Tempt (Take It Off #3)(46)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Well, that’s what I was going to do. But still.

“I’ll be right back,” I said and rushed from the room.

In my bedroom, I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath, trying to calm the pounding of my heart. He was here. He was standing in my living room. He was so close I could reach out and touch him.

Lust erupted inside me. Just the mere thought of putting my hands anywhere on his body had me practically salivating. I rushed to my closet to look inside, but I never got the chance to debate my wardrobe because a quiet sob racked my body.

I leaned into the frame, against the open door, as tears rolled down my cheeks.

I felt a hand on my elbow, gentle at first but then his grip tightening. “Bella,” he said softly.

My quiet sob broke and I spun, burying my face in his chest. His arms came around me instantly, holding me so tight it almost hurt. But I liked it because I knew he was there.

After long moments of me blubbering all over him, I quieted and he pulled me back, tipping up my chin and staring into my tearstained face.

“You missed me.”

“Every. Single. Day.”

“Thank God,” he groaned and pressed his forehead against mine. “I was afraid when I got here you would tell me that you hadn’t.”

“I never should never have let you leave.”

“I know.”

“But you didn’t give up.”

“Someone told me once that when you love someone you should never give up.”

“What did you say?” I whispered, not sure I heard him right.

“I love you, bella.”

My heart swelled to the point I thought my ribs wouldn’t be able to contain it. “I love you too. So much.”

His kiss swept me up into a tidal wave of passion, washing away an entire month’s worth of longing. My body remembered everything about him and fit itself against him perfectly, knowing exactly where to go. My fingers went for his curls, tangling in their softness, and my tongue rushed inside his mouth as if it would rather be there than inside mine.

The softness of his T-shirt brushed against my arms, and while it was comforting, there was something else I would rather feel. I delved below his hem, gripping the skin of his taut waist and moaning.

He ripped his mouth away and tugged the shirt up and over his head, throwing it across the room, and then was on me again in seconds. He backed me up against the wall and used his body to pin me there as his mouth traveled hotly over my neck and collarbone.

He reached up and pulled down the straps of my tank top, ripping the bodice completely down my waist and exposing every ounce of my aching flesh. My breasts were already swelling with need and I shoved myself out, gripping his head and bringing it down to one of my sensitive nipples. He nipped at it with his teeth and I cried out.

As he kissed and sucked, I found the waistband of his jeans and pulled it away, delving my hands inside his boxers to find the object of my desire. It was pulsing and ready. His entire body jerked when I closed my hand around him.

“This is going to be fast,” he said against my breast. “I’ve missed you too badly to drag it out.”

“Do it,” I growled, giving his member a squeeze.

In a blurred frenzy, our clothes hit the floor and we fell backward on the bed. Nash rolled, tucking me beneath him and sinking himself immediately in my moist heat.

Both of us groaned and stilled as pure pleasure rolled over us.

And then we were moving, slapping against each other with intense fervor. The orgasm ripped through my body, and I cried out his name over and over again until my insides stopped quaking. And then it was his turn. With one final thrust, he pulsed inside me, emptying everything he had into my more-than-willing body.

Long after we were finished, my muscles continued to contract around him, squeezing him and making him flex inside me.

“Damn,” he said, tucking me into his side. “You have no idea how badly I’ve been wanting to do that.”

“I think I might.”

He chuckled and then dragged us farther up the bed, seeing as how our feet were dangling off. I guess we should be lucky we made it onto the bed at all.

“Uh, Ava?” he said after he settled me into his side once more.

“Yes?”

“Where are your pillows?”

I lifted an arm and pointed over to the side of the bed. He paused and then sat up, glancing over the mattress and down onto the floor.

“You mind explaining to me why you have a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor?”

“I’ve been sleeping there.”

He took my cheek in his hand and looked down, concern lacing his eyes. “Baby, are you still having nightmares? You should have called me.”

I shook my head, silencing his words. “I can’t sleep in this bed.”

“Why?”

“It’s too soft…” I murmured.

He looked confused, and then realization dawned. “You’re used to sleeping on the floor or on the beach.”

“With you,” I whispered. “I tried to sleep here, but I just couldn’t. It was too soft and too… lonely.”

He settled back against the mattress. “How’s it feel right now?”

“Perfect,” I said, sighing.

And then my stomach had to go and ruin it all by growling.

He laughed. “It sounds like you’re hungry.” His hands caressed my hip and up my ribs. “And you actually feel like you’ve lost weight.”

“I haven’t gotten my appetite back yet,” I mumbled.

He bounded off the bed, not bothering with pants, and I was treated to the epic view of his tight ass sauntering out into the living room. When he returned carrying the pizza, I was treated to another epic view… of his front side.

He set the pizza on the foot of the bed and retrieved a giant slice oozing with white cheese and piled high with veggies. He sat down, holding out the slice. “Eat,” he demanded.

I loved when he bossed me around.

I took a bite.

It was really good.

We sat that way in the quiet of my apartment, not talking, just him feeding me bite after bite of pizza. Only after I ate the last bite did he get a slice for himself (which he ate in like three seconds).

“I need to tell you something,” I said, nerves crackling along my spine.

“That sounds serious.”

I nodded.

“Something happened on the island.”

“A lot of things happened on the island.”

“Something I was afraid to tell you about.”