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He ran his nose along my jaw, flicking his tongue for an occasional taste. “Ceaselessly.” His lips traveled back and forth along my jaw. “I have many things to atone for, and I hate what happened between us later, but I’ll never feel sorry for tasting your skin that night.” I gasped and arched against him, lifting my head so his lips could revisit my neck.
He obliged and feather-light touches made their way down my skin.
His mouth still on my neck, his fingers tore at the knotted section of my shirt. In one smooth move he lifted the dark material up and brought it over my head. His eyes lingered over my body for a second before he harshly unhooked my bra and ripped it off of me. My body pulsed with need as his burning eyes visually caressed me.
With a sigh, he dropped his head to my stomach. “I need this flesh,” he muttered as his tongue ran up me.
Fire shot through me at the contact and I writhed under his touch. “I need you too, Kellan.”
He dragged his tongue between my breasts. “I need to see your face when I do this.” He flicked his tongue all the way up to my neck and I closed my eyes and groaned in response.
“I need to hear you when I do this.” He brought his lips, and that miraculous tongue, to my breast, swirling it around the nipple.
I arched my back and dug my hands into his hair. “God, yes…” His breath heavy, he brought his lips to my ear. “I need to be inside of you…as deep as I can go.” My body ached with his words, my light shorts suddenly horribly uncomfortable as the pleasant tingling between my thighs shifted to a full-on throbbing ache. I moaned loudly and tried to kiss him but he pulled away.
He hovered above me and I opened my eyes to gaze at the god-like man before me. His expression burning with desire for me, he swallowed heavily. “And I need to hear you beg for it.” His expression asking so much more than his words, he added, “Do you want me?” 30
The throbbing that I didn’t think could get any worse, intensified, and my mouth found his. “God, Kellan…please, yes, God…please. I want you…I want you so much.” I also meant more than just the words. He was asking me if he was the one I really wanted to be with. I was telling him, as plainly as I could, that he was.
I mumbled more pleas for him while our mouths enacted what we both wanted. With heavy breaths and frantic fingers we pulled off the re-mainder of our clothes and he did exactly what he’d said he needed to do.
Smiling as I woke up the next morning, I yawned and stretched. My arms and legs didn’t collide with another warm body in my chilly bed, but I wasn’t too surprised. Kellan was almost always up before me. I wasn’t sure why, but the boy was an early riser; he got up at the crack of dawn nearly every day. He also was a night owl, usually staying up just as late as I did, even on nights I closed at the bar. The man was sort of miraculous when it came to sleep. It did eventually catch up with him, but he could go for days on very little of it. Then it would hit him like a brick wall and he’d sleep for twelve hours straight.
Shaking my head at him, I inhaled deep, my smile widening. My favorite smell in the world, aside from Kellan’s natural scent, was wafting through the house—coffee. Kellan was brewing a pot in the kitchen. That was definitely one of the perks of waking up with him.
Peeking an eye open, I saw that he’d left my bedroom door cracked a bit. From the other room I could hear the pot peculating and the sound of Kellan getting cups ready. He was also humming a song. Relaxing back on my pillow, I just enjoyed the sound for a minute. I pictured him out there, singing away in just his boxers. It was a delightful image.
The sound of a key entering a lock broke the stillness of the morning.
It was immediately followed by the front door cracking open. Sitting up on my elbows, I frowned. Was Anna just now getting home? I knew she’d worked late last night and then mentioned she was going out with some of the girls from work, but this was late, even for her. Unless, of course, she’d already been asleep…somewhere.
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Maybe she’d met up with Griffin, to congratulate him on his big event.
But, it just as easily could have been somebody else that she’d hooked up with. Anna and Griffin had a weird relationship. When they were together, they were inseparable—all hands and tongues and, ugh, grinding. But when they were apart from each other…well, you’d never even suspect that they were involved. They were very open to being with other people. It was odd to me, but it seemed to work for them so I didn’t say much about it.
When Anna’s bright voice sounded a greeting, I immediately hoped Kellan wasn’t in his boxers. I even looked around the ground to see if his clothes were still on my floor. Luckily, they weren’t. While he and Anna only ever acted friendly around each other, I didn’t need my sister ogling him anymore than she already did. Physically, she’d kept her distance once she found out that we were involved, but like any fine piece of art, her eyes lingered on Kellan, appreciating the masterpiece before them. I understood. I appreciated him daily.
“Hey, Kellan, good morning.”
