Page 35 of True Ruin

“Gab,” he said against her lips, his breath rough against her cheek. “I have to do it. Cairo. I have to try.” He knew he was saying this more for himself than for her. Reminding himself,because he could feel it happening—new, terrifying, impossible to stop.

He was falling hard.

For Gabi.God, for Gabi.

But also for his family. For theDispatch. For Promise, where he finally felt a sense of belonging.

“Shh,” she whispered, her eyes molten gold in the firelight. “Come here, Hotshot.”

So he went.

ELEVEN

The Freshman–The Verve Pipe

Gabi had never knownhonesty could be as intimate as touch.

With firelight shimmering over them, their lovemaking unfolded in pieces.

Deep kisses, fingers tangled in each other’s hair, bodies shifting hungrily as they learned to fit. Laughter as they gracelessly disrobed, one button from his shirt bouncing away from them in their haste. Ragged sighs as bare skin met bare skin for the first time. His look of wonder, his whispered “You’re beautiful” a quiet echo, nearly lost beneath the crack of a log catching fire in the hearth.

Dallas worked his way down her body, his stubbled jaw grazing tender skin, lips circling one nipple, then the next. Sucking, drawing them between his teeth as she arched into the caress. He didn’t make a move beyond that, though she’d made it clear she wanted more.

Quickly.Now.

“Tell me,” he murmured, his request gliding across her breast.

Her only response was a faint gasp when he gently pinched her nipple, then ran the cool metal of his ring over it. His tongue came out just after, adding further torment. “Tell me, Sparkle.”

“I want you to make me come,” she whispered, nails digging into his shoulder, his answering groan moving her a step closer to that wish. “Like before.”

“Darling girl, you’re going to come. More than once.” His mouth curved, lips teasing. “Question is, for the first, how.”

She captured his wrist, dragging his hand between their heated bodies.

“Ah, I see.” He suckled her breast as he delved between her thighs, finding her wet and ready. Sliding the tip of his finger inside her, he asked, “Enough?”

He gave his finger a gentle twist, a curl, that had her moaning, lifting her hips, sending him in deeper. “Touch yourself,” she whispered, the command frayed but clear.

He exhaled brusquely, unable to hide how the game was getting away from him.

Rolling her head, she watched him rise to his knees, take his thick shaft in hand, and stroke himself in time to stroking her. The intense expression on his face, his eyes bleeding black into green, was mesmerizing. The play of light over his tattoos, the ridges of muscle in his shoulders and belly flexing, was hard to look away from, but she could feel an orgasm creeping up on her.

“Remember what you told me recently?” He moved closer, lips curving. “I’m going to taste you.”

A quick, gasping breath escaped her as he slid another finger inside. “I’ve never been able to…come that way.”

He circled his thumb over her clit, pressed, then circled again. “Want me to try?”

She’d begun to lose the thread of the conversation, but she managed to give him enough of a consenting reply:yes.

Running his hand over the crown of his cock, his gaze drilled into her. “Put your palms on the rug. And keep them there. I won’t be distracted.”

Gabi followed his lead, his words exciting her as much as his touch, thinking she could do what she’d done with Theo if this didn’t go well. Though she’d wanted it to go well.

She could fake it.

And then Dallas’s arms tunneled beneath her, hands curving to bring her body to him, and she realized deception wouldn’t be necessary. It was an onslaught, she’d think later, astounded at the ease—and the speed—of her response. Pleasure from the firstsecond, like being struck by lightning. Her skin so sensitive it almost hurt. His lips circled her clit, tongue teasing, not too hard, nor too soft. Then he slid along her seam and entered her that way, a first. Sucking, while whispering filthy promises that sent humming vibrations through her core.