“Linc?” I frown at him. “What’s up?”
He swallows, and I watch the muscles of his throat contract. “You said you want the truth between us,” he whispers. “No more lies.”
“Yeah.” My stomach twists into a knot as I say the word.
Oh fuck. What now?
He nods, his jaw clenching. Then his amber gaze settles on mine.
“I never fucking told you. I didn’t even want to admit it to myself. But the truth is, Low, I never hated you. I wanted you from the very first second I saw you.”
24
Holy shit.
My heart lurches in my chest, and the knot in my stomach explodes into a whirl of flapping butterflies. The look on his face is almost tortured, like it costs him to say those words out loud.
Or maybe the cost was in keeping them locked away for so long.
An energy hangs in the air between us, and I couldn’t look away from his harshly handsome face if I tried. For a moment, it’s like we’re both suspended in some stasis, frozen in time.
Then he draws his hands out of his pockets, cups the sides of my face, and kisses me.
The fire that burned beneath our kisses the day he fucked me in the hallway is still there, but the hate, the anger, is gone. It’s been replaced by something sweeter, though no less intense, and the first stroke of his tongue against mine sends electric energy surging through my body.
Moving together, we back into the room, and I’m vaguely aware of Lincoln shutting the door behind him before we stumble toward the bed, lips locked the entire time. I can’t bear to break our kiss, can’t stand to lose that connection between us.
When the backs of my legs hit the bed, he lowers me gently onto it, following me down until he’s hovering over me. My knees are at the edge of the mattress, my feet dangling just above the floor, and the heat of Lincoln’s body settles over me like a blanket.
He kisses me like a man eating his last meal—never satisfied, always hungry for more. I can relate to the feeling. My body remembers what this feels like, and it comes alive under his touch, burning for him, aching for him.
When he finally pulls away, his hands settle on the hem of my tank top, but instead of shredding it, he pulls it up over my head. I arch my back to help him, and the second it’s off my body, his gaze traces the curves of my breasts, soaking up the sight of me like he’s been dying for this.
A momentary flare of panic rises up in my stomach, and I have an urge to press a hand over the thin pink scar on my upper chest, but I don’t want to draw attention to it. I feel his gaze drift over it, although I don’t think he knows what it’s from.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful, Low.” He dips his head to lick my nipple, swiping the flat of his tongue over it, and a jolt of pleasure makes me gasp, pulling me out of my worries.
I feel vulnerable and exposed, lying topless on the bed in front of him, but for once, feeling that way around Lincoln doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. My fingers thread through his soft, nearly-black hair as he goes back for more, licking and sucking at my skin until slick wetness dampens my panties.
“Linc,” I groan softly.
I don’t even know what I want from him, but at the sound of his name, he draws my breast into his mouth in a deep pull. I have to bite my lip hard to choke back a noise, and when he releases me and steps back, my hands reach for him desperately.
He grins, obviously liking what he’s done to me. “Not yet, Low. I didn’t get to savor it last time. This time, I want to see you come undone.”
Fuck. The dark promise in his voice sends a shiver of anticipation down my spine, and even as he steps away from me, I can feel his gaze burning into my body.
He rises from the bed and slides his fingers under the soft elastic waistband of my shorts, tugging them and my underwear down together. He drags them slowly down my legs, trailing his lips along the same path and making goose bumps break out over my skin. When I’m completely naked, he hooks his hands under my knees and tugs me back toward the edge of the bed.
My breath is uneven, and my bottom lip is clamped between my teeth so hard it stings as I look down my body to where he kneels before me.
He looks… entranced as he slides his large, warm palms up my thighs, spreading my legs wider. I fight the impulse to press my knees together, to hide from him, to keep myself from being so completely exposed. He must feel the tension in my muscles though, because he looks up at me, his amber eyes burning bright.
“You’re beautiful. Perfect.” Keeping his gaze locked on mine, he leans forward, slipping his tongue inside my pussy before lapping up toward my clit. “So fucking sweet.”
His voice is a murmur, a croon, and it’s a sound I’ve never heard from him before. It hits me in the chest, and when he starts licking and sucking my clit in earnest, I don’t try to squirm away in embarrassment or close my legs. Instead, I tilt my hips, giving myself to him, taking everything he’s offering as I whimper softly.
When I come, it’s in a slow roll, a wave of pleasure that builds and builds and seems to go on forever. And Lincoln doesn’t stop. He pushes me through that orgasm into a second one, slipping a finger into my convulsing pussy and curling it as his tongue keeps working magic on my clit.
Finally, the sensations peak again, and I have to grab his hair to stop him, physically hauling
