“Good morning.” The deep, gravelly voice roused me from sleep.
My eyes blinked open.
My heart rate kicked.
My gorgeous boy hovered two inches above me. When I met his intense gaze, his sensual lips twisted into a smirk that somehow verged on adoring.
Like sleight of hand. Impossible. Yet completely, totally captivating.
Rods of golden light streaked into his room. The morning’s warmth stretched out to touch everything in its path. Kissing his face and lighting up the boundless darkness that welcomed me.
I wanted to drown in it.
Poetic eyes traced my face, the fierce grey somehow softened and swimming with songs and mystery. Steeped in intrigue.
My insides quivered and my overloaded heart fumbled on an erratic beat.
“Morning,” I whispered back.
Oh, how we fall.
But I should have known the harder I fought him, the faster that fall would come.
Just like quicksand.
The more I struggled, the deeper I sank.
And I didn’t ever want to climb out.
I let loose what had to be the sappiest smile when one fluttered at the edge of his full, red lips.
God.
He made me happy.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.
Giddiness escaped in a giggle I couldn’t contain.
Better than I had in years. Did he need to know that?
“Did Edie Evans just giggle?” He leaned in closer, washing me in a surge of that energy that lived around us. His grin was a little on the predatory side. “Now that’s a sound I haven’t heard in a long damned time. Where do I sign up to hear it every single day for the rest of my life?”
My grin was out of control.
Hope.
Joy.
This boy once again awakened it anew.
I quirked a teasing brow. “The rest of your life, huh? You’re getting awfully ahead of yourself there, Stone.”
Sly, he shook his head. He pushed up onto his hands and knees on either side of me.
Caging me in as if he had no intention of ever letting me go.
And God.
I liked it.
Being surrounded by him on every side.
He dipped his head lower. Coming closer. “I’ve been ahead all along. I was just waitin’ on you to finally catch up.”
Redness flushed. A sizzle of heat consumed my skin. Just like flames consuming paper.
I squirmed and my body lit up in remembrance of last night.
Last night.
Shivers rolled and I bit at my bottom lip, trying to contain the reaction.
Austin caught it.
Clearly he knew exactly what direction my thoughts had gone traveling.
The heat increased.
Amplified.
Tenfold.
Maybe a thousand.
God, I burned.
Here I was, pinned beneath this beautiful man. Thirsting for things I wasn’t sure I knew how to give. Itching to cup my hands in the well of those murky waters to take a quenching sip.
That was the thing about Austin. Both my spirit and heart recognized it was always supposed to be him. It was the old traumas that held me back from reaching out and taking what I wanted.
A flicker of unease wound through me, and my thoughts traveled to the text I’d received last night.
What could he possibly want?
What good could it possibly do?
I swallowed down the glimmer of anxiety. The last thing I wanted was to dim this moment. To allow Paul to steal more from me—more from us—than he already had.
More than that? I couldn’t shake the severity of Austin’s reaction when I’d mentioned Paul’s name last night. I wasn’t sure he could handle the unnecessary worry about a man he’d ultimately only wanted to protect me from.
Fingertips tapped softly across my collarbone, slower still as they trailed up the hollow of my neck. My chin lifted with his exploration. Everything trembled beneath his tender touch.
On a sigh, my mouth parted.
The quietest plea for more.
“Gorgeous,” he murmured. He brushed his fingers higher, shivers racing as he traced the line of my jaw. “So damned gorgeous. Can’t see straight when I look at you. Or maybe I’m finally seeing everything right.”
A tiny moan slipped free when he patted his fingertips across my lips.
Testing, his attention flicked between my eyes and my mouth, the action measured as he dipped them just inside.
My tongue licked out for the barest taste.
This boy was breaking me piece by piece.
His head tilted as he peered down at me. “Do you have any idea how good it feels to wake up next to you?”
Awe filled my tone. “It couldn’t have possibly felt as good as it felt waking up next to you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Edie, because there’s no place in the world I’d rather be than right here with you. So I’d say that ranks it up there somewhere in the range of magical and miraculous.”
My throat swelled with affection.
“What’s above miraculous?” I questioned, eyes flitting, searching that striking face.
Slowly, he shook his head. “There’s no such thing.”
Oh God.
That potent stare flashed with something significant.
Bold and strong.
Everything rushed and surged.
Anticipation.
Need.
Hope.
There was zero hesitation when he pressed his lips against mine.
This…
This was a caress I felt right at the center of my soul.
He lingered there, before he delved deeper, the sweet kiss taking on an edge of hunger as he moved against my mouth.
With me.
For me.
His tongue was wet. Both hot and sweet.
Quick, firm lashes.
Slow, soft strokes.
Possessive and claiming.
Hypnotizing.
The world spun, and I felt lightheaded.
Elevated from the agony of the girl I didn’t want to be.
Lifted to the plane where I was the woman I wanted to be for him.
For me.
My palms pressed flat against his heart. Just needing to feel the thundering pound, pound, pound. The strong beat that pumped life back into the diamond at the center.
Austin was one-hundred percent right.
Waking up next to him verged somewhere between magical and miraculous.
Impossible and perfect.
He made a growly sound against my mouth, both frustrated and playful, before he forced himself back onto the weight of his hands. “For the record, can we let it be known I can’t believe you’re here. In my bed. Never would have dared to imagine it a week ago. And let the record also know I like it. A lot.”
I reached up, shaky fingers stroking the contours of his bold, striking face. “I’m not sure I’d ever choose to leave.”