“Mornin’, Anna. You’re out late…or early.”
Kellan laughed as Anna sighed, a heavy bag clunking to the floor.
“Yeah, went to Pete’s. Ran into the guys.”
Kellan chuckled lightly, probably surmising what I had earlier, that she’d been entertained by Griffin until the wee hours of the morning. It hurt my stomach a little to think about what they’d probably been doing, and as I forcefully made my sluggish body stand up, I tried not to.
Anna laughed huskily while I grabbed some lounge pants out of my dresser, quickly throwing them on my naked body. “I heard you guys did great at your big show.” Anna sighed forlornly. “I’m sorry I had to miss it.”
Seeming like it made no difference to him, Kellan replied with, “It was just a show, nothing you haven’t seen before. Don’t worry about it.” I shook my head as I threw on a thin, comfortable shirt. Just another show? He was so casual about the whole thing. I knew that it had meant 32
something to him, though. It had excited him, invigorated him. I’d seen it when he’d shoved me against the door last night. I bit my lip at that thought and quickly ran my fingers through my thick hair a few times, eager to see the passionate man again.
Stealthily walking out of my room, I immediately saw Anna and Kellan in the kitchen. He was leaning back against the counter, facing me, his arms crossed over his chest as he carried on a quiet conversation with my sister. She had her back to me, her long, luxuriously shiny hair ridiculously perfect for the early hour.
Watching them, I tilted my head. If my sister had had her way last year, the two of them would have ended up together and I’d be walking up on a couple, instead of a couple of friends. As his lips curved into a small smile while he spoke softly—his hair a distractingly charming mess—I could easily picture them as the gorgeous pairing they would have been.
Raising my chin, I inhaled a big breath. That wasn’t what happened, though. He’d never touched her. My sister had no idea what his lips felt like, what he tasted like, what his fingers felt like, what he sounded like when he was making love. She’d never heard him say I love you. But I had…repeatedly.
That confidence pushing aside my lingering insecurities, I meandered into the kitchen. They both twisted to look at me when I stepped into the small room. Kellan’s small smile for her turned into a wide one for me, his deep eyes brightening.
He smiled down at me as I slung my arms around his waist. “Mornin’, sleepy,” he breathed, kissing my head.
Exhaling contently, I buried my head in his neck. “Good morning.” My sister sighed. “God, you two are adorable.” Smacking my arm, she rolled her eyes. “It’s annoying.”
I smiled, laughing a little. “Good morning, Anna. Late night?” 33
Grinning devilishly, she bit her perfect, red lip and cocked an eyebrow just as expertly as Kellan could. “Oh, yes.” Her finger shifted between the two of us. “And I can guarantee you it wasn’t as cutesy as your night.”
I flushed and looked away from her and she laughed, her voice throaty and seductive in a way that mine never would be. Kellan laughed with her, squeezing me tighter. “I wouldn’t say our night was cute, Anna.”
I flashed my eyes up to Kellan and smacked his chest, my face reddening even more. While Kellan’s and my love life might be a bit tamer than he was used to, and my sister for that matter, I didn’t need him chatting about it. Grinning down at me, he said nothing further and I relaxed.
Kellan wasn’t exactly an open book, and he generally didn’t talk about his life much. Thankfully, that included our sex life.
Anna snorted and I looked back at her. Her face in a playful grin, she said, “I know.” She poked my shoulder. “I know how hot you guys can get.” My jaw dropped and my face paled. She laughed and jerked her thumb towards the hallway. “My bedroom is only one room away from yours, Kiera.” Raising her eyebrows, she leaned in and muttered,
“Maybe the two of you could remember that in the future?” I covered my face with my hand and twisted into Kellan’s body. God, sometimes I did forget. Being with Kellan could just be so…consuming.
Chuckling as he held me close, rubbing my back, Kellan causally answered her. “We’ll try and keep that in mind, Anna. Thanks.” Laughing, Anna rubbed my shoulder. “I’m just teasing you, Kiera. Go ahead and scream away, I don’t mind.” As I peeked at her from between my fingers, I watched her eyes rake over Kellan’s body. “Lord knows I would,” she murmured.
Kellan chuckled again, shaking his head before kissing mine again.
Winking at him, she patted my arm again. “Well, I’m off to bed. I’m beat.”
Twisting away from us, she started sashaying back to her room. The tight pants she had on emphasized the curve of her hips. Anna was 34