Veer (Clayton Falls #2)(17)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.” I guess there were some benefits of living in the middle of nowhere.

“Not bad, just boring.” He stared pensively down into his wine.

“I get that.”

“What do you plan to do after you graduate?” His hazel eyes had more green in them than usual, probably because he was wearing a green t-shirt.

I relaxed back into the arm of the couch, enjoying my wine before answering. “I want to work for the District Attorney in Boston. I’d love to be an assistant D.A. one day.”

“A prosecutor? I can see that. I’d bet you’d be pretty intimidating in the court room.”

“Intimidating?” I laughed. “Not exactly, but I think I’d be good at it. I’m on the trial team at school, and I’ve done pretty well.”

“Well, I definitely wouldn’t want to be a criminal you were trying to put behind bars.”

“I’m not that scary.”

“No, you’re not.” He looked at me for a minute, finishing off his glass. “Are you ready for more?”

“I probably shouldn’t, but why not?” An idle thought about how in the world I was going to get home hit me, but I was already tipsy, and I easily brushed it off.

“Well I know you said you don’t see much action as a cop here, but at least you’d be ready for it if you did.”

He poured a little more wine in my glass. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean you’re in good shape—you could handle whatever.” I was fighting the urge to run my hand down his chest. His t-shirt clung to it tightly, and I remembered what his chest had looked like that day on the beach.

To distract myself, I pulled out my hair tie and let my hair fall down.

A small smile spread across his lips as he reached over to take a lock of my hair between his fingers. “I like when you wear your hair down.”

“Yeah? It’s pretty long. I’m growing it out for Locks for Love.”

“Oh, the wigs for cancer patients? That’s really cool.”

“Yeah. I think it’s almost long enough now.” I didn’t go into all of the reasons it was important to me. Most revolved around my mom.

“I’m sure it’ll still look good short, but I like it now.”

“Thanks.”

Watching him play with my hair undid me. I lost my battle and reached out to touch him, tentatively at first. “Let me rephrase my previous comment. You’re in amazing shape.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face and knew I was blushing, but I got a little braver, moving my hand more.

He chuckled. “You’re not in such bad shape yourself.” I felt his hand on my leg and realized belatedly that my skirt was riding up. This would usually have been the point where I would have moved the guy’s hand and excused myself, but I didn’t want to.

“You know, I had a dream about you last night.” Alcohol made me honest. Very, very honest.

“A good dream?” His hand moved further up my leg.

“A really, really good dream.”

“That’s a coincidence. I had the same kind about you last night. But then again, I’ve been having them all week.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” His lids were getting heavy. I knew if I wanted to bolt, I was going to have to act fast. I didn’t move.

“That’s nice.”

“Nice? Is that all it is?”

“Great, exciting, wonderful…”

“Perfect.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against mine.

When he pulled away slightly, I felt his absence. “Yeah, perfect.”

His lips returned, moving against mine slowly at first before getting more aggressive. His tongue pushed its way into my mouth. His arms wrapped around me, and I let him lead me onto his lap. We broke the kiss only long enough for him to hike my skirt up more so I could straddle him.

One of his hands moved under my shirt, slipping under my bra to cradle a breast. I moaned, enjoying the feeling of being touched. I reached a hand down to slip under his shirt. I needed to feel his skin. He pulled back from the kiss, and I looked down at him.

He didn’t say anything. He pulled off his t-shirt, tossing it to the floor. Next, he moved his attention to my shirt, pulling it off slowly, before throwing it to join his. His hand went around to unclasp my bra. His eyes watched for my reaction. I nodded, letting him know I was all in, as though my place on his lap didn’t already say it all.

He undid my bra, letting it fall onto the couch next to us. His hands returned. His lips lingered on my earlobe and slowing moved down to my neck and lower. He ran a finger over the faded scars right above my right breast, and I prayed he wouldn’t ask about them. Nothing would kill my mood faster.

He didn’t. “God, I want you, Becca,” he said breathlessly, removing his lips for just a moment before returning them to their path. I loved the way my name sounded when he said it.

“I want you too.”

I groaned in protest when his lips left again, but I stopped worrying once he picked me up. I wound my arms around his neck and let him take me into his bedroom. He laid me gently down on his bed, sliding my skirt down over my hips and out of the way. I watched as he took off his shorts. I looked away long enough to notice the floor to ceiling windows he’d mentioned earlier. It was too dark to see the ocean, but the moon gave the room a silvery glow.

“You are so gorgeous.” He lay down next to me, running a hand down my stomach, stopping right at my panties. He kept his hand there for a second, before removing them. I tugged off his boxers, amazed that I was actually lying naked on a man’s bed. For all the times I’d thought about getting this far, I hadn’t ever really imagined it happening. I hoped he wouldn’t figure out how inexperienced I was.

I closed my eyes as his hands and lips found me again, giving myself over to him completely, wanting to feel his closeness, and loving his whispered words. I let my hands explore as well, loving every plane I touched. He was so muscular, so solid, so strong. I knew I was safe with him.

He moved away, and I realized he was getting his wallet. He pulled out a condom, looking down at me to make sure I was ready. I nodded, unable to form the words. I expected pain, I expected fear to take over, but I didn’t feel either of those things—instead I felt pleasure—I felt alive—I felt complete.

***

My head pounded, and I groaned. I promised myself I’d never drink that much again. It took a few minutes for the events of the night before to reach me. I felt Gavin stir behind me, and I closed my eyes, trying to get the courage to roll over. As hung over as I was, I didn’t regret sleeping with him.