His red lips wound up at the side as if he wanted to play, a smirk taking hold. “Then don’t.”
Don’t.
My own smile flirted at my mouth. “I do believe that might be the proper use of that word.”
He nipped at my fingers as I brushed them across his perfect pout. “I do believe you’re onto something, Edie Evans.”
Another giggle escaped, before my grin slid into the softest smile, affection pulling far and wide. “You don’t know how amazing that sounds. But I have to go. I have work.”
His brow pulled with a frown. “When will I see you again?”
“When do you want to see me?”
He chuckled, light and carefree while he mindlessly played with a strand of my hair. “Well…considering I don’t want to stop seeing you, I would say as soon as humanly possible. What do you say you come down to The Lighthouse tonight? Watch me play?”
Something about his expression turned hopeful. As if he couldn’t stop his own vulnerabilities from weaving through. It seemed a stark reminder of the broken boy I used to know.
My gaze caressed the uncertain hope in his expression.
The man was so very different yet so much the same.
I hesitated, searching for the right words. “Are… we…”
He took my hand and threaded his big fingers through mine, held them against the dream catcher etched on his chest.
A permanent mark that had somehow marked me.
“Are we an us, Edie? Is that what you’re trying to ask?”
Shyness seeped in, carrying all the promises I’d made myself to remain alone.
But I didn’t want to be.
Not when what I wanted was right in front of me.
Uncertain and somehow brave, I chewed at my lip. “Are we…?”
Gravity stole his expression. It was something so genuine and sincere. Unrelentingly fierce. “We’ve always been an us, Edie. Now we’ve just gotta figure out how to keep that us together.”
“Together?”
“Yeah. What do you say?”
Maybe I should be ridden with old fear. Clinging to the past that would never let me go.
Instead, I was washed in faith.
Faith in him.
He understood me. The lines and the boundaries and the fears.
Respected me.
I swallowed hard. “Just…be careful with me.”
I yelped in surprise when he quickly flipped us, the action so fast I couldn’t make sense of it until I was suddenly straddling his waist.
Then I was gazing down on the breathtaking boy who held my heart.
He smiled, so beautiful and bold.
Shivers rushed, lifting a rash of goosebumps on my skin.
I placed my hands on his strong, strong chest. Trying to keep myself steady.
On uneven ground when I knew without the shadow of a doubt there was really no ground beneath.
I’d fallen.
Now I was swimming through waves of the blackest black.
The darkness waiting below had taken me whole.
It should be cold.
Terrifying.
Instead I felt safe in the security of his arms. In the surety of his heart and his intentions.
My hair flowed down around my shoulders. He lifted both hands, sifting his fingers through the long strands. He spread them out, cradled my head. “I think it’s you who’s going to have to be careful with me.”
I gripped his wrists. Feeling so free.
Free in his touch.
Free in his belief.
“Austin.”
Eyes roamed, making me feel adored as he stared up at me.
“Edie.”
His expression shifted into something playful. Joyful. Slanting a little on the frisky side. He tugged me closer and whispered close to my mouth. “Kiss me before you go.”
“That’s funny…because I was just hoping you’d kiss me.”
He smiled, and my tongue darted out, wetting my lips. I dipped down, eager for his kiss.
He wound his arms around my head. Enclosing me. Making me feel safe.
Adored.
His kiss was long and slow and rimmed with the sharp edge of desperation.
It was the same as I always felt when I was with him.
What I felt for him.
Desperate.
It’d almost killed me when I’d let it go.
When I’d let him go.
Another piece torn away.
A tiny shiver of fear rolled through me. The thought of losing him again was almost too much to bear.
I wasn’t such a fool that I didn’t realize the two of us were messed up. Nothing but a mess of shattered, broken pieces that had been scattered and mixed together.
I could only pray together, somehow, this time, we could make them fit.
Reluctantly, I pulled away. My lips had to be swollen and red, my hair a mess from his fingers.
I didn’t care.
I felt no shame or remorse for what I was giving this boy.
This part of myself that had always belonged to him.
“I really need to go.”
His nod was reluctant. “Okay.”
I eased out from beneath him.
After last night, it seemed silly I had the urge to tug the hem of his shirt down over my thighs when I stood, to cover myself in modesty.
Apparently, old habits really do die young, because I did, and I peeked over at him, feeling the rush of redness as he grinned my way. His mind so clearly set on rewind, to those moments we’d shared so early this morning.
I hurried to the bathroom, my body still flushed as I was taken back to what had incited the fire that’d roared between us last night.
Quickly, I freshened up and headed back out, flashed him a shy, knowing smile as I glanced at him where he grinned at me where he lay on his back in the middle of his bed with the sheet pushed aside.
His beautiful body on display.
Too beautiful.
I was doing my best not to stare.
Goodness, he had me spun up.
Twisted and tied.
I pulled on my jeans that were a little stiff where they’d dried in a pile on the floor. “I’m totally keeping this shirt, by the way,” I told him as I slipped into my shoes.
He chuckled slow and climbed out. He was wearing just his boxer briefs, and I was doing my best not to look when he just looked so ridiculously good.
One hand attempted to tame his hair. “Believe me, Edie, that shirt belongs on you.”
Another flush of redness crawled hot, and I dipped my head and tucked my hair behind my ears, finding my keys where they’d been discarded on the floor.
Austin followed me down the hall and out through the living area and kitchen.
He kissed me one more time at the door. “I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”
And I knew I was in so much trouble.
Because I couldn’t wait.