Page 76 of Ravage

His body tensed next to me, but I didn’t stop.

I’d started this, and I had to finish. “I thought it was just a schoolgirl crush. I thought I’d grow out of it, and I tried to, especially when I went off to college, and you married Ava. I tried to put those feelings behind me, but I never truly did. They were always there.”

I finally looked up at him, and his eyes locked on mine. “They still are.”

“Emery.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” I didn’t look away as I told him, “I know you don’t feel the same.”

He lowered his head until his mouth reached my ear and said, “But I do.”

The words had barely left his mouth when his hand came up to my jaw. His thumb brushed along my cheek, and before I realized what was happening, his mouth was on mine.

His tongue swept across my bottom lip, asking and demanding all at once, and I couldn’t hold back my moan as it vibrated through my chest. He pulled me closer as he deepened the kiss. Heat rushed through me, consuming me as I lost myself in his touch, his taste, and the rough brush of his beard against my skin.

My hands slid to the back of his neck, and when my fingers tangled in his hair, he let out a low, approving growl that brought butterflies to my stomach.

There was nothing tentative about this kiss.

It was hungry, possessive, and full of need.

The subtle scent of cologne and leather surrounded me, only intensifying my arousal. He kissed me, slow and deep, making me forget the fear, the rules, and the mayhem downstairs. I’d never felt so much from just one kiss. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t have to wonder what it felt like to be wanted.

He was showing me.

And that was the lesson I’d been hoping for.

13

RAVAGE

I’d spent years keeping my distance, watching her walk across a room and telling myself she was off-limits. And not just because of Jax. Because she deserved more than I could ever give her, but that didn’t stop me from wanting her, dreaming about her. I’d had my suspicions, but I’d never let myself believe that she’d felt the same.

But when her lips touched mine, I knew.

And if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right, so I slipped my hand into her hair, kissing her, slow and deep. She melted into me, and I felt the tension and restraint drain from her body. Her mouth moved against mine, urging me on. My mind drifted to the lessons. I almost laughed against her lips.

She didn’t need them. She never had.

She let out a soft whimper, and I knew then she was no longer thinking about whatever was going on downstairs.

I wasn’t either. My mind was solely on her and how tangled up she had me. I was a man who was always in control, but she had me by the throat and didn’t even know it. She’d never known it. But the truth was, she wasn’t the only one who’d been wondering how this would be.

I’d thought about it all the time.

I needed her to know that, so I eased back, breaking the kiss long enough to say, “Tell me you get it… Tell me you understand why I never pursued this.”

Her eyes drifted up to mine, dazed and full of need, and something inside me broke when she said, “I do… I just wish it hadn’t taken so long for me to find out how you feel.”

I tightened my arm around her and kissed her again, slower this time, trying to give myself the chance to memorize the feeling of her beneath my hands. We were inching our way into dangerous waters, and we both knew it. I’d told myself that I could keep control.

What a fucking joke.

Deep down, I’d always known if we got here, I wouldn’t be able to stop, and I was right. Now that I had her in my arms, felt her body against mine, there was no going back. Her fingers curled into the back of my neck, pulling me closer. The pillows shifted beneath us, and that’s when I realized where we were.

The damn couch.

Fuck no.