Page 47 of Wicked Games

I hang up and toss my phone on the counter like it’s going to burn me.

Without thinking about it a second longer, I rush across the grass and up Seth’s patio steps. I wrench the glass door open, my chest heaving.

He’s standing at the counter with his head bowed and his hands braced against the edge. When I step into the house, he looks up, tears dripping down his face. I run toward him and he rounds the island, holding out his arms. Desperately, I jump, and he catches me and crushes me against his chest.

His body trembles as he hides his face against my neck, and I know it’s more than just the possible reconciliation between me and Darren that’s melting him down. It’s the loss of his little boy and the loss of his own marriage. They’ve taken a toll, and I hug him just as hard as he’s holding me, hoping that some part of me can heal some part of him.

When he tells me to go to hell because of Hattie’s involvement in Theo’s kidnapping, I’m going to be where he was just seconds ago, but I try to shove that back. I’ll face it when it comes.

Sitting me on the counter, he drags in a watery breath. “I thought I lost you,” he says, his voice rough.

I hold his face between my hands and wipe his tears away like he’s done for me so many times. “I don’t want him.” I swallow. I’m already all in and there’s no turning back. “I want you.”

He moans and kisses me, raking his fingers through my hair and tugging me closer. As the kiss goes on, instead of bruising my lips, he softens, and we ease into one of the long, unhurried kisses he likes so much. I relax, but I keep my legs wrapped around his waist.

“Are you sure, Avery? He was part of your life for so long.”

“I’m sure. Make love to me, Seth.”

“Yeah.”

He picks me up, his hands under my ass, and quickly carries me upstairs. I lick at his neck, loving how he tastes, and he shudders and hisses out a breath. When we get to his bedroom, he doesn’t lay me down on the bed. Instead, he sets me on the floor and tugs my tank top over my head. “When I saw his name,” he says, undoing the button of my shorts, “I thought that was it.”

“No. He called earlier, while I was at the grocery store, and I ignored it.” I pull at his t-shirt and he yanks it off and throws it on top of my tank top. He wiggles my shorts down my legs and I kick them away.

“What did he want?” he asks, taking his shorts off and leaving them in a pile on the floor. His boxer briefs are next, and I slide my panties down my thighs. We’re both naked now, and he nudges me on the bed. “Against the headboard.”

“What?” I ask, unsure.

“On your knees against the headboard,” he repeats, not giving me an inch of space.

I rest my arms on top of the headboard, and he gently widens my legs and pushes his cock inside me, filling me to the brim. After talking to Darren, this is what I need, and whimpering, I wiggle, trying to get closer.

“Easy,” he says, feeling my desperation. “I’m right here.” Wrapping his arms around me, he holds me in place and slowly rubs my clit. “You like that.” His voice is rough in my ear. “I can feel your pussy gripping my cock. You’re so needy, Avery, but that’s okay, because I need you too, sweetheart.”

“I do. I really do. Harder, Seth.”

He jerks his hips and furiously rubs my clit. “I know, and I’ll give you whatever I can. Answer me now. What did he want?” he asks again, reminding me we were having a conversation before we crawled on the bed.

“He, he wanted to drive out and talk,” I pant, the tip of his cock hitting me just right. He pinches one of my nipples, and the bit of pain zips right to my core.

“Like fuck he is,” he growls. “You’re mine. Come for me. I need to feel it.”

He pinches until I cry out, and I come, my clit quivering under his fingertips.

“That’s right. That’s the way I want you.” He grabs my thighs and moves my legs away from the headboard, and when he’s positioned me the way he wants, slams into me.

I whimper, sensitive after my orgasm.

“You have no idea how turned on I get hearing you sound like that,” he says, but then he stops talking as he focuses on his own release, and after two more long and deep thrusts, he comes, his cock buried deep inside me.

I rest my forehead on the back of my hand, my fingers digging into the headboard. I’ve never had sex this way, and tears burn my eyes. To lose something before you’ve completely found it is devastating, and I try to tell myself that it won’t be so bad once the hard part is over. As soon as Seth and I have it out, I can pack, drive into Ashfield, and be back to my apartment by midnight.

Maybe, maybe, he won’t have done irreparable damage.

He flutters his fingers up and down my back. “Christ, Avery, you have such a pretty ass.”

I laugh weakly. “Thanks. It’s finally getting the appreciation it deserves.”