Unconditional

I don’t understand it, I barely know the man, but somehow he sees me, all of me. The woman I want to be.

A strange sensation comes over me, so strong I can’t even stop to think. As if propelled by a force bigger than myself, I lean forward and press my lips to his in a hungry, tear-soaked kiss.

I feel Garrett’s body tense against mine, but the touch of his lips is like a bolt of pure sensation spiraling through me, and already I know it’s too late to take it back.

I don’t want to.

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him again, stronger, tasting the cool mint of his lips, feeling the heat from his body burn against my chest. It’s intoxicating, a rush of pure sweetness amidst the bitterness of my tears, and God, I fall into him, drowning completely. I run my fingers through the thick silk of his hair, pressing myself against him, desperate to block out the world and all my misery and lose myself in this, just one moment of goodness, of pleasure like I’ve never felt before.

“Carina…” Garrett pulls back.

“Please,” I whisper, kissing him again. Garrett lets out a tortured groan against my mouth, and then, suddenly, whatever he’s been holding back is unleashed.

He yanks me hard against him, crushing me into his lap, devouring my mouth with his own. The kiss deepens, both of us hungry now, his tongue sliding deep in my mouth, demanding it all. I sink against him, clinging to him, lost under the crashing waves of sensation. I could drown in this kiss, give myself up forever to his arms and his lips and oh, his wicked tongue, teasing me, sliding hot against my own, a tortuous dance that sends heat shimmering through my bloodstream, my pulse beating a wanton rhythm in my ears.

I’ve never felt a heat like this before, the charge between us, the crash of pure desire. I thought it was the thing of fiction and fantasies, a hopeless lie we tell ourselves in the dark to make it through another night.

But with one kiss, Garrett has proven me wrong, lit a fire so strong it could burn the whole world to the ground. I cling to him, my head spinning, feeling every last nerve and synapse in my body flare to life for the first time, a gorgeous ache of wanting, bright and bold.

I want all of it, forever.

I need him, now.

We tumble back, sliding lower until I’m laid out on the dock, Garrett’s body covering me, pressing me into the hard planks. I gasp, reveling in the feel of his body, pressed solid against the length of me, his gorgeous weight, pinning me down. The fever races through me, clawing with desire as Garrett tears his lips from mine. I whimper with his absence, but then he dips his head, snaking a blazing path down my neck, and God, everything melts away under the pleasure of his kiss, teasing me, tracing lower along the delicate curve of my collarbone.

I moan, writhing beneath him as his tongue works its wicked magic, but it’s not enough. I arch up against him, wrapping my legs around his waist, grinding my h*ps with a hunger I’ve never known before. Garrett inhales in a gasp, and then his hands are on me, cupping my ass against him, squeezing me to his rigid form. He licks lower, tracing along the sensitive swell of my breast, teasing under the fabric of my shirt. His tongue rasps against my skin, and then his hand is sliding up, up, ripping open my buttons and stroking across the hard nub of my nipple, aching and tight under his touch.

Oh God.

My head falls back against the dock, the world spinning in a dark haze of stardust above me. I’m lost in the glory of it all, overwhelmed by the rush of sensation. The feel of his body, cradled hard beneath my thighs, the gorgeous caress of his fingertips, moving harder, squeezing; his lips closing over me, sharp and sweet until it’s too much and I cry out, an echo of pleasure in the night.

Garrett groans against me, sliding back, lower, his mouth sending hot sparks ricocheting through my body at every molten kiss. Lower, lower, down my bare stomach, his fingertips digging into my hips. The heat rushes with his path, twisting tighter inside of me, a wet ache that cries out for his touch. I gasp for air, my head spinning, hurtling towards the edge of something that I can’t control, can’t stop, even if I wanted to.

I feel his hand on my waistband, curling under, brushing shocks of promise all the way through me. I tense with anticipation, ready to fall, and then just as I’m set to tumble forever into the blaze of raw sensation, it’s gone.

Garrett tears himself away, leaving me gasping on the jetty.

I lift my head, struggling to make sense of it. “What’s wrong?” I stutter.

“I can’t,” Garrett grounds out. He scrambles to his feet, his body tense, the power I felt against me barely constrained. “This is all wrong.”

The look in his eyes is bleak, angry. My heart crashes to the ground. “No, Garrett, I want this—” I protest, reaching for him again, but he flinches back.

“You don’t know what you want.” He shakes his head furiously. “You’re emotional, and I took advantage of you. I’m sorry,” he says again, backing away. “I’m sorry.”

And then he’s gone, striding away, a shadow in the night, leaving me all alone on the dock with my heart racing and my body weak with desire.

He’s gone.

9

There’s no shower cold enough to wipe the lust from my body. No bottle of whiskey deep enough to drown out the self-loathing in my soul.

I betrayed her.

Carina was hurting, vulnerable, in need of solid ground. And instead…

I remember the softness of her body, yielding beneath me, the whimper of desire that escaped her lips at my touch.