All Things Pretty (Pretty #3)(38)
Author: M. Leighton

Waves still rolling through me, I manage to open fuzzy eyes and focus on Sig. He’s watching me, a fierce expression on his face. It seems he was waiting for me, waiting for me to open my eyes so we could finish this together.

The moment our eyes meet, I feel him tense and I know he’s ready to continue his own hunt. Gazes locked, I watch his expression, his intensity. I don’t think I could look away from his breathtaking face if I tried. So I don’t. I take him in. I revel in what he’s feeling, in what I do to him. And what he does to me. What we do to each other.

Sig arches his back and holds his upper body away from mine as he chases his own peak, grinding and swiveling his hips against mine in a way that forces my body to come along for his ride. Surge after surge, I’m slave to the flow of my own pleasure until Sig stiffens, forcing his body deep within mine until he collapses atop me, his sweat-slicked chest pressed tightly to mine.

********

Seconds or minutes or hours later, his harsh breathing having settled into deep inhalations and sighs to release them, Sig lifts his head and looks down at me, his chocolate eyes light and satisfied. More golden even. Like the color of molasses. “I’m glad you came.”

“I don’t think I could’ve stayed away.”

“I’m glad you didn’t try,” he admits, grinning down at me.

I feel clouds roll in, like fog settling over a lush, green field of contentment. “Sig, I–”

He lays his index finger over my lips. “We’ve still got a lot left of this night. Don’t ruin it.”

“But–”

“No buts. Tonight is for animal sex and happy thoughts. Nothing more. Got it?”

I smile. I can’t help myself. “Got it.”

With a rough kiss to my lips, Sig pulls out of me and rolls to his side, pulling me half onto his chest. I rest my head over his heart, somehow comforted by the steady thud of it beneath my ear.

Lazily, I draw tiny circles around his little flat man nipple. “Tell me about your family. Are you an only child, or…?”

“God no! Sometimes I used to wish I was, but I’m nowhere near an only child. I’ve got two brothers and a sister. Assholes, one and all.”

I slap his ribs. “Don’t say that! They’re your family.”

“What does that matter? Family can be assholes, too.”

“Yes, but you’re supposed to overlook it.”

“Fine,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “They’re not all assholes. At least not all the time.” I hear the rumble of his chuckle. It vibrates through my jawbone and tickles my lips. “Nah, I guess they’re pretty all right. The oldest can be a little overbearing sometimes. Total control freak. But he means well.”

“Are you closest to him?”

“No. I’m closest to my little sister. I’d never tell her, of course, but she’s pretty kickass. For a girl anyway,” he adds emphatically, giving my shoulder a squeeze. I twist his nipple. “Ow! God! That hurt!” he exclaims. Then he leans down to grab a handful of my butt and pinch. “Do it again.” I can hear the laugh in his voice.

“You’re incorrigible.”

“If that’s code for a hot, sexual dynamo with a cunning intellect then I couldn’t agree more.”

I groan and roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me. He can’t see my smile either. “So the oldest is overbearing, the youngest is the best. What about your parents?”

“My dad’s cool. Still around. My mom died when I was seven.” There’s no levity in his voice now. “She was sick as a kid. Cancer. They thought she’d be fine. Turns out she wasn’t. It was tough. Just about killed my dad. He loved her. Too much, maybe.”

I lift up my head to find his eyes. “Too much? Is it even possible to love someone too much?”

“I think so. I don’t ever want to love someone so much that being apart from them makes me forget that there are other things to be happy about in life.”

I lay my head back down. I don’t want him to see that my heart breaks a little at his words. “I think I might like nothing more than to love someone in that way. And for them to return it,” I say softly, impulsively giving voice to something I’ve never shared with anyone before.

“Why? Why would you want to love someone so much that you’d be miserable without them?”

“I don’t think people set out to lose the ones they love. It’s not exactly the norm.”

“But why risk getting hurt like that? Why seek that kind of shit out?”

“People risk it because if tragedy doesn’t strike…and you get to keep the ones you love…it’s worth it.”

“Even if it hurts? I mean, they’ll die eventually. In the end.”

I smile against his chest. “Especially if it hurts.”

“That doesn’t go there, you know. That only applies when you have to do something you don’t want to do, something that’ll end up being worth it somehow.”

“Of course it goes there. Pain reminds us that we’re alive. Reminds us to fight. Without it, we might just drift through life, unaware.”

“And what do you fight for?” he asks quietly.

“Travis.” I don’t even hesitate. He’s been my reason for…everything for years.

“Nothing else is worth fighting for?”

“Nothing more than him.”

Sig grips my upper arms and drags me fully on top of him until our eyes are level, my face inches from his. “I’ll help you fight for him. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it? Fighting for him? This is all for Travis.”

“I told you–” I start to pull away, but Sig won’t let me. He pins me to him with his stare as well as with his hands.

“I know what you told me. And I’m telling you again. You can trust me, Tommi.” He pulls me down until we are nose to nose, his lips grazing mine as he speaks. “You can trust me.”

We stare into each other’s eyes, a battle of wills. One every bit as fierce as the other. Me, determined not to give in, not to trust, not to relinquish control. Him determined to make me, to convince me, to sway me. When I would pull away, Sig grabs my face between his big hands and holds me still, trapped in his gaze, as though by keeping me here long enough, he might force me to believe him.

And then his lips are on mine, hard, demanding. Hot. We are at odds. We are destined to clash, to batter, to end. But for the moment, for right now, coming together, meeting in the middle is inevitable. We are inevitable. We are smoke, we are fire, we are heat and desire and unquenchable thirst.