squeezes the bear to her chest, making it hard to look anywhere except for her breasts, and damn, I want to pull the thing from her grasp and take its place.

Goddamn, she’s so sexy with her soft smile and fluttering lashes. All I want to do is jump into my car and pull her up onto my lap. I want to hold her as close as she’s holding that bear and kiss the breath right out of her lungs.

Taking the gift from her, I sit it on top of the dashboard before I help her up and lean across to plug the belt in.

Man, I don’t think I can take the way my heart is beating so fast, making my blood pump hotter around my body. Goose bumps break out across the back of my neck with a barely controllable shudder as her heavy exhales cover my skin.

My sight lowers, fixing on her bare thighs. Now that she’s sitting, the skirt seems shorter. I have to bite down on my lip to stop the groan that rumbles at the back of my throat. The need to touch her and explore every magnificent inch of skin is so heavy that it congeals the air around us. The mental image of slipping my hands beneath her skirt, feeling the physical warmth of her flesh and the goose pimples scattered over it…

God, I’m going straight to hell for this is all I can think as my fingertips burn with the need to bury themselves in her flesh. My mind becomes convoluted with images of what she would look like beneath me and the sounds she would make as I kiss every inch of her body.

I wonder if she’s as wet as I imagine her to be. As needy as her breaths make her out. Pulling back with a rough skim of my hand over my face—as if it might help stow my errant thoughts—I shut the door and round the car, noticing how she’s holding the bear again when I get in.

Without another word, I try to collect my breaths and myself while we drive away from the ranch.

CHAPTER 19

AVERY

Flustered, it doesn’t matter how hard I try to focus on the road, all I can feel is Rhett’s presence. His scent fills my lungs, seeping into my bloodstream, warming me from the inside out as I squeeze the burning energy vibrating through me into the bear on my lap.

Again, the pang to let him in hits me hard. I wasn’t sure what tonight would entail—a part of me was dreading the possibility that he might realize that being with me is more of a headache than he’s willing to take on. Hell, he might still come to that conclusion, but the gesture, as mushy as it is, puts me at ease. It ignites fresh hope inside me.

Where there’s hope, there’s love. Mom’s voice fills my thoughts. When I catch a side glance of him, the butterflies that have been fluttering in my belly since this morning dart in every direction.

Every action Rhett takes is so sincere, so thoughtful, that I can’t help let my guard down. I feel things I’ve never felt. From the way he looks at me, to the way he touches me, there is a reverence—a care—that no one has ever lavished me with.

Our gazes catch for a heated second, leaving me incapable of thinking of anything other than the way his hands grazed my thighs as he buckled me in. The way his hot breath tickled over my skin, seeping under my skirt to my⁠—

My thought slams to a halt as the car swerves to the side of the road, and before I’m fully aware of what’s happening, Rhett’s hand is curling into my hair, tugging my face closer to his as he leans across the console and presses his mouth to mine. Hard, as though he needs me desperately. I yelp as his teeth sink into my bottom lip with a deep, guttural groan that vibrates all the way through me.

There’s a seismic shift with the way he’s touching me and taking—taking as though there is nothing he needs more than me.

“Oh…” The whimper escapes me with the desperate lick of his tongue into my mouth, swirling over mine to a low growl. And God, he tastes so good. Minty and sweet. The citrusy tang of his cologne that fills my lungs is maddening in a way that consumes every breath, heartbeat, and sense, leaving me wanting more of him unlike I’ve ever wanted anything else in this life.

“Rhett,” I moan as he pulls away slightly to look at me.

The hand still clutching at my hair presses to the curve of my neck, the bite of it shocking my roots with a current that travels all the way to my core, a tidal wave of desire that completely overtakes me. His uncontrolled force surprises me, leaving me in a frenzy of lust and confusion.

The force and slip of his usual control is empowering, building an inferno deep inside me that flames higher with the urgency of his kiss.

I’m completely lost in him, in the way he licks over my top lip with the tip of his tongue, his blue-green eyes brighter than ever around his obsidian pupils.

One of my hands clasps around his bulging shoulder while the other flattens to his hard stomach, and as it slips lower, I feel the heat of his need below my wrist.

Yearning pulses through me, pooling between my thighs. I’ve never felt this wanted or needed before. As though I hold the power, because as much as he takes from me, he gives me more with his desperate groans and his control-strained touches.

“Fuck, Avery, you need to tell me to stop.” He looks down on me, licking his lips before he bites down on them as though he’s hopelessly trying to hold himself back. “Tell me to take it easy on you.”

“No.” I shake my head, pulling him closer. “I-I like it. Like this. I like it this way.” I twist my hand in his shirt, luxuriating in the way his body is racking as violently as mine to our proximity.

“You want me to stop, sweetheart.” Eyes screwed shut, he rolls his forehead over mine.