Tempt (Take It Off #3)(47)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“You don’t have to be afraid to tell me anything, bella.”

I wondered if he would say that even after I told him. “You know how I was having those dreams?”

He nodded. “The nightmares about the crash.”

“They weren’t nightmares about the crash.” I paused. “Well, the first one was.”

“What were the other ones about?”

“Me and you…” I let the sentence end suggestively.

A slow smile formed on his face.

I held up my hand. “But it wasn’t just me and you.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there was someone else in the dream with us… doing things.”

“Please tell me it was another girl.”

Only a man would pray for that…

“It wasn’t.”

He looked like he was punched in the gut. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

I nodded, tears forming in my eyes. Geesh, I was turning into an emotional basket case. Maybe I should stock up on tissues. “I don’t know why.” I sniffled. “I felt so guilty.”

“Why would you feel guilty, bella?” he said softly, caressing the side of my face. I leaned into his touch.

“It felt like I was betraying you somehow.”

“You didn’t actually sleep with him… like on the island?” he said, watching me.

I shook my head adamantly. “Only you. There’s been only you.”

“Even since you came home?” he asked, his voice a little strained.

“There will only ever be you.”

He let out a breath.

“What about you? Since we’ve been home?” My stomach cramped. The thought of him with anyone else made me physically ill.

“No, bella, just you.” He threaded our fingers together. “I had to fight myself constantly not to come here and bang on your door.”

“You did?”

He nodded. “I just wanted to give you the time you needed. I wanted you to be sure.”

“I’ve never been so sure.”

“That’s real good because I’m never doing this again. I’m moving in. You’re going to stop sleeping on the floor and start sleeping in my arms.”

Like I said, I loved his bossiness.

“You’re going to move in? What about Puerto Rico? What about being a pilot?”

“I can be a pilot from here. We can visit Puerto Rico.” He glanced at the urn I still had yet to part with. “We can start with putting Kiki to rest. The way she deserves.”

“I’d like that.”

He grabbed another slice of pizza and stuck it under my nose. I dutifully took a bite.

“What have you been up to since you got home?”

“I got a new job. One I really love.”

“Doing what?” he asked gently, tucking the hair behind my ear.

“I’m a florist. A flower design specialist,” I said around a bite of cheesy goodness. “I work at a local flower shop, putting together bouquets and arrangements.”

He smiled.

“I don’t have to sit behind a desk. I don’t have to do math. I get to stare at beautiful flowers all day and make bows with gorgeous ribbons.”

“I’m glad you found something you love.”

I nodded. “Someday I want to open my own shop. I already have a name.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Bella Flora,” I pronounced, totally butchering the Spanish language.

Nash repeated it. It sound incredibly romantic on his tongue. “I like it.”

“Me too.”

“And I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“You’re not mad about the dreams?”

“I can’t say I’m thrilled about it. You with another man is kind of my own personal nightmare.”

“I didn’t have sex with him in the dream. He just kissed me and stuff.”

“And then what?”

“And then you pulled me away.”

“This is where you belong, bella.” He pulled me into his lap, cradling me against his chest.

“I’m so glad we didn’t just have traumatic bonding.”

He stilled. “What?”

“I Googled it. That’s what it’s called when people get close through trauma.”

He muttered under his breath, “You Googled it.” Then louder he said, “You should have looked up post traumatic stress disorder. Only a girl suffering from that would push away a catch like me.”

I stifled a laugh. “Hmmm. Maybe I should look that up.” I made a move to get up.

His grip tightened and he growled. “No more Google.”

I kissed the underside of his chin. “Deal.”

“If you ever want to know how I feel, just ask me. I’m more than willing to tell you.”

“I think I can tell how you’re feeling right now,” I murmured, desire thick in my voice.

His growing erection nudged me again. “It’s not morning, bella,” he whispered, making goose bumps rise along my arms. “It’s all you.”

“We have lost time to make up for,” I said, turning in his lap, sinking down onto him instantly.

“By all means,” he said, gripping my hips and rocking me across his hardness. “Get to work.”

A very long time later, I fell asleep, not on the floor, but in his arms. A place I planned to sleep for the rest of my life.

Just before slipping away, a thought of Duke drifted over my mind. I pushed it away, unwilling to let a dead man who tried to kill us tempt me away from happiness. I knew that vowing to never think of him again was fruitless. What he did was something that couldn’t be forgotten. But not letting those thoughts consume me was something I could do.

The last thought I had before sleep claimed me completely was that controlling my thoughts was a lot easier than controlling my dreams…

I came awake with soft caresses. Barely there touches that glided over my skin, making me hyper aware of every single thing I felt.

My eyes were heavy—from sleep, from lust. I kept them closed, allowing the sensations of his hands and mouth to consume me. I could get used to this… to wake up to this every single day.

His tongue circled my belly button, and then he scattered kisses across my belly and landed on my hip. He pressed his slightly open mouth to the hollowed area between my hip and my pelvis, making my hips lurch upward and my hands search for his head.

“More,” I whispered, my sleepy voice tinged with pleading.