She dragged her teeth against my jaw, and my fingers flexed on her hips. She laughed low before whispering in my ear, “I need you. Now. Stop holding back.”
No need to tell me twice. I flipped us over so her back was to the bed, grabbed the bottom of her shirt, and yanked it off her body. My hands went to the button on her jeans and my mouth went to her right, lace-covered breast at the same time she pulled my undershirt off me and attacked my belt.
Worshipping her was going to have to wait until later. I didn’t have the patience for that just yet.
I finally got the button and zipper undone and had just started pulling off her jeans when I saw it and I wanted to die. “God, Rach.” My body froze and one of my hands slowly came up to trace the scars covering her stomach. “I’m sor—”
“Don’t. It’s not your fault.” Her hands left my hips and cupped my cheeks, pulling my head up to look into her beautifully pained blue eyes. “Okay?”
Shaking my head, I kissed the inside of her wrist and pulled it back when I remembered. I looked at the long scar running up her wrist and let my lips trail the length of it before grabbing her other arm and doing the same. “Rachel, you’re beautiful,” I said softly, and leaned down to kiss the scarred word above her left breast. “And I love you.” Crawling farther down, I kissed every inch of the scars on her stomach and vowed, “Somehow, I will make up for every mark he ever put on your body.”
Frenzied passion forgotten, I spent the rest of the night loving and worshipping every part of her.
Rachel
I SLIPPED OUT of Kash’s bed and tiptoed around his room looking for my clothes, which had been thrown around last night. My eyes landed on the midnight-blue button-down shirt he’d been wearing when he walked in and I shrugged into it, buttoning only a few of the middle buttons. I walked back over to the bed, kissed his cheek, and quietly walked out into the living room, shutting his bedroom door behind me.
After walking into Mason’s empty room and grabbing my purse, I pulled out my phone and decided against checking the dozens of texts and voice mails Candice had left, and called her instead.
“Mmm ’lo?”
I looked at the clock in the kitchen and figured it was almost eight in California. “Sorry for waking you, Candi.”
She gasped and I heard rustling. “No, no. It’s fine, I’ve been waiting for you to call. Tell me everything—
A blush stained my cheeks and I bit back a smile. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“I knew it would!” she squealed. “So you guys are back together? Did you tell him you want to move there?”
“Ah, no, I didn’t exactly say those words. But I will today. I’m pretty sure from how it went last night it was kind of assumed I want to be here with him.” After searching through all the cabinets, I finally found the skillet and pulled it out, but a bunch of the pans in there clanked together. “Shit. Shh.” I winced and hushed the pots and pans.
“What are you doing?” Candice whispered, like she needed to be quiet too.
“I’m making pancakes. But Kash is still asleep.”
“Pfft. Figures. He should be making
I paused with my hand on the pancake mix and thought back over everything Kash had done for me last night. “That man definitely deserves pancakes.” My voice got breathy and a huge smile crossed my face.
“Tell. Me. Everything!”
“Do I, now?” a husky voice asked from behind me.
I gasped and whirled around to face Kash, who was looking sexier than any man had a right to in nothing but a pair of gray boxer-briefs.
“Candice . . . ,” I said.
“Go! Go, and call me later. I want details! Love you.”
“Love you back.” I had barely pressed the
“You weren’t there when I woke up,” he said, and ran his hands over my bare thighs.
“I wanted to make you breakfast.”
“I can see that. Lie back, Rachel.”
My eyes widened but I didn’t say anything as he gently pushed me back until I was lying on the counter, my legs hanging off the end. When he spread my legs farther and I felt his breath on me, my heart instantly sped up and then began skipping beats when he hooked my legs over his shoulders.
“Kash!” I gasped and my back tried to arch off the granite when he swiped his tongue against me in one long stroke. He laughed softly against me and the things the vibrations did to me were almost enough to send me over the edge right then. My body heated and the knot in my lower stomach tightened as he continued to work me with his tongue, and just as I began shivering in anticipation, he added his fingers and my body shattered.
He rode me through my orgasm, and when my body fell limp, he gently lowered my legs, sat me up, and scooted me to the very edge of the counter before filling me with his length. I hadn’t even realized he’d taken his boxer-briefs off. I cried out and wrapped my arms around his shoulders to attempt to hold on as he teased me by alternating between slow and gentle strokes, and slamming into me hard and fast, over and over again. When that familiar tightening started low in my stomach, I begged him to go faster and growled in frustration when he would get me as close to the edge as possible and then back off completely. I caught sight of his wicked grin and vowed to return the favor. Soon. Resting his forehead against my neck, he quickened and held his pace as my fingernails dug into his back. A pleasured scream started tearing through my chest as I crashed down around him and I bit down on his shoulder to muffle any other noises I might make as he continued to drive into me until he found his release inside me.
We stayed just like that as our breathing returned to normal, and Kash peppered my neck and throat with soft kisses. “Amazing breakfast, babe.”
I laughed but quickly broke off when I felt it where I was aching from the multiple orgasms I’d had last night and this morning. “Smart-ass.”
“Go wash up, I’ll clean the counter.”
When I came back out to the kitchen, he was just about to pour some pancake batter on the skillet. Smiling widely at me, he sat the bowl back down and pulled me into his arms before placing a kiss on my jaw and lips. “We need to talk about a few things.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and wrapped my arms around his narrow hips. “Do we?”
“Now that you’re healing from your parents’ death, do you want to be in California?” I shook my head and he continued. “Then will you move here to be with me?”
“I’d, uh, already kind of planned on it.”
“All right.” He huffed a soft laugh. “We’ll start looking for a place for just us. And I want this time to be different for us, Rach. I love you more now than I did before, but I’m going to wait until I know you’re ready before I ask you again. I just need you to know now that I do plan on marrying you; that has not changed for me at all.”
“ ’Kay.” I smiled at him and wiggled closer.
“I want you to meet my parents . . . today or tomorrow, it doesn’t matter, but soon. I know they’ll love you.”
My heart started racing and I nodded my head against his chest.
“Every day for the rest of our lives, I want you to spend the mornings in nothing but my shirt.” I laughed and he tightened his arms around me. “And we really need to talk about getting you on birth control. Because after last night and this morning, I don’t know how I could ever go back to using a condom with you.”
“But I am on birth control.”
He jerked his head back and tilted mine up to look at him, his brow furrowed. “Then why am I always wearing one?”
I shrugged. “Neither is one hundred percent effective, and since Candice was always with guys I made her
